Now more than ever people are discussing what it takes to be a good leader and what skills are needed. Inc talks about how to develop leadership with a corporate conscious, while others discus characteristics a good leader should have and how to adjust to remote leadership.
In the past I have discussed Simon Sinek and his book “Leaders Eat Last” which has valuable information about being a leader as well as “Together is Better” Jim Collins in “Good to Great” shares similar thoughts
Let’s go a little deeper. First why is this important? Globalization/world economy, Pace of change, Business complexities and of course a Pandemic and the social arising of Black Lives Matter. In the wake of tragedy/change, leaders are faced with challenges that stretch their abilities and skills. In this global economy of rapid change and increasing complexity, many leaders struggle to lead their companies in the right direction. Now, more than ever, there is increased uncertainty, more complexity, and more chaos. What do you as a leader need to know?
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” -Napoleon Bonaparte
Leaders know who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to fully deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. They also know what they want, why they want it, and how to communicate what they want to others, in order to gain their cooperation and support. They know how to achieve their goals. The key to full self-expression is understanding one’s self and the world, and the key to understanding is learning from one’s own life and experiences.
Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness. (Master Sun Tzu) The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant to employees.(Max dePree)
As Max dePree mentioned leaders are a servant to employees. Ken Blanchard calls this servant leadership and asks the question; are you here to serve or be served? Too often the ego gets in the way of being an effective leader; they may have false pride thinking they know more and are better than anyone else or they are trying to overcome fear and self doubt by being authoritarian. People are either called or driven to be leaders. If they are driven they must control everything. Those who are called recognize that everything is on loan both the people and the position and they need to accept that .
Important habits of a servant leader start with how you begin your day. Are you solely focused on tasks and are transactional; which studies show can drain your energy. Or are you transformational and focusing on the performance improvement of the people you lead. Ken Blanchard suggests three points; plan coach evaluate. He tells the story of when he was a university professor and gave the students the final on the first day of class then he spent the semester teaching them what was on the final and of course they all received an A; which is our goal, to achieve the best performance.
In the workplace plan means to set the goals and objectives and how people will be held accountable to achieve expectations. Coaching is the day to day support and communication to enable each person to do their best. The evaluation is not necessarily at the end of a given period but ongoing to make sure goals are appropriate and relevant
What kind of leader are you? To learn more about being an effective leader contact harriet@trainingsolutions-hlc.com Your business and staff are counting on you being your best.
For advice on effective leading remotely
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