Qualities of Leadership – Part 1 is by Ray Miller
“An excerpt from our Management Training By the Book Series”
This is the first article in a six part series which discusses the Qualities of Leadership. Why six parts? Most people to under time compressed these days and don’t have the time to sit and read at length. On the other hand, everyone can find 3 minutes if they had to. So we decided to divide this series into six three minute “sound bites” if you will.
In this article we will discuss leadership in general terms. Then in the five articles which follow, we will explore the Ten Qualities of Leadership in a bit more detail.
For decades organizational scholars have debated the qualities of a “leader.” What are they? Is a person born a leader or can they be trained as a leader? Can anyone learn to be a leader? Can an employee be a leader or do you need to have people reporting to you to lead? The list goes on and on. In our leadership training class we routinely ask the audience to define the qualities of a leader. Many participants suggest traits like “charismatic,” “confident,” “visionary,” etc. Occasionally, someone will offer what we think is a truly distinguishing observation. “You don’t often notice or think about the qualities of a leader. What’s noticeable is how they make you feel.”
That’s it in a nutshell.
What really defines a leader is his or her ability to make individuals feel committed to a cause or challenge. But not only do they feel committed, they take action. The term “follower” sounds like an obedient golden retriever but we’ll use it anyway. Leaders make those that choose to follow them feel important and significant. Leaders have a genuine, unquestioned respect for the individuals around them. Their decisions are decisive and well founded in arguments that support the core values of the company, its customers and its employees. Because they’re human, leaders make mistakes and own them – and they expect and tolerate mistakes from others. They know that their power rests on the relationships they build with others – and that titles and authority alone won’t earn respect. They’re consistent in their actions and words and show no favouritism. When the company faces a significant challenge or uncertainty, the leader’s calm demeanor bolsters confidence and motivation in others. Leaders believe that their followers are capable of anything and as a result, so do their followers.
No doubt you know someone who you would consider a leader. Maybe it’s a manager you work with – maybe not. It may not even be someone you know from work such as, a coach, teacher, friend, etc. But something about that person caught your attention, your imagination and your admiration. Chances are they made you feel significant. They made you believe you were capable of more than you thought. They made you dream – at least for a moment. That’s what leaders do.
Ask a hundred management scholars and you’ll get a hundred different opinions on the qualities of leadership. The good news is that when you boil them all down there are some very common themes that appear.
This article offers an overview of Leadership in general terms. I will describe the key competencies or characteristics associated with leadership in two follow-up articles, so stay tuned.
First let’s discuss “leadership” in some general terms.
What is Leadership?
Leadership is unique. It occurs when an individual with the right motivations meets the right opportunity. Some people, maybe all, have the qualities of leadership but never get the chance to demonstrate them. They wait their whole life for that single situation that forces them to reach deep down and find the courage to step outside what’s comfortable. But naturally, most people fear the unknown. They fear the ridicule of taking a stance or an unpopular position. So instead, they wait for someone else to step forward and take that chance. Often times the person that steps forward is ostracized as a “non-team player” because they don’t conform to popular wisdom. Just look at the way some groups make decisions. In the long run their vision can direct the company to new opportunities.
Other times someone with leadership potential may grow frustrated because their company offers no opportunity to exercise that potential
If you’re serious about developing your leadership qualities recognize that it should be a life long pursuit – and one that you’ll never fully achieve. How could you? A leader accepts that he/she can always improve. By acknowledging yourself as a leader you’d be forfeiting one of the true traits of a leader – humbleness. Let others decide you’re a leader by your actions and attitude. And remember, leadership spills outside of the workplace. Can you really be an effective leader at work if you don’t devote the same intensity to your personal and physical life?
Truly effective leaders maintain a healthy balance among all facets of their life. The two are inseparable. Your family, your friends, your physical fitness, your commitment to community and fellow man, your spirituality, your thirst for knowledge – all play a role in shaping your leadership qualities.
To help you understand what leadership is it is sometimes easier to describe what it is not. Here’s a short story to help you.
A Lack of Leadership
A consultant was working with a team charged with the development of a client-server based, project management application at a large bank. The process of managing projects cut across all departments and functions so, of course, opinions were plentiful. No sooner did the team get out of one meeting and they’d be back in another. They’d work into the night to build a prototype to meet one group’s specifications then find out someone else didn’t like it. Still, implementation dates were set, communications sent out and training scheduled – yet they couldn’t get buy in on the system – they didn’t even have a process designed! And, they were building the project management application? Frustration was beginning to manifest itself in the destructive behaviors that tear apart a team – apathy, cliques, anger, cynicism…..since the consultant assisted with process and project management a couple of the members confided in him.
