Whether you are leading a local marketing or sales team or are at the top of a large organisation, you will need the right traits to succeed. These essential traits are effective communication skills, confidence, and charisma. However, Nyenrode Business University believes that becoming a better leader goes further.
Nyenrode believes that leadership is about having shared values and a shared purpose with your team. Rather than focusing only on your personality traits, being a good leader is about the relationships you want to have between people and the emotional connections within your team.
Students who attend the Organisational Leadership & Talent Management classes during their full-time MBA at Nyenrode will focus on The Dream Circle, a concept developed by Prof. dr. Lidewey van der Sluis.
The circle starts with establishing a shared dream or purpose, which goes beyond having a clear mission statement that focuses largely on how your organisation will generate economic value. Rather, it is something that is more aspirational. The dream is about how the people involved in your organisation can make a difference when leaders give them a sense of meaning and are able to draw their support. Doing this will greatly improve how your teams cooperate as well as the quality of their work.
Once you have defined and put in place the dream you and your team will follow, it is time to dance. This involves building the foundation for the right company culture and team behaviours you want as a leader. It is important to establish a positive company culture that is focused on doing meaningful work, showing appreciation, considering wellbeing and safety, acknowledging potential and maintaining personal connections. A few aspects that, when done right, have a significant impact on your organisation’s culture.
Team behaviours are key for cooperating on achieving the shared dream. Effective teams are often characterised by high levels of trust, open and truthful discussions, consensus in decision making, commitment, real listening and the expression of feelings. Your role as a leader is to steer and nurture the positive behaviours that enable your team to dance together.
The final phase is where you and your team will start to deliver. With the shared dream in place and the ideal behaviours established, the team will be able to perform. They have a sense of purpose that goes beyond making the numbers; they are jointly aligned in how they can have a meaningful impact on the goals you set as their leader and the organisation you all work for.
You can take the next step on your route to becoming a better leader by following an MBA programme. Nyenrode boasts leaders who came before you that moved forward significantly in their management positions to lead teams of people across different organisations, geographies, and cultures.
Nyenrode Business University offers a full-time MBA in Amsterdam that is designed to boost your leadership potential. At Nyenrode, you will gain a truer sense of direction, as well as an enhanced ability to motivate and lead others. Find out more by requesting their all-new brochure, or by scheduling a meeting with their programme advisor.