Leaders: We can usually point out the person that is a leader after they have led. Most of us have an idea of what it means to be a leader and to have leadership skills. Hopefully most of us would like to believe that we would make good leaders too. You should believe this because being a leader is necessary for success in many situations and also because you too can be a leader.
What is it that a leader possesses that gets them in a position to lead?
What leadership skills does one need to have to be an effective and good leader?
Which then begs the question, can anyone learn and develop the skill-set to be a leader when fortune or chance puts them in the position or of they choose to take on a leadership role themselves?
Are leaders made or born?
What Is A Leader?
- The most simple definition of a leader is that the leader is that someone that people follow.
- A leader is the person at the front of the line.
However, just because someone is at the front of the line that does not make them a good or even great leader. Human history is full of leaders that many people have followed but the results to other people, including the people on the leaders team, the results to vast geographic regions, cultures and societies and even to the whole world were catastrophically and negatively affected by the plans and actions of the leader. Being at the front of the line may make someone the leader, but just because they are there does not necessarily make them a good leader.
These days we hope for better from our leaders. These days we want our leaders to be great leaders so that by having them lead they make things better for all of us.
We can start to think about leading with this simple phrase:
“Lead. Follow. Or get out of the way”
Obviously, as stated, a leader needs to lead. A leader needs to be at the front of the line. But in order to lead, a leader needs a team of people that are willing to follow them. Then, as contradictory as this may seem, there will also be times when a leader may need to follow. A leader will need to follow the advice and direction from those that are above them but not just that! There will also be times that in order to remain an effective leader, a leader will need to follow the people that they are leading. The people following the leader comprise their team and without them following there is no leader. A good leader listens to his team.
One thing a leader should never do is to completely get out of the way.
By getting out of the way it is meant that a person, the leader or the follower for that matter, steps aside and lets things pass them by. If we want success in life, none of us can afford to let things pass us by. There are moments when a leader may be following but a leader should never let things pass them by. Regardless of what may be happening at the time, a leader still needs to direct the team even if they are not actively leading it at that time. A leader also needs to ensure that the followers are not “getting out of the way”. A good leader keeps his people in the game. To be clear, getting out of the way is the same thing as giving up. A leader should do their absolute very best to not let anyone on the team give up.
There is responsibility for both the leaders and the followers to take on. Followers need to do their best to carry out the plans of the leader. But the followers should not be blindly following. If the leader is taking them down the wrong path, it is up to the team to let their leader know this and then the team should be able to expect the leader to correct their course so that the team may continue onwards to success. Followers have the responsibility to actively follow and a good leader needs to pay attention to the team.
A Leader Has Authority Over The Team.
The team needs to accept the leader as their leader for the authority to be legitimate. Just because people are told that someone is the person that they need to follow does not mean that the team will willingly follow them. And if they are forced to follow the assigned leader, it may well be without their full effort or interest, especially if the leader is an ineffective leader.
For the team to be effective in their actions as directed by their leader, the person at the front of the line had better be a good leader regardless of how they got to the front of the line.
What Is Leadership?
If you asked any number of people what leadership is they will provide many different answers. Their answers will usually refer to traits or characteristics that a leader needs to possess and embody to have leadership and thereby to be able to lead a team.
But those answers usually on end up circling around what leadership really is.
Distilling it down to the most basic and core idea of what leadership is:
Leadership is what the person at the front of the line is doing to move the team in one direction or another.
That answer is somewhat vague, yes. But that is all that leadership is. The person at the front of the line needs to be doing something to guide the team and then to have the team to follow them. Therefore leadership is very simply the things that the leader does to have the team follow him or her.
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he (or she) wants to do it”.
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
It certainly does feel like something is missing. The definition as it stands leaves a lot of leeway for what and how the leader can be leading. There is a large and wide spectrum of leadership styles and there does come a point where the leadership style becomes destructive. So now, with this in mind the question needs to be changed. Perhaps the question that needs to be asked and what we would like to have answered is not just what leadership is, but,
What Is GOOD Leadership?
