In today’s continually changing economic and political landscape along with the rapid innovation of technology, how can a leader keep up? In order to lead from the front, leaders need to continually learn, understand market trends and stay aligned with the company’s vision and mission. It’s not always inherent or easy to understand what leadership attributes they need to refine their skills given this environment.

When you pair fast-moving business dynamics with a reduction in education and training budgets within organizations, many rising leaders are doing everything they can to have an impact on both the top and bottom line by applying more energy, time and effort to achieve their goals. As organizations are continually transforming, here’s how you can make sure you become a transformational leader.

These “7Transformational Leadership Steps” offer a framework for leaders to be dynamic and to motivate and challenge their teams to achieve goals with velocity:

1. Define Your Goals: Identify with specificity the goals you want to achieve – Revenue, Sales, Career Plan, Project Outcomes and what it would take to achieve them.
2. Embrace Awareness: Notice where obstacles arise within your team, in your processes and in your resources. Take note of your own reactions when obstacles arise. Notice what is triggered within you and how you respond when things get stuck. And finally, make sure to also be aware of how your team responds in critical moments or when facing obstacles.
3. Accept What Works/What Doesn’t: Even in a world where everything is digitized, it’s helpful to keep a 3 x 5 card in your pocket to make a note of which of your leadership attributes empower your team and which attributes create more obstacles for the team’s success (i.e. outward frustration, fear, anger or stress).
4. Choose Your Path: With this newly found awareness, you can now zero in on the obstacles that tend to get in the way. Answer questions like: is your team enrolled in your leadership plan and empowered to achieve a visualized goal? Are they motivated and participatory or just going through the motions? What would it take to become unstoppable as a team? Your historical leadership style and decision-making process, which may have served you well in the past, may not serve you moving forward. From this place, transformational leaders are able to quickly course correct and choose a new path.
5. Empower Others: Once you decide to stay the course or to choose a new path, it is important to your action plan to create a shift in the energy of your team moving forward. Take time to understand and remove any negative attitudes or emotions out of the collaborative space. Do this for yourself first, then address it within your team. If needed, explore what you can do differently as a leader to re-inspire others. With a positive, engaged team, you can embark on your powerful action plan, progressing through and beyond the obstacles.
6. Establish Structure: At the end of the day it’s up to you to lead and manage the team. Lead within a structure that provides both support and accountability for the team’s success as a whole. Ensure everyone’s ideas are heard and directly ask each individual for their commitment. This can be a powerful moment; don’t let it pass you by.
7. Remember Acknowledgement: Everyone responds to positive feedback. Take time to personally acknowledge each team member’s individual contribution, and illustrate how that is part of the collective success!

To create unprecedented results in business, today’s leaders must first look within and leverage their innate strengths to create an environment of possibility. Transformational leaders stand for their team’s success, align the team to the vision of what can be and through collaborative empowerment, create a culture that is “unstoppable.”