Authenticity
Authentic leaders are open & honest, clearly communicate their vision and purpose, are at ease with their vulnerability, create strong cultures of psychological safety and build strong and meaningful relationships.
“To lead people, walk beside them. As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence… When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!"
Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher
High levels of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence, abbreviated to EI or sometimes EQ, is the ability to understand and manage your emotions and help other people around you do the same. EI was first given its name in 1990 by John Mayer and Peter Salovey but was mainly popularised by psychologist Daniel Goleman who completed significant research on the subject in his 1995 book, ‘Emotional Intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ’.
More than a decade ago, Goleman highlighted the importance of EI in leadership, stating “The most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way; They all have a high degree of what is known as Emotional Intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant (in leadership positions). They do matter, but they are the entry level requirements for leadership positions.”
EI is typically said to comprise 4 main areas:
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-management
3. Social awareness
4. Relationship management
The ability to be sensitive to, and aware of, the feelings of others is particularly relevant for leaders. Realising that everybody is different, with different hopes, fears and motivations is inherent to the toolkit of the good leader.
Rewards and Corrects
It may seem strange that we’ve bracketed these 2 behaviours together, but we believe they are closely related.
Rewarding team members ‘Catching them doing it right’, is a vital aspect of leadership and can be highly motivating for individuals, provided that it is relevant, appropriate and timely. Sycophantic praise will do more harm than good and leaders should focus on getting the praise ‘just right’. Team members that are praised for good behaviours will want to repeat those behaviours.
On the other hand, behaviours that are unacceptable and go uncorrected are also likely to be repeated, indeed they could be repeated by other team members if they see somebody ‘getting away with one’
Inspires and motivates
There have been many books written about what it takes to motivate people, we’d say some of the key aspects are as follows:
A realisation that everybody is different and should therefore be treated differently.
The leader as a role model and showing the way.
Having a clear vision and inspiring all team members to achieve it.
Inspiring through an ethic of hard work.
The most important factor in this is Emotional Intelligence.
Holds their people accountable
Most people want responsibility in their role, but with responsibility has to come accountability, otherwise the leader is crossing their finger that the individual will perform.
Good leaders hold their people accountable for activities they’ve committed to completing and review this activity with them.
They challenge you to be bigger and better
Everybody has the potential to be better. Yes, we call have good days and bad days and that’s entirely normal. But good leaders ‘make their best their best everywhere’, this applies to their team but to the individuals within the team also.
This means actively encouraging team members to develop their skills, strive for higher performance and live outside their comfort zones. This can be done by the leader often providing constructive feedback, setting ambitious goals and most of all empowering them to take on new responsibilities to reach their full potential
Give credit where it’s due
We find this interesting.
Leadership can be a bit of a paradox. Many leaders believe that by taking all the credit for the success of the team they make themselves look good. The paradox is that by giving credit where it’s due to the team, or individual team members, the leader can bask in the success of the team, knowing that their success is down to his or her skills as a leader.
“A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit.”
John Wooden, US Basketball Coach
Good leaders don’t take credit, aren’t jealous of the achievements of their team or individuals. Credit will come to them through the success of the team.
Set clear direction
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived?
Setting clear direction means that everybody has a common purpose and works towards set goals. We’re all ‘singing from the same hymn book!’
Treat people equally
We’re really not sure that we should have to include this in the third decade of the 21st century. It’s not the 1970’s anymore. I’m old enough to remember them and things were very different then believe me.
Leaders have to remember this basic tenet of leading people:
People are complex, and
People are different.
Far from ‘just’ treating people equally, good leaders embrace the differences in people. This means valuing and appreciating the differences they bring, rather than treating people as ‘different’ and seeing these differences as obstacles or barriers to team harmony.
Further, good leaders stamp out any threat to equality and ensure that all team members work in a psychologically safe workplace.
Develop a relaxed environment of fun and of course hard work
Is it ok to have fun at work?
Of course it is!
When we have fun, our brains release dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain that affects many bodily functions, which in turn programmes a positive response. This response is pleasurable and reinforces the behaviours that caused its release in the first place.
I’ve always thought that in spending one-third of our lives at work (at least!) why shouldn’t we enjoy it and have fun?
A survey conducted by BrightHR found that 79% of employees believe that fun at work leads to higher productivity. Employees who report having fun at work are more likely to be engaged, resulting in 21% higher profitability for their companies, according to research from Gallup.
Therefore, people and teams having fun at work can lead to an increase in productivity and profitability.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Have a look at the 10 items above. How do you fare?
Typically we find that some leaders do some things well but possibly other things not so well. Good leaders do all of these things well, and yes most of them are inter-linked.
Bear in mind a recent Gallup report, that only 36% of Employees Are Engaged in the Workplace, with 51% of employees being disengaged.
This is the effect that good leaders can have, which is why so many businesses want good leaders! Are you a good leader?