THE BEST LEADERS HAVE THESE LEADERSHIP TRAITS

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Model Behaviour

 

Great leaders model great behaviour; attributes like clear vision, positive energy, professional attire, strong work ethic, ambition.  These behaviours have a powerful effect on those who come into contact with them.  People are naturally attuned to copying each other as a means to build social bonds.  Kids imitate the habits of their parents.  Teammates match the competitive energy of one another.  But leaders have an additional advantage:

 

"all people, across all cultures, share common base values, 

and one of these is a respect for authority"

 

Where management sets a high standard, employees will instinctively raise their standard.  And actions speak louder than words.  Modelling a behaviour is stronger than telling someone to act differently.  Managers who model great behaviour, in effect, direct their organisation’s culture.  Those who spend time with their people and engage with their work issues, create a strong team.  Those who try different approaches and take risks, encourage their people to be innovative.  Leaders have a unique power to create a cascade effect in those they lead, by modelling the behaviour they wish to see.

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Leading the way

 

• Vision - All companies are established with a mission and purpose.  Great leaders communicate these wider goals, and with a high degree of belief and passion.  They understand that people need to be inspired by a higher vision, and typically that their work will have a positive impact on somebody’s life, looking beyond profitability.  They understand that it benefits our health, happiness and motivation that we dedicate ourselves to a purpose that transcends the mundane hustle and bustle of daily living.  Leaders get their hands dirty, they communicate relentlessly to ensure that everyone understands the greater good to be achieved.

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• Goals - Leaders connect, motivate, and inspire a sense of ownership of shared objectives.  Staff all working with the same goal in mind.  People make more progress when managers clarify where the work is heading and why it matters.  Studies show that teams that make greater progress with work projects had more instances where the project goals and the team members’ individual work goals were clear or were changed carefully and where people knew why their work mattered to the team, the organisation, and the organisation’s customers. 

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• Standards - If not stated, junior managers are free to act in ways that suit their own ways of working, which can undermine or leave employees unsupported, leading to dissatisfaction and poor performance.  Only by clearly stating your standards and expectations, and acting in accordance with them, do they become real, and employees and managers understand what is right from what is wrong.  In the absence of this clarity, it is inevitable that different standards will be applied by different managers, some good, some bad, often damaging to the company.  Setting clear standards, and high standards, communicates the desired path to the whole organisation.

 

Finding talented, smart people

 

Getting the best people into key posts.  Those who have a record of success or record of making improvements.  They are not so easy to find.  Leaders also recognise the importance of empowering their people through delegating tasks appropriately, providing proper guidance and limits, and providing them with an environment that supports them when they need help.  When you get the best people, and empower them, their intelligence and talents are unleashed to help the business grow.

 

Strong analytical skills

 

Strong leaders typically base their decisions on sound analysis and avoid the many biases to which decisions are prone.  They accurately differentiate between important and unimportant issues, and give the appropriate weight to stakeholder concerns.   When listening to suggestions, they sort through a mass of ideas (many of which can be dismissed) and identify the best ones that fit into a coherent whole, which is a very difficult task.  

 

Seeking different perspectives

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This trait is conspicuous in leaders who monitor trends affecting organisations and grasp changes in the environment.  Keeping an open mind and continuing to learn.  Encouraging employees to contribute ideas that could improve performance.  Good leaders not only possess strong analytical skills themselves, but can harness the analytical power and life experiences of their staff.  They are superb listeners, and strive to understand the thinking behind every suggestion.

 

Supporting others

 

Leaders obtain authority by treating subordinates with respect and competence.  Leaders who are supportive can understand and sense how other people feel.  By having a sincere interest in those around them, they build trust and inspire and help colleagues to overcome challenges.  They intervene in group work to promote organisational efficiency, allaying unwarranted fears about external threats and preventing the energy of employees from dissipating into internal disagreements.  They also understand the importance of close communication on performance; recognising and praising good work, and targeting weaknesses when necessary.  

 

Operating with a strong results orientation 

 

Leadership is about not only developing and communicating a vision and setting objectives but also following through to achieve results.  To ensure that people and people and teams are functioning well.  Get out their way, let them function, give them support.  Leaders with a strong results orientation tend to emphasise the importance of process, effectiveness, and prioritise the highest-value work. 

 

Engagement

 

Engagement is the ‘secret sauce’ to people based businesses.  To pull people together and steer the course. Ensuring that problems are addressed, everyone's concerns are accommodated and everyone is pulling in the same direction.  A leader’s greatest leverage to improve the commitment and accountability of their employees does not lay in tracking their goal completion, but in creating and sustaining a motivating interpersonal environment. 

 

• Clarifying objectives.  Making sure people (including other managers) do not pay lip service to the values, tune out the communications, game the processes, dismiss observations and suggestions, operate to poor standards.  Leaders spot the weaknesses and nip problems in the bud.

 

• Sharing your experience.  To serve as a role model, share your own learning process and experiences.  Discuss your work issues and seek feedback from team members on their views, including how to resolve them.

 

• Asking the right questions.  When team members ask you how they should proceed, stimulate their thinking with questions rather than answers.  Ask team members to talk you through how they are thinking about work problems and what might help.  Ask other people to contribute ideas.

 

• Putting yourself in their shoes.  When you get frustrated at a team member, it is an opportunity to learn something about leadership.  Consider the situation from their point of view instead of reacting from frustration.

 

• Acknowledging achievements. Recognise and praise proactive behaviour whenever you see it occurring.