Good that you asked! We can expand the basic definition of leadership to encompass aspects that add some “goodness” to it: Good leadership has been defined as, “the process through social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others and maximize their efforts towards the accomplishment of a common beneficial task or goal.”
Let’s break out some of the key notions with our expanded definition:
- Leaders rise to the top through social influence and not only from being assigned as the leader or from taking leadership by power or authority.
- Leadership requires others to aid and support – the followers – and this of course implies that they follow the leader but that they will do the “following” from wanting to and not only because they must.
- Maximizing efforts. A good leader will need to coax the best from their followers and therefore leadership means allowing people to reach and achieve their full potential – or get as close as possible to it. Leaders need to bring their people up with them.
- A task or a goal is set as a desired outcome. Leading and leadership has to have a purpose and reason. Leaders need to take their team from point A to point B.
Notice that personality traits, attributes, and even a title are not part of the definition. Different styles and paths to effective leadership are above a title or trait. However, and obviously, there are traits and attributes that help define what good leadership should be.
One other thing that to be pointed out is that even with this definition the outcome of leadership is not defined as being good or bad – only that the outcome is beneficial. “Beneficial” can be open to interpretation – Beneficial for whom?
This is the question that needs to be answered – When a leader leads, who benefits from their leadership skills and styles?
The big assumption underlying the definition of what we want from our leaders.
A leader and the actions that they take using their leadership can just as easily lead a team or group of people for only their own benefit. It is possible that as a result of working only for their own benefit, the teams actions can end up being to the detriment of others. No matter! From the point of view of the leader and the team, this is good leadership! A leader does need to take care of their own team and get them to point B, even if at the expense of others.
But there should be the want to aim higher. Self serving leaders and the leadership style that they embody has proven itself to be troublesome and problematic to human kind, to say the least. The world has seen enough of the Khans, Mussolinis, Hitlers, Stalins, Maos, and Jong-Ils. We must expect more and better for all from our leaders.
And so the final assumption that must be made is that the actions taken by a group not only take care of the members of the group and whatever their goal or task may be, but that the group is also striving for the benefit of all others as well, and therefore, not for the demise to or at the expense of all others.
For a leader and a team to succeed other teams and people need not necessarily have to fail. Success for one group does not mean that other groups need to lose – or worse. This is not naivety – Not everyone gets a prize, trophy or ribbon. But losing teams do not need to be wiped out. And for those that have failed, part of being on a team and a big part of being a good leader is also being able to graciously accept defeat. Besides, loss and adversity can be the catalyst for a leader and the team to learn from their losses and then it is hoped that the “losing” team becomes better, stronger and more efficient at what they are trying accomplish.
Win or lose, for any team or group to even have the chance of success, the leadership of the group requires a good and even a great leader.
(Once you have finished this article make sure that you are not making these leadership mistakes.)
Coming around full circle, good leadership starts with a great, or at least, a good leader. So…
What Makes A Good Leader?
11 Characteristics of Good Leaders
While it’s commonly argued whether or not good leaders are born or made, there’s little doubt that good leaders share several characteristics. Leadership skills are among the most important skills to develop if you wish to be effective in your career and in the rest of your life. Leadership can be learned. It does take conscious effort to become a good leader. You’ll find that you may already possess some of these qualities but will likely need to develop some others.
Good Leaders Share These Qualities:
1. Leadership Starts With Commitment.
You can’t expect greater commitment than you’re willing to provide. A leader sets the ceiling. Everyone else settles in somewhere below that point. Leaders need to set the ceiling high and show the group what true commitment looks like. A big part of commitment is ownership. A leader owns all aspects of what it is that they and their team are trying to accomplish.
2. Take Responsibility And Take Initiative.
Lousy leaders look to shift the blame when things start go wrong. A good leader, however, knows that setbacks will occur. He or she also knows that if failure occurs, it was from their poor planning, lack of vision or effort, or leadership that resulted in the poor results.
- Good leaders also see the holes and work to have them plugged before the boat sinks. If at all possible, they do not wait for problems and faults to be pointed out to them.
