It seems like everyone has a different approach to leadership in the business world, and many are at odds. Still, companies hoping to grow are always on the lookout for ways to improve their leadership skills. Hence, this is why coaching programs exist to help businesses realize their leadership potential. Dr. Laura Freebairn-Smith and Tony Panos lead the Organizational Performance Group (OPG). OPG works with people on abundance leadership — to help them see beyond the obvious and achieve things once thought impossible.
At Organizational Performance Group, their programs spread what they call the “abundance mindset” to help create healthier, stronger, and better organizations. Having an abundance mindset means being positive and optimistic, sharing resources, and keeping an open mind. Furthermore, it means staying visible to your staff. These practices run counter to how some businesses have historically operated. However, they are quickly becoming the future of how companies lead their employees.
Running counter to the abundance mindset is the scarcity mindset. “The scarcity mindset works from fear,” says Tony Panos, co-founder and partner at OPG. “The behaviors that leaders display with scarcity mindsets are often responses to fear. For example, empowerment is not something to fear — it is something to strive towards.” The difference that leaders make at their companies by eliminating this fear and leading from a place of openness and trust is profound.
OPG’s Abundance Leadership Coaching
The Abundance Leadership Coaching program is more than a coaching methodology. Rather, it is an entire philosophy. The coaches at OPG not only teach their coaches skills, but they also share principles and competencies that transform how their clients approach their work. OPG’s goal is to empower people to become better leaders by showing what they may not have noticed about their own practices. OPG helps people find the solutions to improve their practices. “The Abundance Coaching Philosophy revolves around empowerment and ownership,” says Panos. “The abundance leader looks at power as something shareable in order to help others be more empowered, and to help themselves and the organization be more successful.”
Approaching leadership with an abundance mindset fundamentally changes how you approach your business. ”It has been said that leading is one of the loneliest jobs in business,” says Panos. “However, I argue that being an abundance leader is one of the most engaged and rewarding parts of work. The level of engagement that surrounds the abundance leader is enriching, not only for the people associated with the leader, but also for the leader.” Abundance leadership is not just about your success — it is about facilitating other people’s success along with it.
Panos says that the most crucial feature of the abundance mindset is maintaining positivity. “See the opportunities in adversity, and seek creative solutions to difficult problems,” says Panos. “Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into the vortex of negativity that has permeated our society recently. Also strive to be the best you can while recognizing that, sometimes, it is what it is, and it is good enough.”
The Pillars of the Abundance Mindset
Authentic Listening
The first step in developing an abundance mindset is authentic listening. Abundance leadership is all about creating a dialogue between employer and employee. Listening to employees is a great way to begin. The scarcity mindset is always present in some form. However, being open-minded and listening authentically helps you identify and overcome your weaknesses as a leader, and improve your organization.
Skillful Curiosity
Great abundance leaders also have the quality of skillful curiosity. “Curiosity and interest in others are components of the abundance mindset,” explains Panos. “In order to be curious, you need to be able to ask good questions that are truly questions — not statements masked as questions.” Skillful curiosity and authentic listening go hand-in-hand. Listening and understanding the perspective of who you are listening to create engagement. This engagement is essential for sustaining the dialogue fundamental to the abundance mindset.
Creative Responding
These competencies of authentic listening and skillful curiosity heighten an individual’s capacity for creative responding. Those who come to OPG look for help in becoming better leaders. In addition, they often search for more effective strategies to solve problems. Abundance leadership involves looking at a situation empathetically, and creating a dialogue to understand the needs of all parties in the situation. This leads to the ability to think about a problem more clearly and creatively. As a result, the individual develops solutions that are effective for everyone.
Conclusion
In closing, abundance leadership helps your organization flourish. It opens your eyes to the many possibilities for your business if you understand how you can share power and resources with your employees, and how this will help your organization grow. “So much is possible. Moreover, with the exercise of creativity, what is possible can be made into reality,” says Panos.
