Think about the leaders you admire. Whether it is at work, in government or sports, or in a social organization, you regularly come in contact with or observe from afar, leaders in all aspects of your life. You have probably noticed that some leaders are more successful than others. Some people lead their teams to achieve amazing results, while others struggle to get the team to accomplish anything. Leadership is a multifaceted topic, and there is no formula that you can follow that will automatically make you become a better leader. Becoming an effective leader takes work. Over the years, academic researchers have developed a variety of theories about what makes someone a great leader. None of these theories provides a complete answer to the question of what makes a good leader. At times, you are a team member working under the leadership of someone else and, more often, you are called upon to lead the group. Many of the teams that you are associated with should be successful and deliver amazing results, while others fail to achieve their mission. It is always an exhilarating feeling to be a member of or the leader of a team that accomplishes its objectives.
The Leadership Mindset
I believe that everyone possesses the ability to be a leader. In this plengdut.com post, I am not going to give you a specific recipe with the exact steps that you must follow to become a leader. Human interaction is too complicated a process for that. What I will provide is a set of tools that will guide you in developing the leadership skills that you already have. You will use these leaderships tools to develop the Leadership Mindset.
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| A Leadership Mindset is a way of thinking about human interactions. It guides the leaders’ actions as they discover what makes groups of people flourish when they work toward a goal. It is an understanding about the concepts that fuel leadership excellence. By recognizing the essential traits of skillful leaders, and purposefully working to develop them in yourself, you will continue to develop the skills that will make you an effective leader. |
The Six Essential Skills of Effective Leaders
Throughout you, have observed leaders who regularly guided high-performing groups. The leaders whom you regarded as the best shared a set of characteristics that made them, and the groups they led, more likely to succeed. Among the many ways of thinking about leadership, the leadership standard that you observe to be most effective is often referred to as transformational leadership. Transformational leadership approach generates positive change. Transformational leaders create a vision to guide the team. They encourage and motivate their followers to innovate, change, and grow. These leaders mindset motivate their teams to achieve significant results. They serve as role models and create an atmosphere where team members will develop into effective leaders. Here are the traits and characteristics that are demonstrated by exemplary transformational leaders. In the following chapters we will delve more deeply into each of these characteristics, and you will learn what you can do to strengthen the leadership skills that you already possess.
Communication
Communication is an essential aspect of leadership. Good leaders create and maintain an open process of communication. This is a two-route line of correspondence that urges colleagues to offer information. It's anything but an exacting top-down progression of requests from the leader. Successful leaders inspire the team members by setting goals that are achievable, and they effectively communicate those goals. At the same time, they challenge the team members to perform to the best of their abilities. At times, leaders step out of their comfort zone and encourage others to do the same. They empower the staff to offer suggestions and encourage them to make decisions when appropriate.
Commitment
Strong leaders inspire commitment. It is a commitment to the group’s shared objectives rather than allegiance to the leader per say. The type of personality-based blind loyalty that discourages dialogue and expects team members to follow orders without question can lead the team to disastrous results. Trust is a key component of leadership. Team members must feel that they trust the leader and, at the same time, the leader has to have confidence that he or she can trust the members of the team. A centerpiece of leadership is getting buy-in from the team. Helping the group members understand the “why we are doing this” is an important aspect of telling them what needs to be done. People are more strongly motivated to take an action when they know why taking that action is important. This means that the leader has to share information appropriately. Does that mean the leader has to share everything with the group? No, it doesn’t. It means that there must be enough transparency to keep the team headed toward the group’s goals.
Collaboration
Good leaders foster collaboration and maintain an open dialogue. Listening to what the team members say is as important as telling them what needs to be done. Listening to the team members concerns, objections, and suggestions will give them an investment into the decisions. Even when they disagree with the ultimate decision, the team members will be more inclined to accept the leader’s decision and follow the directions if they feel they had an opportunity to provide input. Delegation is a key component of strong leadership. Leaders often hesitate to delegate important tasks because they fear the other person will not do the job in the same manner as the leader would have. The world is constantly changing, so skillful leaders are always open to change. Problems will emerge that the leader and the team had not expected, so overcoming these new problems may take a change in mindset, and they may need to look for new ways to approach the issue.
Over the years, you learn that when you delegate responsibilities, your subordinates didn’t always do the job in the exact same way you might have. However, you made sure they understood the outcome that was expected, and they knew that you will follow up to ensure that outcome was achieved. You realize that they often came up with better, cheaper, or more effective solutions to the problem than you would have.
Consideration
No one has all the answers all the time, so effective leaders encourage problem solving. In my experience, I found that by describing the problem and then listening as group members join a dialogue around possible solutions often led to a suitable solution that I had not considered. Leaders do not always have all the answers, so encouraging an environment of consideration can lead the team to unanticipated successes. Pushing the team toward its goals without providing the tools and support that are necessary for the team to achieve those goals makes it more difficult for the team to succeed. Providing resources is an important component of leadership.
Constancy
Leaders who display constancy demonstrate integrity and fairness in everything they do. Strong leaders are dependable and reliable. They follow through on their commitments. At the same time, they establish the expectation that all team members will follow through on their individual responsibilities. Exceptional leaders are generally self-reflective. They understand that they are human and can make mistakes. When they do make a mistake, they accept responsibility rather than blaming others. Great leaders also understand that their success depends on the actions of the entire team, so they share the credit when the team is successful.
Confidence
Exceptional leaders are confident, yet they are not arrogant. They value the contribution of all their subordinates, while at the same time offering honest and constructive feedback. The leader knows that the goals of the group are attainable, even if they will be very difficult to attain, and sets that expectation for the group. A leader displays a positive attitude that inspires the team to reach for objectives that might test the limits of the team’s capabilities. The leader encourages the team members to look beyond their self-interest and recognize that achieving the team’s goals are in everyone’s best interest.