- A good leader accepts responsibility for the outcome, either positive or negative.
- Good leaders take the initiative by keeping their eyes and ears open in order to avoid or minimize potential issues.
3. Have Vision.
To lead effectively, a leader must know where they are headed. After all, leaders have to lead to a specific destination. There has to be a goal or task that needs to be accomplished that is attached to an ideal. The vision of a leader is to bring the ideal to reality. With the vision in place navigating problems when they come up can be as simple as matching the next steps and actions to meeting the vision.
- Do you have a vision for the future and can you communicate that vision to others? Is your vision clear and easy to understand? Is your vision focused? Do you know where you are going where you want the group to be going?
4. Have A Plan.
You might know where you want to go, but do you know what needs to be done to get there? Just because you see the mountain off in the distance there are many different ways to get to it. Processes need to be in place to get to the desired outcome. During usual circumstances specific steps will need to be followed. Then, when the “fish hits the fan” a good leader has already mapped out what to do. The plan on how to handle the emergency can be as simple as, “If A, then B.”
- Can you effectively share that plan with the members of your team? Is your plan realistic and therefore achievable?
5. Have Great Communication Skills.
The ability to effectively share your vision and your plan are paramount to success. Effective leaders are excellent communicators and work to enhance their communication skills further.
- Effective leaders also know that people take in information and learn in different ways, so they do their best to figure out what works best for different people.
6. Are Great Motivators.
Motivating people is more than just rewarding good results. It’s been said that one skill needed by good leaders is the ability to inflict some pain on team members and get away with it. As the saying goes, “no pain, no gain!” Impressive future results require sacrifice and discomfort now, in the present. Good leaders are able to inspire people well enough so that they will do the tough jobs and still continue to follow them instead of revolting against them.
7. Know How To Foster Others.
It’s important to foster others to also become better leaders themselves. A good leader takes the time to foster the skills of their followers and instill in them the sense of ownership. A leader makes team members as ready as the can be to become leaders themselves. The more capable your followers are, the more impressive the results you’ll ultimately attain.
8. Confidence.
It’s natural for people to be drawn to others with confidence. Confident people are viewed as more capable and trustworthy when their own confidence level is high. Leaders need to be comfortable with their skills and their plans.
- A lack of self-confidence will limit the ability of others to trust your vision, direction and judgment.
9. Have Integrity.
Team members have to believe and trust in their leader. The members of the team need to believe and trust what you say. Team members must be able to trust that you’re fully committed to the project and to them. Without integrity, no one will trust you enough to commit to and engage with the plans.
10. Are Able To Deal With Chaos.
Oh yes! There will be chaos. Chaos is inevitable when working on just about any project and any time people are involved. Things often go wrong. Team members have personal issues. There’s always someone disgruntled. Plans change. The objective can change.
- A good leader knows how to calmly and purposefully deal with the unexpected and guide the others through the resulting distractions.
11. Humility
Good leaders know that success is not their result alone. Good leaders are never cocky or arrogant. Everyone one is replaceable. Leaders are well aware of this and well aware of the fact that by upsetting the apple cart by continually tooting their own horn their leadership days will become numbered.
How many of these 11 characteristics do you possess? Are you willing to develop those qualities that you lack? Good leaders have several qualities in common that can be learned and then applied to enhance ones leadership skills. Review these qualities and look for ways to further develop your leadership abilities.
From the above list of qualities that a good leader must have, specific skills to be used by a leader should become obvious and necessary to every student of effective leadership.
Continue reading for ideas on how to put the qualities into action
The Top 11 Critical Competencies of Good Leaders And How to Put Them To Use
As seen above, good leaders share many common traits. Though criteria for leadership in the workplace can vary from company to company, the majority of effective leaders exemplify certain skills. By focusing on developing these same skills, and acting on them you can take your leadership abilities to the next level. Leadership skills learned and acted on will help you not just with your career but in just about all aspects of your life.
