Leadership is the art of inspiring a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Leaders can be formal or informal – they can also be willing or unwilling. Leaders are evaluated on the achievement of the common goal and on the cost of achieving that goal. To the latter end, if a leader sacrifices: culture, ethics, trust, or their subordinates the achievement of the goal may be counterproductive.
During this most difficult time in our country’s history, we can view many examples of good and poor leadership. We see it all levels of government and we view it daily in our companies and in our families. The impact of leadership on the overall psyche of any organization and its counterparts is readily visible for all to see.
To be successful, a leader needs to be able to display the following traits / characteristics:
1) Inspirational – the leader must believe in the mission, must share the vision and must convince others of the need and value in both.
2) Truthful – the leader must always be truthful. Other members of the organization can quickly tell when they are being lied to or manipulated.
3) Loyal – a leader that demonstrates loyalty to his followers will receive loyalty in return.
4) Fair – a leader that does not demonstrate fair treatment to all employees will not develop the loyalty in the preceding point.
5) Servant leadership – a leader that helps other members achieve their goals will ultimately achieve the corporate goals.
6) Committed to training and development of everyone – a leader must understand that the most valuable asset is people and the development of those people. (Author note – I find it interesting that in one of our country’s most difficult times companies have laid off significant numbers of individuals. We say that people are the most valuable but our actions are contrary to this belief.
7) Not a fault finder – a leader that is always looking to cast blame creates fear in the organization. Fear will result in unnecessary bureaucracy and procedures. It will also discourage new innovations.
Allows mistakes as a learning process – a leader must encourage risk taking. It will not always be successful. The leader that takes failure as lessons learned will inspire others.
9) Competence – a leader must demonstrate competence in his/her specialty – OR – demonstrate competence in hiring an individual that has competence where the leader does not.
The challenge then is for each individual to recognize their shortfalls in leadership and then be open to learning the techniques to improve their own skill set. What is the first step on the path of leadership? In all cases, the first characteristic that must be utilized is trust. Whenever there is “chatter” behind one’s back, it will usually take the form of “I don’t trust him / her”. Never forget that the first goal of any leader is to win over the hearts and minds of their followers.
© 2009 Jim Lindell