Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you’ll have noticed that there is a leadership battle going on for the top job in government! You’d be forgiven for thinking that this particular leadership role seems to just be handed out without any real consideration of whether the candidate is right for the job – and you might be right! Anyone can be a ‘leader’ but not everyone can be a ‘good’ leader, let alone a ‘great’ one! So what are the qualities of a great leader, and how can you develop your own leadership skills to benefit your business?
Honesty is the best policy
Yes there will be times when you legitimately need to keep certain information to yourself, but as a general rule, be as honest as you can with your team and your customers. This will make them respect and trust you, and you’ll get the best out of your relationships with them.
Communicate with clarity
You can’t come across as honest if you don’t know how to communicate in the first place! Make sure you are clear about your expectations, and share all the information that your employees need to know, so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to your business goals.
Develop your emotional intelligence
Leaders need to support their workforce, and in order to do so you need to know how they are feeling and what they need support with. As a business leader you should be empathetic and understanding of your employees’ difficulties, and offer constructive support to help them overcome any obstacles.
Accountability and responsibility are key
When things go wrong, don’t immediately look for someone else to blame. Ask yourself, is there something that I could have done to prevent this? Nine times out of ten there will be something that you as a leader could have done to intervene earlier in a process to prevent a bad end result. When your employees know that you are prepared to take responsibility for your own mistakes, they will too.
Enthuse and inspire with a positive attitude
Even if you have all the outward enthusiasm of Sir Andy Murray in a post-match interview, you can still find ways to enthuse and inspire your team. Whether it’s by your actions, through an email or blog post, or through rewards such as bonuses or even just ordering pizzas for lunch, find a way to show how positive you are about your team and their work.
Be present
We don’t mean get in touch with your inner soul here (although that’s great if you want to!) we mean be visible to your workforce. Don’t spend all day hidden away behind an office door! Get out and about and show your employees what you’re doing to drive the company forward. Some leaders even share their calendars with all their employees so that they can see what their boss is doing behind the scenes – but better not do that if you have a lot of golfing days blocked out!
It’s clear that great leadership takes hard work, but it is achievable with the right mindset. Let’s hope whoever ends up in charge of the country has time to spare on developing their leadership style….
