I had the pleasure of going into an organisation this week where immediately I entered I could feel that the energy of the organisation was in flow. I spent 90 minutes with the Founder and CEO, whose energy was vibrant, passionate and inspiring yet grounded, human, fun and clear. This is a guy who has not studied leadership, he doesn’t have an MBA but what he does have is that rare ability to use his intuition and sensing and trust their guidance.
His business is growing massively each year despite the economic climate. What he has created is an organisation in flow and he is able to sense what he needs to do to keep it that way. He is a Chief Energy Officer if ever I saw one and he energises his organisation in two ways. Firstly through having the right conversations: he energises his people by his presence and the selective interventions he makes to mentor around 14 of them to ensure they realise their potential; he connects with key suppliers to create win/win agreements with them for which the implementation is immediately passed on to someone else better equipped to bring it to fruition; he partners with charitable organisations such as the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme so that his people are not only fulfilled in their work but as human beings. Secondly he sees his role as releasing any blocks that others have not been able to release to ensure the organisation stays in flow.
He is clearly a man in flow in his own life and feels fulfilment. What contributes to that fulfilment is creating an organisation or community through which he can give people the opportunity to find fulfilment as well. The impact of that generosity is amazing. People who are enabled to be at their best and want to make the biggest contribution they can to the organisation become leaderful. This ensures that the organisation is self-perpetuating and self-policing. All of which ensures fantastic retention rates, excellent customer service and loyal customers who recommend to others. This is what a sustainable organisation looks and feels like. His organisation is currently turning over around £300m and he believes it is set up to reach £1billion over the next 5 years. He has worked out exactly what he needs to measure and the KPIs that need to be in place to channel the energy of his people in the right direction and then he empowers them to deliver on expectations and beyond.
He admits he has been on a personal journey to get to this place. He ran the organisation himself for several years controlling everything down to the minutest detail and becoming the bottle neck which stopped its development. A few years ago he met a guy who was opposite to him and recognised the potential in partnering with him. This person was not only great at detail and financial management but was able to sensitively relieve the founder of most of what he was doing so that he could play to his strengths and direct his energy where it was needed in the system. The foresight and lack of ego that enabled this partnership to flourish is what released the energy in the system. This is collaborative, collective leadership. The energy of this dynamic duo is completely aligned and in flow and this in turn energises the system. Together they allow their difference to fuel the organisation as they role model collaboration, playing to strengths and inclusivity. The ripple effect of this style of leadership is immense, it not only releases potential in their people and brings them fulfilment but has an impact on suppliers and all those who interact with the system. All of these people then interact with others and carry the impact of this leadership duo out into the world. Transformative and inspirational!
