Amazed is a word that is not strong enough to describe the feelings I get when I witness the tragic things that happen when there’s a void in leadership.
Whether you are an owner, a supervisor or on a board of directors, by all means exercise your leadership abilities. If you are among those who are challenged with those abilities, then make a plan to raise your leadership ability.
Your team, your organization can’t rise any higher than your leadership ability. John Maxwell labeled this “The Law of the Lid” and it’s the first law in his best-selling book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.Let’s look at some of the characteristics of a good leader:A good listener, enthusiastic, passionate, shows appreciation, casts a vision, is a role model, is trusting, organized, knowledgeable, has credibility, is persuasive, has charisma, is good at team building, has a clarity of purpose, is a problem solver, exhibits an attitude of service, leads by example, has patience, is willing to act without complete knowledge, understands followers, is consistent, empowers other people, and adapts to change.
When I ask my clients what the characteristics of a good leader are, their answers include the same items. From all this comes some useful insights.
1) Notice the elements this list contains. All of these characteristics relate to the human side of leadership. That’s interesting because all too many people minimize this side of leadership with terms like “soft” or “touchy-feely.” Actually, applying these characteristics requires more strength than many realize.2) Notice what the list excludes. Absent from this listing are characteristics such as stern, mean, serious, short tempered, vindictive, tough, angry, harsh, punitive, controlling, violent, or ruthless. And that’s interesting to me because many popular representations of leadership emphasize at least one of these “hard” characteristics. In fact, these characteristics are the refuge of those who lack the strength (or the skills) to apply the human side of leadership.
3) How about you? How would you rate yourself as a leader compared to the list of positive characteristics? If you were to survey the people who report to you, how would they describe your leadership? Would they list characteristics from the “soft” list or from the “hard” list? Could you become more effective by improving upon any of the “soft” characteristics? And how about the other leaders in your organization? Do they truly maximize human potential?
People want leaders who treat them with genuine compassion, courtesy, and respect. They want leaders who help them become more successful. They want leaders who inspire them with a vision for a better world and show them how to go there. They want leaders who shoot straight. They don’t want leaders who avoid the possible confrontation; avoid giving the feedback; avoid doing the sometimes tough things that need to be done.
Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard discovered in their book “The New One Minute Manager,” that people who feel good about themselves, do good work. My challenge to you as you finish 2021 is to grow your leadership ability and set a goal to be a better leader. Start by beginning to catch your employees doing something right.
