The Essence of Great Leadership

I have been facilitating leadership programs for more than 7 years, and in every session delegates seem to be confused about leadership best practices. There are, of course, many field studies on this topic. In this article however, I will share with you some of the traits that make great leaders. The article is based on recent research conducted by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman in 2014. Their study involved 330,000 executives and their subordinates, and asked them about the leadership skills they regard as crucial to success. Here are the findings:

Honesty and Integrity

One of the key values of a leader is honesty. As a leader you must lead by example as your employees are likely to reflect your behavior. Thus, acting in an ethical and honest manner should be at the core of your leadership approach. It is important to be true to one’s words and to walk the talk. To get everyone in the company to follow the same values and beliefs, make these values visible throughout the organization, starting with the leader’s behavior.

What distinguishes good leaders is that they answer questions as well as provide and accept feedback honestly and with integrity — even though their answers may be unpleasant at times.

Inspiration and Motivation

As commonly stated, leaders differ from managers. Leaders want their workforce to be followers rather than subordinates. One of the core skills needed by a leader is to inspire and motivate employees so they commit to achieving the overall organizational vision. Therefore, leaders must be able to create a compelling vision and enable their workforce to identify with it.

The success of a company relies heavily on the willingness and enthusiasm of its employees. Leaders can inspire employees by creating a belief in future success. However, leaders should also keep an eye on short term challenges such as maintaining a desirable and productive working environment, appreciating good work and boosting team spirit and morale.

Emphasizing and fostering teamwork will increase employee motivation and commitment. If leaders act as role models by working closely with employees, employees will follow suit and work towards delivering good outcomes.

Trust

Trust is fundamental to business success. That is why great leaders focus on building trust and relationships. They do not only aim at establishing good relationships with their employees but also outside the company — with customers, suppliers, industry members etc.

Only if a sense of trust has been established, can a team unfold its productivity to its full extent. Leaders who build good relationships with their employees know the strengths of their team members and how to best capitalize on them. While some managers may be reluctant to transfer any of their power to their people, leaders know they can trust their workforce. They will delegate tasks and responsibilities to focus on tasks only they can perform.

Communication

Raising trust and motivation in your team relies on good communication. Leaders need to describe and explain the vision, goals and tasks clearly. But communication should be consistent and regular, and besides reminding everyone of the overall goal, great leaders must also provide timely feedback and encourage frequent personal dialogue. To facilitate daily interactions with their staff, leaders must adopt an open-door policy. A good leader is always available for discussing interoffice issues and spreading a positive energy within the organization. A good sense of humor helps create harmony and a congenial atmosphere and keeps everyone calm in times of crisis.

One crucial point about communication is the leader’s ability to master different types and means of communication. From one-to-one conversations to team meetings and to digital communication devices such as email and social media — leaders must be able and willing to use every method to keep the communication channels open. However, knowing when to use which communication channel is indispensable, as not all means are always appropriate.

Confidence and Positive Attitude

When times are critical, a leader must protect team morale, boost energy and maintain a high level of motivation. When faced with problems, employees may lose their motivation and feel stressed as their ability to achieve their goals seems to recede. In challenging times, leaders need to keep the level of confidence up and direct the focus back to the overall goal — away from the problem. It is most important to encourage everyone to go on and look ahead.

Spreading confidence and positivity is a daily necessity even in non-critical times. The best outcomes are achieved when productivity levels and playfulness are balanced. Satisfied employees will perform better and will work harder to reach their goals.

Analysis and Intuition

In addition to a positive attitude, times of crisis require good problem-solving competencies. As a good leader, you must be able to cope with organizational problems as well as unexpected events. Due to the uncertainty that dominates today’s business world, unforeseeable and sudden events are becoming common. On the one hand, good analytical abilities are needed to solve problems, but on the other, some tough decisions can only be reached by using one’s gut instinct and intuition. Thus, leaders must be capable of applying both approaches and, above all, should know which to use depending on the situation.

Creativity and Innovation

Running a business in a VUCA environment is tough. It demands creativity and the ability to innovate. Since circumstances are changing faster than ever, plans may need to be adapted constantly. The ability to deviate from preset plans and to make quick decisions in critical situations are core competencies of successful leaders and necessitate creativity and openness.

Also, the ability to innovate — not only with new products or services, but also with new ways of working - creates a competitive advantage that enables companies to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Development

Today’s workforce values training and development opportunities. Good leaders should therefore support their team’s professional as well as personal development. Through frequent feedback and communication, the needs of each employee are discovered, and individually tailored training must be provided.

Simultaneously, leaders must continuously enhance their skills. Although they are not expected to have extensive expertise in each field of work within their business, they should have a certain level of technical and professional knowledge. A successful leader has valuable knowledge of the business as well as well-developed leadership skills.

Foresight and Drive

Great leaders stand out due to their orientation towards the future. It is the responsibility of leaders to strategically guide the company and ensure its long-term survival. Organizations must be prevented from getting stuck in the present which also calls for a steady zest for action. Good leadership brings everyone together to make things happen. This demands a high level of perseverance and‚ ‘stick-to-itiveness‘.

Adaptability

Lastly, leaders must adapt to the different requirements and desires of each individual and situation. Diversity plays a huge role nowadays and must be taken into consideration. People may have different cultural, educational and social backgrounds, value systems etc. and, especially in international teams, language barriers may occur. From this diversity arises the need for leaders to customize their leadership style to each individual as well as to diverse situations.

Source: Zigurat University, Robin Weninger & Sophia Bolz