The effectiveness of a leader is measured by their ability to move others to take action on behalf of their vision, when their vision becomes the vision, inspiration, aspiration and admiration of others. When this occurs your vision is carried vertically and laterally throughout the organization. Your employees “Drank the Kool-Aid” and are influencing others to drink it too. When this occurs, it means your employees believe in you, they trust you and they have bought into your corporate ideology. Employees are the gatekeepers, managers and transporters of your vision; they influence others to buy-into your vision by echoing the trust they feel for you. Trust is the magic bullet; as it is the single biggest factor in business success; if your customers trust that what you’re selling will make their life better, they will purchase it. This is the foundation of effective leadership and it is measured by the ability you have to move others to take action on your behalf. This is the type of influence you want to master because effective leadership directly relates to business outcomes.
In flat organizational structures, effective leadership relates to building and maintaining teams and groups that are made up of individuals who can outperform their competition. Effective leadership involves having people give up their own selfish pursuits and work in support of common interest. Effective leadership sounds like a job for Jesus doesn’t it? But remember even with all his millions of followers Jesus had trouble with his disciplines as you recall Judas betrayed him. So the objective is not perfection but to develop a combination of skills that broadens and deepens your level of influence.
Here are a few skills you should master:
Self Management and Relationship Skills:
Leaders are not perfect. Every leader will make mistakes as success can never be achieved without mishaps and misjudgments along the way. One of the most effective attributes you can have as a leader is to be in control of your emotions and not fly off the handle when things go wrong. Learn how to manage your emotional life so that it does not cloud your vision and impact you or your team negatively. As the leader, the buck stops with you, so no ranting, raving or lying. Tell the truth and own up to what went wrong, devise a plan of action to correct and move forward. The chances of maintaining your colleagues respect and support is high if you just tell the truth. Another key skill you should strive to develop is empathy. Leaders who exhibit empathy show that they understand the feelings and emotions of others. Empathy assists with your ability to build and maintain relationships. Demonstrating emotional stability and empathy are key attributes for effective leadership.
Start by finding an attentive listening class in your community. Attentive listening will pay you back tenfold; regardless of the industry you’re in, the position you hold, or the relationships you want to develop, learn how to listen. It is one of the greatness skills you’ll ever master. You have to be able to listen to that quiet inner voice that is your conscious and attentively listen to others. When Dr. Oz was asked the best lesson he learned from being on the Oprah show, he said: “She taught me how to listen.” My grandmother would tell us kids you have two ears and one mouth for a reason and that is to listen twice as much as you talk; years later I understand the value and wisdom in that statement. Reactive listeners are defensive and begin processing their rebuttal while the person is still talking. Their aim is to dominate the conversation with their subjective opinion. This type of listening style suppresses and fragments information and causes tension because the conversation is filled with anxiety and emotion.
Attentive listening is a high level of listening and takes real effort and lots of practice to master. Attentive listening is listening without forming an opinion, without judging the words or the nonverbal communication of the speaker. One has to be able to listen without agreement or disagreement and just observe. This type of listening builds and expands relationships by acknowledging that you understand what the speaker has said. It makes the speaker feel validated, respected and most of all heard. The speaker feels relaxed and comfortable to speak openly and honestly; that person also begins to feel like the listener is a trusted colleague. This is the type of listening that expands your influence and a skill in which effective leaders have mastered.
Patience Is a Virtue
In order to become an effective leader you have to be tenacious, consistent and persistent for long periods of time in which you may not see the effect of your actions. You must continue to show emotional stability and not become bitter, hostile, angry or complacent when processes don’t move as quickly as you’ve envisioned and things don’t go your way. Sometimes change is slow in coming; however, staying on course with a moral compass and high ethical standards will be the behavior that develops the magic bullet of trust within your organization.
Find Balance
There is an optimal level for most managerial behaviors and success lies in assessing what’s working and find the balance. Leadership like business is not or should not be fixed but remain fluid and malleable to meet the needs of the organization. The good thing about leadership is actions from subordinates and others dictate whether your approach is working. Success and failure are fraternal twins that talk to you and grow at different rates; your job as an effective leader is to pay attention to which twin is growing and find the balance that ensures success grows at a consistent and steady pace.
Please leave a comment telling me which leadership qualities you admire most? Let’s see which qualities rank highest amongst Examiner readers.
Thanks.
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