The team agreed it was time to go to senior management and ask for support. At the meeting an adjunct member (Doug) posed a question – “Shouldn’t we get Senior Management to appoint a leader to oversee this effort…?” The irony is, that all along there had been a leader – John. John spoke up and acknowledged that the project was off course and rattled off some reasons why – “Its scope is larger than planned…”, “Lack of support from other areas…” or “….end of the year – it’s tough to schedule work….” He accepted no personal ownership for the problem. The meeting broke – those close to the project knew John just got slammed like a screen door in windstorm.
John approached the consultant and suggested he and the consultant speak with Doug to explain that John was project leader and get that clarified. That’s when the consultant took him in private.
In the consultants’ opinion, John had developed a very passive approach to leading the project. Meetings were called on the fly, ill attended, with no agenda or documentation. Facilitation fell to whoever spoke the loudest since John’s voice conveyed little energy or confidence. Rarely were specific tasks assigned to members so progress was difficult to gauge. Early on when team members had concerns about a lack of buy in, John was reluctant to go to management. He was indecisive – “maybe we should…. or I think we might…. or we sort of have….” so there were few consistencies the team could use to guide them. Rather than seek the ear of upper management and gain consensus on a design, the team tried to appease everyone. Needless to say there was no project plan that united members – no plan to get from point A to point B. No vision.
The fact that someone asked the question “Shouldn’t we get a leader……” is the crux of this story. Leadership by appointment and title means nothing. What matters is the opinion of followers. In the above example, Doug was the one showing leadership by sticking his neck out to bring the problem into the open. When a team is suffering members will rally behind the person who steps forward – whether or not it’s the person who owns the title of leader. How many times have you seen it – problems persist and team members flock to an un-appointed, informal leader with their concerns instead of the formal leader? We all recognize leadership when we see it. That in itself suggests some universal traits. With a sincere commitment and a willingness to be self-critical anyone can develop those leadership traits.
Based on our research and past experience there are 10 Qualities of Leadership. Effective leaders:
– demonstrate genuine respect for others
– show humility
– demonstrate honesty and integrity
– are confident and courageous
– are influential
– are decisive
– are effective communicators
– establish and reinforce a set of core values
– are driven continuous improvement
– possess and encourage physical, mental and spiritual health
As we will be discussing each of these qualities in more detail in upcoming articles, here’s a 40,000 foot snippet.
Leaders demonstrate genuine respect for others
This is perhaps the fundamental trait of an effective leader. If those around you perceive a lack of respect for them – they’ll never respect you.
Leaders show humility
We all notice when someone is humble. Likewise we notice the person who takes credit for someone else’s work. It’s like the manager who can’t admit mistakes and inadvertently teaches his staff to hide theirs.
Leaders demonstrate honesty and integrity
“Lying” may be too strong a term. Actually honesty – or the lack of it – in organizational terms is more subtle. It’s how willing a person is to dabble in the grey area. Did you ever hear someone justify a situation by saying – “I didn’t lie – you didn’t ask me.”
Leaders are confident and courageous
Confidence is contagious. It’s also rare. Especially in large organizations where things become paralyzed in decision making because there are so many layers and levels of approval – it’s refreshing for someone to step out of bounds once in awhile.
Leaders are influential
Unless a person can influence others to follow their vision, they’re not a leader. Leaders have that something extra that gets others to buy into their ideas and jump aboard.
Leaders are decisive
Employees will gravitate towards those who provide clarity and direction. That requires someone to make a decision. Unless that’s done the group stagnates – and looks for a leader.
Leaders are effective communicators
Have you ever listened to someone present and idea when they’re loaded with enthusiasm and passion – but you’re not exactly sure what they said?! They know exactly what they mean but somehow it gets lost in the presentation.
Leaders establish and reinforce a set of core values
This is an aspect of leadership that few people ever take the time to think about in business – yet it’s quite common outside work. Many people have values that guide their life, their decisions – everything. What’s important to you at work? The next section describes core values in behavioral terms.
Leaders are driven continuous improvement
A leader is never satisfied. Leaders are driven by an internal desire to constantly improve the business, employees, relationships with customers, etc. Without that desire a group stagnates. Work becomes ho hum and “good enough” is standard practice.
Leaders possess and encourage physical, mental and spiritual health
Without a balance in your life you can’t be an effective leader at work. The two are inseparable. If you neglect your personal needs – family, physical health, mental health, and spiritual – you’ll lose your edge as a leader.
Okay so the first article took more than 3 minutes. Sorry but we had to lay a foundation. I promise the remaining articles will stick to the 3 minute window.
If you have the time, why not move on to our next article Qualities of Leadership: Genuine Respect for Others and Humility.
Ray Miller is Managing Partner of The Training Bank, a Training and Consulting firm specializing in Customer Focus, Service Improvement, Leadership and fully customized training solutions. He is also co-author of Management Training by the Book and That’s Customer Focus.