Leadership takes practice—and here are 3 things you can do today to be a better leader
By Ralph A. Dise, Jr.
If you have ever needed to work with—and through—others to accomplish an important goal, then you know how important leadership skills are to your success.
Drawing from my own experience running a business for the last 18 years, and observations I have made throughout my career in human resources, it is my conclusion that while “natural-born leaders” do exist, they are few and far between.
I also believe that leadership is a virtue. Virtues are characteristics valued by our society because they promote both individual and collective well-being, and thus are “good” by definition.
My experience in Leadership Cleveland (Class of 2003) taught me that leaders are not somehow anointed by the “powers that be”, but rather, they are self-appointed. They stand up and take charge of a situation. Then they become acknowledged by others to be leaders.
To be an effective leader you must display leadership qualities that other people want to emulate, and follow.
Getting the most out of your people requires thoughtfulness, an open-mind, and a willingness to approach challenges with a trial and error approach. Over time, every leader creates his or her special style that is reflected in the organization.
Yet there are three fundamental characteristics that all good leaders have in common:
1. A good leader sets the example for behavior.
Your job is to establish the culture and the environment for your company (or business unit). You need to show by example the way that people (vendors, peers, associates, and customers alike) should be treated and the way objectives should be pursued. Your standard is the one your people follow.
2. A good leader is attentive to the needs of his or her people.
Your people have needs, and you need to be on the lookout for what only you can provide them to improve their skills and their performance, whether it is in the form of: compensation, recognition, appreciation, mentoring, and/or discipline.
3. A good leader is open to suggestions and ideas.
If you have employees who have ideas that you have tried once but failed, you can show how you trust them by listening and letting them make mistakes, too. We all make mistakes, and as long as we learn from them, we can only get better.
People need to know, most of all, that their leader trusts them.
If you don’t show your trust, your best employees will leave you because they feel stifled, and they know they can do better elsewhere. This leaves you with the mediocre employees who will stay on because they are accustomed to being micromanaged anyway.
If leadership is a virtue, then ineffective leadership is a vice which is typified by micromanagement.
Based on all my experience in business, and as an HR Professional for my entire career, the number one thing you should avoid at all costs is to be a micromanager because it is the antithesis of good leadership.
Being a micromanager means you are doing the work that you’ve hired your employees to do. It means you are doing their work for them (while neglecting your own), or supervising them to the extent that you might as well be doing it yourself.
No one likes to be second-guessed and no one likes to be shown how to do the job they were hired to do. It is unfortunate that many otherwise-savvy executives second-guess their people all the time, and they’re not even aware of this destructive behavior.
While unproductive leaders may achieve a modicum of job security, it comes at the price of an unhealthy, unhappy organization.
If you are in a leadership role right now, or you desire to excel in a leadership role, I hope that this provides an insight that will help you (1) set the tone for your organization (2) be attentive to the needs of your people, and (3) be open to ideas and suggestions, and thereby become a better leader.
Ralph A. Dise, Jr. is the President of Dise & Company, the Presiding Director of Lincolnshire International, and has worked in the field of Human Resources his entire career. You can contact Ralph directly at the Pro People Page on Diseco.com.
4 comments ↓
Well said Ralph. Much of what you discuss in this article specifically points to executive level management. However, as a mid-level manager I find these tips just as relevant for leading cross functional project teams toward a common goal.
Ralph, I really liked this article. I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts.
Congratulations for this space.
Hi Ralph, great blog! A leader does indeed set the tone for her organization, positive or negative. To be open to ideas and to the needs of others requires focus on making the organizational vision real. The role of a leader is to articulate a vision that creates a sense of purpose for members of the team. So go ahead, be inspirational and future-focused. Make sure your team has a cohesive set of values and a well thought-out strategic plan, one that you communicate at every opportunity. You’ll be so busy that bad habit of micro-managing will get lost in the shuffle.
Ralph, terrific blog. I would like to take your third point a bit farther. Certainly being open to ideas and needs is critical. And as Kathy Shen mentions above, providing articulation of a vision that creates purpose for the team is also important. But this speaks more to the here and now than to the future.
Truly great leaders need to also be visionaries in their own rights – Bill Gates, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King. They need to keep a keen questioning eye on the horizon while providing a solid managing focus on the present. Forward thinking leadership could well prove to be the most important skill a leader holds. In this age where “change” is the norm, truly great leaders will be those people who stay informed, have honed their instincts for the future trends and can provide the guidance and vision to their organization to chart its course through the sea of ever shifting change.
This also means they will need to have the courage to voice possibly unpopular ideas or concepts that are not immediately understood by their team, board or stockholders. And they will need the talent to mobilize their organization behind these concepts.
What if we had automotive leaders who five-ten years ago took the bold move to support energy efficient cars? I lived in California when the electric car was introduced. The state of California forced the electric car into existence by state legislation mandating there be a certain number of cars that reach specific emission standards. The electric car was then killed through aggressive automotive lobbying that revised the state mandates and ultimately enabled the automakers to demolish the cars. What if we had leaders in the banking business who five years ago took the hard stance to not trade in subprime loans? These would have been very unpopular decisions. But it would have been good leadership.
In our city and region we need leaders who will find ways to build bridges to collaborative economic development – sharing costs, building wealth through collaborative initiatives. This is an odd and uncomfortable concept for our community. We need leaders who have the courage and ability to articulate the vision and to inspire our community to try new (and because they are new – somewhat scary) ideas of collaborative development.
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