Metamorphic Leadership

"Metamorphic leadership is a leadership approach that is focused on the effects of environmental, cultural, and technological change that are acting on the individual and organisation. Through creative collaboration and empowerment, the metamorphic leader seeks to position the individuals and organisation to realise the most favourable opportunities from this change. At an individual interaction level, its purpose is to create valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing good Followers into leaders"

Behaviour 6

Metamorphic leaders deal in change, both external and internal to their teams. In extremis, this may mean that the organisation modifies some of its values, which may be more pertinent to the new business environment. It will most probably mean that the structure and interconnectedness of the team will have changed. Some people will be up-skilled, new members with different skill sets may join the team.

As a metamorphic leader it is your job to build your organisation’s capability, a kind of organisational evolutionary enabler. Every time you do this you transform the form and function of your team. The one aspect that does not change is your purpose or just cause. In essence, you are trying to capitalise on ‘change’ to become more effective at continuing on your journey towards your just cause or vision. You can only become a successful metamorphic leader if you have three essential ingredients:

· Your focus is squarely fixed on the phenomena of ‘change’.

· You continue to practice and embody the 5 previous leadership behaviours.

· You are confident that your team, is a team of potential leaders.

The ‘what’ of metamorphic leadership is built on the effective practice of all of the other leadership behaviours, this is perhaps why we see so few truly transformational leaders of large organisations. The ‘how’ of metamorphic leadership, or the mechanism of action, is built on shared values, common purpose, enablement and selflessness.

‘Why’ is metamorphic leadership necessary? Because we as individuals are surrounded by an environment that is constantly changing, indeed it is changing at an ever-faster rate and as history never fails to remind us, if we don’t change, we become irrelevant at best, or die at worst.

Enacted in its authentic form, metamorphic leadership enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers. Key to leading a transformation in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment is to ensure that you never lose sight of what your vision and purpose are as an organisation, despite changing how you achieve this vision and purpose.