Develop and use these important traits necessary to become a good leader:
1. You May Be Confident In Yourself But You Need To Inspire Others To Be Confident In You.
If people don’t believe that you have an idea of what you are doing, that your direction is valid and true, and that they can be successful by following you, they simply won’t provide their best efforts.
- Even if you do not have the answers, you must be confident that you can provide them in a timely manner. Get your team the answers they need.
- Never let them see you sweat. Problems will come up. No matter what happens, keep your emotions in check and at bay.
2. Motivating Others Means Being Self-Motivated Yourself.
As a leader, it’s important to be able to motivate yourself to take action to move forward toward the goals – whether they’re personal or team goals. It is easy to be motivated when things are going well. It is quite another thing to stay motivated when the chaos comes.
- Leaders are driven to get things done regardless of what the circumstances may be and they lead their team to do the same.
- Do what you say that you will do.
- If things need to change, let your team know what is happening and if relevant why.
3. Delegate And Accept Being Delegated To.
You can’t do it all yourself. The most effective leaders surround themselves with skilled people, define their responsibilities, and then get heck out of their way. A single person is quite limited, but many hands on deck can get a lot more done compared to one person trying to do it all.
- Learn how to effectively delegate and share the workload.
- Keep in mind that it can come the other way. By it’s definition, teamwork is about give and take. Your peers may need you to help them out and delegate tasks to you too.
4. Communicate Effectively.
Communication is key. You might have a clear picture in your mind of what you’d like to see happen. Situations outside of the “norm” will arise that require you to direct the team. Regardless of the message to be shared, you need to use different methods with different people to have the message reach them. Different people take in information differently. A leader should figure out how to get through to members of the team. Sometimes being a leader means saying no. Saying no should not be a problem. But how it is said can be.
- Tell them how with words
- Show them with actions and examples
- Point out where the answers may be found
- Guide them with the ideas.
- Give someone a fish and they can eat for a day. Teach them how to fish…
Unfortunately, no one can read your mind. A leader is responsible for sharing his vision and making his desires known.
People are better able to give what is required from them when you can communicate clearly what needs to be done.
- Provide status updates and keep everyone on the same page. Employees lose motivation when they don’t understand the current situation fully.
- They will also lose motivation if they sense that you may not understand the situation fully.
- Know what can be said and what needs to be said. Things will happen that may not have been previously considered. Have the answers that get you and the team through and over the hurdles.
- Sometimes communicating means that you need to shut up and listen.
5. Developing Others.
Being a leader isn’t just about utilizing others to reach your goals. It’s also about developing those around you. From a more selfish perspective, the more skilled your employees, the more they can assist you and the company.
- Share the knowledge and expertise and help everyone around you to grow.
- Give them the space to think outside the box when needed and do not punish them for doing so even if they screw up. However, if there was better way that could have been used, “direct” them to figure it out on their own for the next time.
- Some may need to know “the why?”, not only “the what” and “the how”. Share that with them. For many of us by knowing the “why” just about any “what” and “how” can be managed.
6. Inspire others.
A good leader knows how to inspire others to do their best work. It’s not always easy to inspire those that are content to simply show up each day and collect their paycheck, but it can be possible. Inspire others by always showing your motivation and your commitment.
- A good leader sees who can be molded and does what they can to inspire them.
- Even if you’re only able to inspire a few people to do their best the few that are inspired can make an exponentially positive difference to the rest of the team.
- Positivity can be contagious to the point that there may be, at the very least, less resistance from those that are just the pay-check collectors.
- A good leader will also push those that need it, when it is needed.
7. Have Clear Focus.
If you don’t know what you want, you won’t get it. Leaders are clear on their vision and readily share it with others. But that is only a part of it. Focus comes from vision. Vision is the big-picture guide on where to end up. Focus is the road map on how to get there.
- Share the vision and lay out the plan. Teams need to know what they need to do. Employees can easily ask themselves if their actions are contributing to the attainment of the vision. Know your focus – it should be direct and clear – and communicate it effectively.
