What Being a Good Leader Means To Me with Theo Kanellopoulos

As I approached the end of another crazed, success-filled year, I noticed there was a huge shift happening in the business landscape. As I spend most of my days working closely with a variety of leaders in every facet of business, I’m starting to see a common change in how companies operate thanks to technology, a continual evolution of what and how the typical work-day looks, the introduction of workplace wellbeing and most impactfully the question of how to better manage people and what leadership now means for any and all businesses regardless of industry.

So, what does great leadership mean to me in the current workforce landscape?

Understanding the relationship between leadership and culture
There is no question that as a leader your behaviours at work, your style of communication, and how you handle the highs and the setbacks all affect the culture within your workplace.
As a leader, the one task I can never delegate is creating and upholding a positive culture for your employees – My example will always lead the experience.

I believe comes down to this, show your staff that you yourself have and continue to invest in work-life flexibility, understand and empathise with employees who have family and personal needs. Invest in your employees and show appreciation, be thoughtful and personal on a regular basis, and of course be a mentor when it’s required.

Redefine leadership
Over the last few years, I have started to change the way I perceive leadership. I strongly believe a great leader doesn’t have people who work for them, they instead work for the people they lead. I’ve found this to be especially important when scaling our business. In order to create the most effective and productive environment; we as leaders must create a space that allows our team to feel safe to be innovative, to communicate their opinions, concerns and to make and learn from mistakes.
The power of a compassionate leader who empowers their team members is still underestimated thanks to the ‘old beliefs’ that the only way to lead was through force and intimidation – I am a great example of a leader who is transitioning from the latter to the former and the results aren’t even close – being a tyrant is not an option, ever.