Leaders and Leadership

We are all leaders at some point

In fact, each and every one of us will, at some point, take on a leadership role of some form or other.

That might be acting as head of the family household, parenting children, organising a social function or coordinating local volunteer work. The list goes on.

So, whether we are leaders in our own right, or spend most of our time standing in judgement of leaders, we need a solid understanding of what good leadership entails … or should entail.

Before we explore the characteristics of good, effective leadership, let’s spend a moment looking at why leadership means very different things to different leaders.

Reward for loyalty to the system? Or call to service.

I’m generalising a little, but there are two main reasons why people end up in a leadership role. And the reason can have a profound effect on how a leader acts and behaves.

In systems of government, business, and society that are more authoritarian in nature, leaders are normally appointed by the system as a reward for long service, loyalty, and working to toe the official line.

When that reward finally arrives, the new leader gains peace of mind from knowing that the script has at last flipped … and is likely to maximise this to his or her advantage.

Time for slavish devotion to the system is over. Instead, the newly appointed leader becomes the face of the system and the supreme judge of the loyalty of others who would benefit from that system.

After being in service of the system for such a long time, authoritarian leaders gain a sense of entitlement and become motivated by self-aggrandizement. To maximise that self-enrichment they will seek to retain power for as long as possible.

Where necessary, to achieve these aims, they will manipulate what is already a compliant system.

On the other hand, in democratically run institutions, being appointed as a leader is seen as a call to service and time to step up to protect and enhance the interests of those who you are called on to represent. Leadership is regarded as an honour that requires selflessness and comes with great responsibility.

Now, let’s face it, some democratically elected leaders can turn out to be real sleazeballs as they allow the newly achieved power to ‘go to their heads’. Even some authoritarian leaders turn out to be far more affable than expected.

But these cases tend to go against the grain.

Effective leadership

So, assuming that, like me, you see a leader’s role as putting the people he or she has been appointed to serve first, let’s consider some of the key attributes this requires:

Trust and Respect

Leaders, like coaches, need to build good rapport with all their stakeholders. Rapport comes from developing a level of trust and mutual respect.

It takes time to build up and requires consistent effort on the part of the leader to do what they say they will do and tell what they have done.

Leaders are not always going to please the people they lead with their actions but if these are properly explained and their motivation is consistent, people will respect their decisions.

Vision and Communication

Whether the leader has a powerful vision but not the ability to communicate it, or is a communication maestro but with no clear vision to underpin that ability, that leader is highly likely to be ineffective.

Effective leaders need to have a clear vision of where they are taking the organisation. They also require the communication skills and passion to share that message clearly and compellingly. If they do so, those who still cannot buy into the vision are free to move on.

Selflessness

I’ve touched on this already.

Leaders who have self-centric tendencies may allow their own needs and best interests to cloud their judgement when it comes to making important decisions.

Self-centricism is a monkey that sits on many a leader’s shoulder. It encourages them to compromise – sometimes subtly – on decisions that they know are best for their constituencies.

When leaders respond to the call to serve, they have to resolve to act, and be seen to act, in a selfless way, even if that requires self-sacrifice.

Responsibility

People quickly see through leaders who seek to shift the blame for the outcome of their decisions to others. Each decision a leader takes comes with the responsibility to accept the outcome and, if not ideal, to learn from it and work to improve their decision-making.

Although leaders make key decisions, they do not always involve themselves in taking the actions required to put those decisions into effect. Hence the importance of having the trust, respect, and backing for their vision.

The upshot is that the results of their decisions remain their responsibility. This is what makes leadership so challenging.

Delegation

This brings me to delegation.

No leaders have the capacity to get involved in every aspect of the execution of their strategies. Neither should they seek to gain that capacity.

Good leaders surround themselves with people they trust to get things done and to report back regularly and transparently on progress. Not only is this essential, particularly in a complex organisation, but it helps promote sub-leadership jobs that are more fulfilling.

Consultative Decisiveness

Some leaders, while acknowledged for their decisiveness, can build animosity amongst those on their leadership teams as a result of the lack of prior consultation.

On the other hand, some leaders are hell-bent on exhausting every avenue of consultation in an effort to get everyone on the team aligned. They get a reputation for indecisiveness, often ending up with compromise decisions that suit no-one ideally.

Good leaders recognise the need for prior consultation while remaining decisive in their decision-making.

I call it applying a style of ‘consultative decisiveness’.

Ethical commitment

Leaders in government, business and communities have to be seen to uphold the law and apply fair and just standards when it comes to all of their stakeholders. This is often easier said than done as the interests of various stakeholder groups are not always aligned.

Good leaders will communicate the ethical standards that they strive to apply, then will hold themselves to account for those standards, managing ethical dilemmas that arise from time to time as fairly as they can.

So, in summary, leadership roles are not for the faint-hearted.

Good leaders are required to make significant personal sacrifices. They need to have integrity, courage and resilience.

But, for the right people, being appointed as a leader allows them a golden opportunity to make an important difference in our world.

And what could be more important?