7 Incredibly Awesome Human Qualities that the BEST Leaders have
We all know that good leadership positively impacts our businesses by improving employee engagement, encouraging innovation, and driving effective decision-making. But, did you know that good leadership also creates a work environment where employees feel valued and motivated, leading to higher productivity and lower turnover.
Whereas, in contrast, bad leadership has the opposite effect. It can lead to financial losses and missed opportunities. It stifles innovation, damages the company’s reputation, and man… do people leave. Bad leadership qualities often focus on short-term company gains at the expense of long-term success. And, this instability can cause a business to stagnate and struggle in a competitive market.
So, after reading through a host of HBR articles, I’ve pulled toegther 7 incredibly awesome qualities that kept coming up article after article. Qualities that good leaders have are:
Strong Organizational Quotient
Organizational Quotient (OQ) is a little like Emotional Quotient, but it’s a feel for how the organization operates. One key OQ competency that strong leaders have is sending messages that reinforce the organizations strategy whilst also minimising distracting messages. The more simple and clear the messaging, the better; organizational members at all levels suffer from information overload, so leaders need to be selective about what messages to send. A clear, simple, curated message creates a shared understanding about a specific vision and direction. And with a strong rationale behind it, it should inspire confidence in the direction - see Quality 5.
(To support a new vision or direction, leaders also need to be able to incentivise their people. This can include clearly conveying objectives and key results, and accountabilities, as well as designing mechanisms to drive change.)
2. Strong Sense of Identity
Great leaders creating a shared understanding of what the organization stands for and what is important i.e. the goals of the organization.
They do this by going beyond the bedrock notions, and the roll-your-eyes 🙄 cliche soundbites that others so often over-use. Instead, great leaders deep dive on what these ideas mean to them, why these things are important, and drive down to the details to come to specifics. They bounce ideas around with others and take into account their perspectives of how the organization identifies, but they always have a personal story for why it’s important to them, and how the organization’s identity aligns with their own.
3. Picking Battles
As you progress up through an organization, the problems you encounter will get bigger and more complex. You’ll be more accountable for outcomes, and the impact of what you get involved in will be wider and will pack more of a punch. So, you’ll need to mindful of where you invest your time and energy. Good leaders recognise which parts of the status quo need to be challenged - and have the discipline to avoid wasting time rebelling / engaging in unimportant issues.
Before you engage, ask, is this the right battle for me? And if it is, estimate the level of conflict a particular course of action will take, before getting involved. Ask yourself, “Will I win?” And if not, “What impact could it have on my career?”
4. Stories with Zazz
Good leadership involves creating storyworthy moments. Story’s that become legend, that employees never forget. These stories involve theatre, unexpected spectacles AND a laser defined message. They give your people the feels.
As Maya Angelou said:
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel .”
If you define a laser focused message, and connect with your people on an emotional level and tap into their hopes and ideals, you can inspire them to do great things. And if you showcase this through powerful theatre, they won’t forget what you did either.
5. Sell the Why
To help pull people in on the journey and forge deeper connections, great leaders explain the why, not just the what and the how. Be sure to mention why this is good for the company, the business unit or function, or the client and create alignment with other key stakeholders to move your initiative forward.
To do it well, it helps to understand who you’re working with, are they a big picture person, are they a data and details person, or are they technically focussed or are they a ‘corporate’ person. Understanding the ‘who’ will help you to sell the ‘why.’
I recall working with an engineering lead who was brilliant at coming up with new ideas for our clients, but he saw selling ideas as ‘getting in the way of doing his actual job’. For engineers, it’s all about the technical specifications, or features. As a technical person, I don’t blame him for thinking like that, in the same way I don’t judge a horse by its ability to climb a tree. But, from the clients point of view it’s all about what the solutions can do for them. So, I knew I had to understand who I was selling to and the why - why it was a good solution.
6. Avoid the Echo Chamber
The higher your rise in an organization, the more ingratiating the people around you can become. Whilst this can be helpful in progressing your initiatives, it can lead to a inflated ego and warped sense of values, making leaders susceptible to manipulation and narrowing your field of vision making you look for what you want to believe. What’s worse, is that it stifles creativity, innovation and diversity of thought.
Instead, good leaders make sure to support, develop and work with people who won’t feed their ego, and bring those people into the fold so that they can actually drive action. Hire the smart ones with the confidence to speak up, like the man in the mirror in Snow White. And, support this by creating an environment where a difference in opinion is valued - where people can voice ideas and opinions without repercussions.
If you’re doing it right, you’ll get to hear a variety of opinions and come up with innovative solutions. So, be prepared to listen to the not-so-fair opinions of others, and be prepared to make decisions.
7. Switch-up Styles
Good leaders know the need to switch-up their leadership style depending on the situation, the operational context and the people they are working with. Being maximally effective as a leader means being able to diagnose the situation and adopt the leadership approach that works best to navigate their way through the social and organizational hierarchies at hand.
