We all know that today’s leaders face a lot of challenges. Markets are volatile and complex, there has been a widespread erosion of trust, and organisations everywhere need to become more agile to cope with the changing demands of our unpredictable world.  Leaders are being forced to change, and the old style of command and control leadership just doesn’t cut it any more.  We all need to work in a more joined up way – to be more connected.

So how can leaders become more connected?

We believe it is critical to communicate a clear direction, purpose and values to engage employees inside the organisation as well as customers beyond it.  Leaders can achieve this if they can lead through influence rather than control, and devolve decision-making across organisations.  This relies on effective communication and connection across the organisation based on a consistent set of assumptions.

A connected leader needs to be an emotionally intelligent leader, able to manage his or her emotional energy and to mobilise, focus and renew the collective energy of others.

Dr Martyn Newman, the renowned psychologist and author, talks about ‘emotional capital’ – the feelings, beliefs, perceptions and values that people hold when they engage with any business. In his book, Emotional Capitalists, Martyn contends that emotional assets in the organisation determine whether or not people will work well with you, buy from you, and enter into business with you. As a leader, the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and to recognise and empathise with the emotions of others can help build critical connections that lead to deep commitment. Emotional capital is valuable because it creates strong relationships that enable people to collaborate more effectively and achieve effective collective outcomes.

More effective collaboration is important to the organisations I work with as they aim to introduce a more connected, shared style of leadership.  They are keen to encourage their people to adapt and learn while remaining true to the core mission of the organisation. At one leading mobile communications company, an increased awareness of emotional intelligence has helped leaders to communicate more authentically, which has helped to build more open and productive relationships. This has led to a dramatic increase in engagement, which has had a positive impact on financial results.

The cult of the ‘hero’ leader vs. new post-heroic culture

I have also done a lot of research into the whole area of connected leadership and identified a definite move away from the cult of the ‘hero’ leader to a new post-heroic culture which is more in line with society’s emphasis on values, democracy and transparency of information.  This is very much in line with Dr Martyn Newman’s values-based approach to ‘emotional capital’.

Instead of organisations creating more controls (and the associated bureaucracy) to become more connected, many want to create a more empowered environment and a new level of simplicity. This in turn requires a high degree of trust among people in the organisation – trust that each person and team will play a part in the process, and trust that each person and team will seek what’s best for the whole business based on a shared purpose.

Emotional intelligence is key to building this trust and cutting through complexity.  In my experience, many organisations aspire to building critical connections that work seamlessly, based on goodwill and shared expectations of a successful future.  Simpler, more straightforward, trustworthy and connected companies? More and more, that’s what leaders, employees and customers want to see.

Simon Hayward is has worked with some of the world’s leading organisations on international leadership development and strategic employee engagement programs. Simon was formerly head of Academee, which was recognised by both The Financial Times and The Sunday Times as one of the UK’s Best Companies to Work For.

He sold Academee to Oliver Wyman in 2008 and founded Cirrus in 2010. Simon is researching the links between leadership and employee engagement as part of his DBA and Manchester Business School. He is part of the UK government’s employee engagement task force.