This is a blog post I've been writing for the best part of a year now. It's ideas and observations from running workshops on leadership for various people and organisations. You learn a great deal from running these events, Just as you learn a great deal when teaching. If you look at good leaders closely whilst they are working, they usually all share several, if not all of the same characteristics. They certainly are not in the business of collecting followers, but in making new leaders. Now you'll have read that quote in quite a few 'leadership' bibles by now probably. But what are the essential characteristics leaders display which inspire people to achieve great things for their organisations. I think you could possibly distil it down to the following list.
- Passion. All great leaders have a passion for their profession or/or business and/or organisation. This passion is infectious. It rubs off and inspires everybody else around them. No big inspirational speeches, just a constant enthusiasm for a clear mission which others want to be a part of. Good people want to be a part of something exciting and bigger and want to be able to say that they were a part of it. If you make these people feel like they are essential to the success of the mission, and give them credit that's due, your passion will inspire loyalty and that 'go the extra mile' factor in your team.
- Capacity-building. They always try to add value to their organisation by recruiting great people. its not the job of a leaders to gather followers but to enable more leaders to develop. Finding talented and creative people is a characteristic of truly great leaders.
- Excellence. This is not an aspiration but constantly and consistently modelled by great leaders. Your people can see by your example how they should be working, and they will set themselves their own goals for success based upon your example. When the going gets tough, they will model their responses on your behaviours and example.Everyone in the team is accountable for the success, but also for sharing the load. There are no favourites on the team; everyone is treated the same, with the same expectations of excellence from everyone.
- Lifelong learners. Great leaders are learners,but more than that, they are completely open about this. You don't stop learning once you get to a top leadership position, you just keep on going. They utilise the expertise within their own teams. If someone knows more about a particular area of the work in hand, great leaders are not afraid to defer to that expertise, not seeing this as a threat to their leadership, but an opportunity to learn by listening to the talent in their teams.
- Delegation. Great leaders give their team members the space to work, and to be creative and innovative. They don't micro-manage, but give people ownership of their work. They trust their people (who they've probably recruited) to do their jobs and perform their particular roles, giving them space to solve problems and challenges without the boss looking over their shoulders. Great leaders have their team members' backs and don't sacrifice them for their own personal 'safety' if something goes awry.
- Mentoring. Great leaders are a constant presence mentoring everyone in their team where its necessary. People are not just recruited and told to get on with the job. Great leaders work with people to bring out the best in them and its a constant process of professional development. Regular feedback on performance is a hallmark of this mentoring. Great leaders also take an interest in the personal lives of their people. They know about their families, their interests and activities outside of work and make them feel valued by asking about these things. And this personal knowledge helps them to know when they can push for more or when they need to pull back.
- Experience. Great leaders can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. people who want to get on will go with leaders who they believe will bring them success. They know that a leader was once in their shoes. Great leaders expose their people to a range of skills and experiences to broaden the overall skill sets of their teams. They are genuinely interested in helping more of their people to become great leaders themselves and they celebrate success when their people are promoted or move on. They help them develop their professional learning networks and share contacts where appropriate. They'll never block you on Twitter or LinkedIn -where they usually have plenty of endorsements of their skills and experiences.
- Facilitation. Great leaders facilitate the success of their people. They clear the path, and help them to achieve success by smoothing the way as much as possible, flattening out or removing the obstacles along the way. They know what might hold back their people and remove these barriers. They take care of all the politics, freeing up their folks to do their jobs without distraction.
- Bravery. Standing up for what's right, for their teams and for individuals is inspirational behaviour. Great leaders are visible. They don't spend all their time behind the closed office door, but out in amongst it mixing it up where the action is. They don't just follow the vision, they make the vision happen by fronting up to all the issues which can threaten success. They are not afraid to put their own jobs on the line where they believe that something needs to be said or done which might be viewed as controversial or a bit left-field.
- Fairness. Great leaders are scrupulously fair to everyone. They treat everybody in the same way, including themselves. They hold themselves to account in the same way as they hold their people to account, and never expect their people to do anything they wouldn't try to do themselves. Not afraid to dirty their hands and muck in with the team where necessary.
- Consistency. They always deliver what they promise. They are genuine people with no falseness about them so that you always know where you stand. Hidden agendas are not a part of their modus operandi. Great leaders understand that their people take their cues from them and so they behave in a way they'd expect others to behave also.
Have I missed anything out? please add your comments below. For great leadership seminars and workshops for your organisation, contact Nomsindo using the details on this site and let us help you to develop your leadership capacity.
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