The Course of Good Leadership

The ship is majestic as it sets sail on the waters, the winds trying to chart a course while the rudders maintain the ship’s direction. In a big ship, we have hundreds of people- passengers and crew members alike. Whereas all crew members work together to ensure smooth voyage, one man takes responsibility for the safety of all on-board the ship – the Captain. The success of any organization hinges greatly on the lead and expertise of the leader. He however needs the support of others to succeed. The success of the leader is measured by the overall success of the team. When every member of the team performs, the team wins.

Now seeing that the leader steers the ship of the organization, he needs to have an edge over the led for adequate oversight. This brings us to the qualities of a great leader.

Integrity. One of the distinguishing qualities a great leader should possess is integrity. When the led look through the leader and see every sincerity in him, they tend to trust the leader, even when he makes a mistake. This results in loyalty. People are willing to contain an honest mistake than accept a right judgment with deception. The leader with great moral principles wins the heart of the people.

Direction. No one would want to follow someone that is glaringly uninformed. A leader must be one with a sense of direction, focus, and value. A successful leader should be able to paint a clear picture of what the future looks. That is the only time he understands where to step into next. Sense of direction also includes course correction. A good leader knows what he sees and is able to know when course is being altered, and corrects it. To set direction, the leader’s message must be clear; he therefore needs to be clear himself.

Consistency. A leader needs to be consistent in focus, values, business line, ideology, brand image, and principles. This allows the team to understand what the leader stands for and where he is headed for, thus fostering synergy. Inconsistency breeds fear and uncertainty. With constantly changing values, focus, and principles come chaos.

Self-Confidence. If you want to influence anyone at all, then you need to feel you are influential in the first place. Self-confidence is the ability to believe in one’s self to make decisions and produce results. This is one key thing that makes a great leader. The picture a leader makes of him places a worth on him. If the picture is great, self-esteem is high and the leader stays strong. Many factors as past success, abilities, and skills contribute to self-confidence.

Good Judgment. No one wants to follow a confused cause. A good leader should have the right frame of mind to make sound decisions. People should be able to trust that your judgment is right. Nevertheless, that can only come when you’ve been able to prove that you know your onions. To gain people’s confidence, a great leader should take calculated decisions and ensure minimal mistakes. Care should however be taken not to affect his being decisive.

Rapport. People always feel secure when they know that their interests are put into consideration. Poor rapport does not spell well for organizations. Even smart leaders fail when they don’t have good rapport with their team. When you as a leader empathize with your team members and know their challenges (even when you can’t help much), it creates affection and boosts loyalty. Creating rapport is a place to start for effective communication and mentoring.

Engagement. Nothing feels as good as knowing that you are important. A great leader has the ability to engage team members by giving them challenges to handle and trusting their capabilities, while guiding them through. Only great leaders are able to delegate. They give others opportunity for reasonable input and celebrate them for their good contributions. This helps in developing the individuals and giving them better confidence for arduous tasks. In engagement, learn to encourage unity of vision but diversity of skills.

Communication. Last but not the least here is communication. If a leader has all it takes and knows all there is but cannot communicate the ideas in clear terms, then he is like a bottled up container which content is bound to waste. Do have a mental picture of what you want, but the people with you cannot see them? A leader should be able to translate his mental pictures into words, commitment, actions, and attitude- pictures that others can see. When they understand the leaders picture, they can easily find where they fit in. Communication is an indispensable quality a great leader needs.

Now let’s do this little exercise.

On a scale of zero (0) to ten (10), evaluate and score yourself

1.   How much value, skills, and positive things to offer people do you believe you have?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate low, you may need to increase knowledge and develop skills to boost your self-confidence.)

2.   How often do you do something and feel you took the wrong step and could have done it better the other way?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate high, you may need to take decisions more carefully. Learn not to be impulsive, yet decisive. This would help to develop good sense of judgment)

3.   How often are people willing to follow your suggestions or accept your opinion when you make inputs?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate low, you may need to find better ways of expressing your thoughts for easy understanding. Read books and be creative)

4.   How much do people in your vicinity or office feel free relating with you?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate low, you may need to learn people’s dispositions and get friendlier with people)

5.   How much do you enjoy giving people opportunity to try doing things you have already learnt to do?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate low, you may need to learn mentoring and delegation. They make a great leader)

6.   How much insecure do you feel when you sense emerging rivalry from contemporaries or subordinates?

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

(If you rate high, you need to develop yourself better and learn to trust. You do not become dispensable by developing others)

Building great leadership qualities is like presenting apples of gold in settings of silver- a world where everything fits. Everyone that wants to make a lasting impact in lives should aspire to imbibe valuable leadership qualities. Becoming a leader does not happen in one day. With consistency, doing the right things over time, everything we need to be great leaders is developed. Let us therefore shine forth. In doing so, we unconsciously give others the permission to shine also… See you at the top.



Also see: Leadership ability- Hallmark of success