How Do You Show Up? Unlocking the Power of Change in Everyday Moments

From Influence to Action: Spotting Catalytic Leaders in Unexpected Places

It showed up in every event during the Paris Summer Olympics. Athletes made others around them better at every turn, and encouraged each other to perform at their best.

It shows up in music and the arts every time a musician, cast, or team takes the stage. The musicians/actors/cast play off of one another effortlessly in conveying the ideas, mood, emotion of the piece to perform seamlessly as a team.

And yes, it shows up in organizations across every single industry. Leaders show up for their teams with the habits that focus on making those around them better. 

Studying the Hidden Impact of Catalytic Leadership 

Our original field research examined all three of these settings: sports, arts, business. We asked over 90 interviewees to share with us their experiences in working with leaders who make others around them better, and subsequently to describe the behaviors that they exhibited.

What are the behaviors, the actions, that catalytic leaders exhibit with their teams?

We witnessed catalytic behaviors in organizations as diverse as a McDonald’s restaurant in Fortville, Indiana, the Silk Road Ensemble with YoYo Ma and Sandeep Das, the Miami Heat (with Shane Battier), the Butler University basketball teams, and a family-owned kitchen design business. 

No matter the industry, we found that Catalysts: 

• Think beyond their immediate roles to ensure that what they do helps drive the overall goals of the team 
• Establish strong, trusting relationships with others. 
• Prioritize team performance over personal accolades
• Relish hard work while demonstrating optimism and grit

Turning Catalytic Data into Real World Impact 

We took the next logical step in identifying with more specificity what these qualities in leaders looked like in practice.  Our field research resulted in the clear identification of twelve key competencies, all of which are behaviorally defined. Each has a behavioral definition as well as a “counter behavior” description. 

Embedded in The Catalyst Effect’s Four Cornerstones are, what we like to call, The Twelve Competencies.

The Twelve Competencies define the behaviors of a catalytic leader or teammate.  While some catalysts are relatively strong in all of them, most leaders benefit from understanding how they “show up” to others relative to strengths and “gaps”: what encouraging, positive behaviors they bring to the team, and which of their actions may detract from their positive interaction with others.

For example, competency #3, Invigorates with Optimism.

• Definition: Energizes others with a confident, hope-filled outlook on the future. Conveys a can-do attitude.
• Counter behaviors: Saps others with negativity and pessimism; complains or gossips (often behind the backs of others).

Whether someone is a formal leader with authority and title, or an informal team leader who influences others around them, the Competencies practiced in concert can have a powerful impact on teams. 

At McDonald’s, Optimism may be as simple as one employee explained: 

“McDonald’s gives people chances nobody else will. They expect us to succeed and they let us know they think we can. That makes us better as individuals and as a crew.” 

For the crews at that location, the leader set can-do expectations for everyone who came to work there, whether a high school student in a first job, or an older worker returning to help make ends meet.

As Brad Stevens reflected when he was head BB coach at Butler University, 

“We always wanted to have 15 players putting the team above self. We had never thought of that in terms of having 15 authentic leaders. On the back of our practice jerseys for that season was one word:  CATALYST. It served throughout the season to remind us that we all shared ownership and were responsible to each other.”

As you consider the competencies most important to your team(s), reflect on the twelve Competencies in the Catalyst Effect model. They are in our view learnable and teachable; they cut across a wide range of personalities and work styles; and implemented in concert, they can make your leaders and teams better.

To understand how you and others in your organization show up to others:

• Contact us at [email protected]
• See our sample report overview here.
• Or learn more at action360.us.