8. Show And Treat Them All With Respect.
Strive to treat everyone fairly and avoid playing favorites. Everyone is worthy of a basic level of respect. Ensure that you’re giving it.
- Each member of the team needs to know that you have their back regardless of how well or not that they may be doing.
- The rules for the game need to apply to everyone equally and fairly.
- A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A disrespected team member becomes the weak link.
9. Decisiveness.
When called upon, leaders make the tough decisions fearlessly and take responsibility for the outcome. It’s much easier to make quick decisions when you’re clear on your values and those of the company. If you can’t make up your mind, your leadership skills will be called into question.
- Practice by making small decisions quickly and following through on them. It gets easier with practice. You’ll be surprised by how much more you accomplish when you’re able to make a quick clear decision.
10. Being Committed Yourself Means That You Lead By Example – A Leader Must Walk The Walk.
Effective leaders know that they can get the best out of others by setting a good example. If you want your followers to be committed, positive, passionate, and involved, demonstrate those characteristics each day.
- Be on time to meetings.
- Do what you say that you will do.
- Follow up.
- When changes need to be made update the team.
- A leaders commitment is more than just being involved. Commitment is good but how commitment is displayed by a leader is paramount for success.
What are you currently communicating to others by the example you set?
11. After Commitment Being Humble Is Where All Traits And Characteristics Wrap up And Holds The Leadership Package Together.
A leader can be the best at all of the leadership qualities but if they are not acted upon coming from the place of humility the team becomes resentful of their leader. Resentful people do not engage with their full potential and even worse, if resentment builds for long enough, people may look for ways to directly sabotage the plans of the team or they may just leave the team.
A leader does not need to shy away from their success but over time, constantly waving them around for all to see wears thin for everyone.
- Do not be arrogant.
- Do not be a blow-hard.
- Share the successes and give credit when credit is due.
A quick question before the wrap up of this section…
Do you know how your followers want to be lead?
The last line in the Communication Action section advises that a leader needs to shut up and listen. Yes. This is true. Effective communication means being able to listen, but what are you listening for? Anytime people are involved there is a lot of noise involved in the situation and a leader needs to be able to filter out the noise to get to the relevant information. One way to get to the relevant information is to know which questions need to be asked – What are the questions that need to have answers to them?
One set of questions that a leader should be asking their team members is along the lines of , “How do you want to be lead?” Or, “What do you want from me to help you with your activities?”
Another simple question that can be asked, is, “When you come to me for help, how would you like me to help you?”
Survey your team to see what they want and may even expect from you. Make note of the answers and keep them in mind for when you need to share specific information with them. Knowing how to lead them will make you a more effective leader. For example, one may say that they just want confirmation – that they already know what to do. So instead of taking the time to explain all of the steps needed you can just answer yes or no and that person can be on their way getting done what needs to get done.
From another extreme, one could ask you to do it for them and, of course you should advise them that that is not possible. And then with the leadership skills and traits that you have, you nurture them through the task.
By asking these types of questions you can get a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses. It should become clearer as to which ones are able to solve an issue on their own and which ones my need a little more hand-holding.
Keep in mind that there will be times when “shut up and listen” means to first know what questions to ask the team.
The characteristics of leadership are great and worthy attributes to have but knowing which of them that may be most important for each team members can be valuable information for the leader in order to be a more effective leader.
Section Conclusion
Leaders are necessary just about any time people are involved. Good leaders share common characteristics that can be developed and honed. The required development to being a leader and then leveling up to become an even better leader comes from the actions of self-development and self-discovery. Even if you don’t feel you currently possess these qualities, you can grow your capacity to be an effective leader.
Leaders can be made. Make the time and the effort to become a good leader. You may not be in the position to lead today but, these days things can change on a minute by minute basis. It may not be a matter of if but when when the time comes for you to take on the leadership mantle. Do your best to be ready and be prepared.
Remember good leadership is needed in more places than just at work. Your family, your friends, your religious affiliations and just about any possible interaction with people will require at least moments of great leadership from someone – Make that someone you.
