Dr. Angela Dash Shares Three Considerations for Effective Corporate Leadership

In the face of changing expectations for business, effective corporate leadership will set apart the companies that will thrive in the long term. 

Today’s leaders face an accountability disruption on multiple scales—they must meet new expectations of consumers and employees, reevaluate how they operate as socially responsible organizations, and balance profit with long-term sustainability. In addition, they must be prepared to pave a path forward in the midst of unexpected circumstances.

For many leaders, the pressure to perfectly respond to situations—particularly complex environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues—breeds a stressful environment that is often compounded by feelings of isolation. According to Dr. Angela Dash, leadership coach and Kindred Advisor, leaders often operate in silos when it comes to personal growth and development; they’re wary of being vulnerable and transparent about what they don’t know. Another de facto silo is how organizations navigate decisions large and small about culture, corporate citizenship, board management and anticipation, and more. This is where a leadership advisor comes in.

Dash has over 23 years of leadership experience and works with individuals and organizations from diverse industries as an executive and professional coach, advisor, dialogue facilitator, trainer, and organizational conflict management consultant. As a coach, she specializes in working with people seeking to transform how they lead, live, and engage. Dash provides guidance to Kindred members through Advisory, a new member benefit that provides leaders with one-on-one coaching on ESG topics, including DE&I and workplace.

Working with a Kindred Advisor provides an opportunity for members, who are executives at leading for-profit and nonprofit organizations, to be “honest about whatever it is that they are struggling with and what their desires are, [and to bounce that off] someone who is objective,” she says. By working with an advisor, leaders will be able to better understand the implications of an evolving economy and society.

We recently sat down with Dash to discuss the challenges facing today’s leaders and how they can respond. Below are three considerations for effective leadership.

1. Make your peace with imperfection.

Certain character traits such as perfectionism may contribute to a leader’s success. But overly striving for perfection can become problematic. “It keeps you from being honest with yourself,” says Dash. “It keeps you from being honest with others.”

According to Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, perfectionism is one of the characteristics of white supremacy culture, which promotes conformity to existing social norms and hinders inclusive environments. In the workplace, some examples of perfectionist behaviors include showing little appreciation for the work of others, pointing out inadequacies, or seeing mistakes as a reflection of the individual. Perfectionists also tend to spend more time pointing out personal faults and failures, rather identifying lessons and learning from mistakes. 

Dash notes that today’s employees value honesty, vulnerability, and transparency from leadership, which fosters trust needed to build a thriving company. When leaders are transparent about what they’re trying to accomplish and how they are trying to grow, it gives everybody else permission to be transparent about their growth.

Instead of holding back, leaders should be comfortable with appearing imperfect.

“The greatest leaders are imperfect leaders,” Dash says. “And they are transparent about that imperfection as well as their commitment to growing and developing with the employees, and supporting the employees doing the same.”

2. Lead through change with emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence—or the ability to manage one’s emotions in positive ways in order to relieve stress, communicate effectively, and empathize with others—is a key characteristic of effective corporate leadership. 

When leaders face unprecedented pressures, a lack of self-awareness and self-management skills will compound problems and hinder their ability to be resilient. “If you’re not able to manage yourself, you surely can’t manage relationships,” Dash says. 

Emotional intelligence is also critical for change management. When leading organizational change, many leaders focus on the tactical aspects and forget the “people part” of the change. “An emotionally intelligent leader understands that when there is organizational change, it’s important to have empathy and understanding that each individual in that company will respond to that change differently,” she adds.

3. Communicate with clarity and deprioritize your discomfort. 

For effective corporate leadership, executives must be comfortable with communicating clearly, even when this involves having tough conversations. 

“Conflict is unavoidable, but there’s some conflict that doesn’t have to happen,” says Dash. “It’s important for a leader to be willing to work through any discomfort and have tough conversations and even deliver tough information because what happens when they don’t? It diminishes trust.”

Dash cites an example of research she conducted on workplace bullying in which she noticed a correlation between trust in an organization and the negative impacts of witnessing bullying. She found that the employees who had a higher level of trust in leadership were less adversely affected by the stress related to witnessing bullying.

“Part of what made them trust their organization was that the company was honest,” she says. “They knew when something happened, when problems happened, they handled it. The leaders handled tough situations; they didn’t avoid them.”

On the other hand, when leaders didn’t handle problematic situations at work, it signaled to employees that those situations could happen to them, too. 

While sharing negative information may be difficult, delivering news clearly, honestly, and with empathy helps create a safe environment for employees that will, in turn, support community, growth, and sustainability. 

Kindred members can learn more about effective corporate leadership and more from Dr. Angela Dash by booking a one-on-one Advisory session. Not a member? Learn more about Advisory and other benefits of Kindred membership.