From Good to Great: What Does True Leadership Look Like?
When you think of a great business leader, past or present, who comes to mind? Henry Ford? John D. Rockefeller? Andrew Carnegie? Debbie Fields? Steve Jobs? Arianna Huffington? Jeff Bezos? Elon Musk? All these captains of industry established commercial and industrial empires, earning them vast sums of money while positively impacting the lives of millions.
But you don’t have to reach the stratosphere like these exemplars to be a great leader. Today, countless men and women run small- to medium-sized businesses of all types, from high tech manufacturing companies to domestic cleaning services. Each could qualify as extraordinary. So, what do they have in common?
As it turns out, numerous studies have examined the traits of great leaders and have found they tend to share several key characteristics. Some of these deal with temperament, some with personality. Others pertain to communication skills. Oddly, intelligence and education seem to have very little to do with leadership success. Ironically, many very smart, highly educated people make very poor leaders. (No doubt you’ve met such folks.) The good news is this means leadership isn’t necessarily an innate ability, nor one that requires you to carry student loan debt well into retirement. It is something that can be learned and fostered.
To put it simply, you can make yourself a great leader.
So, what are the key characteristics of greater leadership? Specifics vary somewhat from study to study, but most tend to agree on the following:
Optimism. A great leader possesses a “can do” attitude. Despite setbacks, they know that with sufficient effort, great things can be accomplished. The University of India’s Prof. (Dr.) Shyamalendu Niyogi and Swati John, writing for the International Journal of Management (IJM) are just two internationally recognized leadership experts who have cited optimism as being central to long-term business success. Note: optimism is not arrogance. Instead, it is a positive outlook tempered by…
Pragmatism. Great leaders can distinguish the feasible from the fanciful. They ask a lot of others and themselves, but never the impossible. They also employ a levelheaded outlook to achieve the right balance between their dreams and reality. As author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek once said, “Pure pragmatism can’t imagine a bold future. Pure idealism can’t get anything done. It is the delicate blend of both that drives innovation.”
Vision. As noted by Mahidol University’s Sooksan Kantabutra and Macquarie Graduate School of Management’s Gayle C. Avery, leaders pave the way by establishing a practical objective, then pointing others toward this singular goal. Naturally, doing this requires…
Strong Communication/People Skills. What we now call “soft skills” are essential to effective leadership. (This is why you’ll often find that top corporate CEOs may know little about the technical aspects of the companies they run.) Heck, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra, while extremely capable, probably couldn’t replace a V-6 cylinder head if her life depended on it, and yet, by getting the most out of others, she can nonetheless steer even a vast organization into long-term innovation and profitability.
Self-Awareness. Great leaders have a clear understanding of who they are, what they do well, and where they are weak. They are also keenly tuned in to how they are viewed by others. They understand that while a strong ego is usually a prerequisite for success, self-delusion can be a career-killer. To compensate for their deficits, especially any perception they are less than resolute, they need to display…
Decisiveness. Great leaders commit their organizations to action. Yes, they are open to listening to all sides of an argument, but once they make up their minds, the die is cast. U.S. Army General Stanley McCrystal (ret.) put it this way: “Leadership looks like: The ability to decide in the moment what needs to happen, the ability to strengthen the narrative, constantly communicating the message.” This leads us to our final trait…
Confidence. Once a course is set, great leaders stick to the plan. They don’t deviate from their objective—even when encountering difficult obstacles, understanding the road to success is rarely smooth and straight. Best-selling author and popular historian Malcolm Gladwell, speaking recently at the Global Leadership Conference, described confidence this way: “Great leaders take social risks as well as operational risks. They can silence the voices around them saying they are crazy when they see opportunities others don’t see. Great leaders sense the urgency of when to take operational risks and can deal with the naysayers around them—not be discouraged by them.”
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For several decades, my team and I have helped business owners and executives develop the above skills: optimism, pragmatism, vision, communication, self-awareness, decisiveness, and confidence, so they can more effectively run their organizations. If you’d like to know how to transform your company’s leaders from good to great, please contact me today at laura@conoverconsulting.com.