For the times that you need to be the follower, knowing what the characteristics are for good leadership will help you to recognize if you are being led by someone worthy or not of being the leader. Life is too short and too fragile to be led by someone that is not a good leader. Allegiance is precious so make sure that you align yourself correctly.
There are many rewards in life for embodying great leadership traits and applying the skills that can come from them. No matter what your situation may be know them and use leadership skills as a part of your day-to-day life.
Bonus Section: 5 Leadership Skills That Separate The Great Leaders From The Good Leaders!
- Passion
- Positive Attitude
- Persistence
- Creativity
- Independence
The traits and skills listed in the first two sections of this article, in one way or another or at some level or another are all required to be a good leader. Being a good leader may be good enough for most of us. But for those of us that wish to take leadership to the next level there are five traits that are required to take their leadership capabilities and success to the next level.
The five traits listed here in this bonus section are all-encompassing traits that will allow someone to really become a great leader, have success and also apply to just about all aspects of ones life. Having these traits while being in involved with anything worthwhile will enhance the chance for success in just about anything that you choose to do.
1) Passion
Having passion for something means that you are emotionally tied to something and that the outcome of whatever it is that you are doing actually means something to you. Being a passionate leader means that the people that you lead, their success, the outcome of whatever the purpose is of the team and how it relates to the organization that the team may belong to all means something to you.
2) Positive Attitude
Some days things will not go as planned. It is easy to maintain a positive attitude when things are going well. When things are not going well it is crucial that a great leader maintains their positive attitude.
The leader of a team sets the tone for the rest of the team. If you become negative the team will see this and become negative as well.
A great leader keeps a positive outlook regardless of what is going on.
3) Persistence
Never, ever, ever, ever, give up. If you give up, your team will give up too. If things need to change, change them. But with a proper vision and plan in place, giving up should never be an option. If you as the leader know where you want to go and how to get their and you have effectively communicated this to your team, giving up should never be an option.
There will be days when a even a good leader asks if the effort is worth it or what the point may be in doing things. A great leader, from their vision, already has the answers to these and similar questions: Hurdles and challenges will come up. Keeping focused, on track and staying the course is what is needed.
4) Creativity
A good leader knows how to adapt when change is needed – Adaptability is another trait! A great leader sees the change coming long before it may arrive and already has plans in place to account for the change and a have a way out of it, around it or through it.
A great leader knows that they have to be able to see the big picture, know the “lay of the land” and when necessary be able to think outside the box. Thinking differently, being able to look for and see the alternate solutions allows a great leader to make the changes that are necessary when it is needed and even better, just before they are needed!
“If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it”, and “we have always done things this way”, may be true with 80 percent of what there is to do. But a great leader knows that it is the 10-20 percent of what we do that defines them and their team. It is the 10-20 percent that allows the possibility for excellence and a great leader is looking for new and creative ways to get there.
Thinking creatively will allow you as a great leader to be open and in a position to look into issues and solutions that others may not have thought about. In most cases, this will appear to be radical as you stretch your thinking to all the possibilities.
5) Independence
“If it is to be, it is up to me.” A good leader will follow direction when given, know what needs to be done and best get the team to follow along, and do so with out the need to have their hand held while doing so.
A great leader will do it all and almost never need to be told what needs to be done. When you as a great leader see that something needs to be changed or fixed or even stopped, you should do so without needing to be told to do it.
Ideally, when you report to your superiors and they have asked you to do something, you can say, “already done”.
Bonus Section Conclusion:
Want to be a great leader? Then add the five traits listed here in this bonus section to your leadership arsenal. Having these five traits will give you the best chances to have success as a leader as well as to just about all aspects of your life.
When you know your why, the answer to the what, where, when and how should become clear and apparent to you.
If you have your “Why?”, then having and acting with
- Passion
- Positive Attitude
- Persistence
- Creativity
- Independence
should be all that much easier for you to get to.
BAM! Be A Man. Do The Right Thing. Become The Leader That You Were Meant To Be
BAM! Be A Man. Do The Right Thing.
Be The DtRTy Guy!