On Monday I laid out the background for the "leadership mindsets" session I did in Michigan last week. In short, there are three trends that are pushing us to change our approach to leadership:

• the pace of change is through the roof
• the social internet is a game changer
• the current generational shift has leadership-specific implications

I then made the case for three new "mindsets" or approaches to leadership that I think are viable responses to these trends. Note that leadership mindsets are tricky animals. They are the high level boundaries we put on what is possible and what works when it comes to leadership. It's interesting, because it is frequently not explicit, and sometimes not even conscious. I'm voting for making it conscious and consciously choosing these new mindsets:

 1. Ecosystems, not machines. I made this case in the Truth and Authenticity in the Digital age presentation that Maddie Grant and I did at Great Ideas, and I spelled it out in this post on the SocialFish blog. The points of being decentralized, transparent, and having no fear (and more truth) all relate directly to the three trends identified above.

 2. Innovation as a staple, not a luxury. I really loved Guy Kawasaki's talk about innovation at Great Ideas, but it left me thinking about "curve jumping" changes, like from ice factories to refrigerators, or amazing innovation game changers that come out of Apple or Google. If we talk about innovation only in the context of those amazing stories, what is the poor Association of Random Groups going to do? It's almost like it lets us off the hook. "Gee I wish I could make innovation part of my organization, but I'm no Google…" I think we should make innovation more like bread or rice–a staple of our diet, something that happens all the time, something that is always within reach. Let's apply innovation to our specific (even boring) processes as well as our business models.

 3. Clarity over control. Lindy, Maddie, and I have been touting this mantra for several months now, but I need to be really clear: this doesn't mean abandoning all control. I'm getting a little perplexed when I introduce fairly complex leadership ideas, and I get radically oversimplified (and ludicrous) responses. It's like I suggest that when driving automobiles, pressing the gas pedal will move you forward, and someone raises their hand and says "You mean if I'm driving and there is a pedestrian in front of me I should press the gas pedal and run him over?!" Whaa?!

Clarity over control does NOT mean abandoning all control. It means that we need to start letting go of SOME of the areas where we used to demand control. You used to have time to get all the information you needed so you could control a response, and now you don't (pace of change). Young employees used to be content with you making the decisions, but not any more (generational shift). If you can build the discipline of clarity–giving clear strategic guides to stakeholders and then getting out of their way, for instance–then I think you'll be better off. It's not easy, though. Holding yourself accountable to clarity is hard work, and it requires you to actually ask for feedback from others in your system.

So why not give these mindsets a try? Take a look at leadership in your organization. Where can the ecosystem metaphor help you make a shift in how things get done? What would you start to change if innovation were actually within your reach (because it is)? Where can you send power and control from the center to the periphery, and what kind of clarity will help that work better? Try it. Push yourself.