It’s great to have more readers sending in their articles for the site. This week Stephane writes for us.

Stephane Jacqmin

I was talking with Ian Lock, an SRA leadership consultant, about FTSE 100 companies with a very good track record of delivering top and bottom line growth and sustainably beating market expectations. He was telling me that a friend of his, within one of these companies, continues to experience leadership as very much an “uphill battle”.

This had me reflecting on my own leadership journey. I used to believe that leadership and delivering the financial targets were opposed. In my mind it was a case of “either/or”: either apply leadership principles or deliver the targets. Until one day, 5 years ago, when I decided to go for a leap of faith, and to be a leader! From that day on, I started to build strong personal relationships with all key stakeholders of my business engaging them in what I was setting out to achieve. It paid off. Since then, I keep delivering my financial targets through and with others, sustainably beating market expectations.

Think about your own leadership journey, and the extent to which you are able to bring your leadership to the delivery of great performance. How can you grow your leadership and build personal relationships with the key stakeholders of your business to ensure great performance?