What’s good leadership?
In his book Good to Great Jim Collins says that exceptional leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great team and a great company. Good leadership is not about advancing your own agenda; it’s about advancing your team towards an all encompassing vision.
For example Historians have written about our nation’s first president George Washington’s commitment to American independence and that he frequently referred to it as “our glorious cause”
So the question is are good leaders born or are they made? In my experience leaders are made. Why?
A person has to decide to become a leader and second of all, learn the skills necessary to elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people.
Each and every one of us has the ability to exhibit good leadership. You can become an effective leader by changing the way you think about yourself and how you think about others, and improving your self- awareness.
Here are 5 thought processes that create good leadership.
- Value your people- Put your staff before the numbers and they will produce good numbers. Let them know how much you appreciate them. Whatever you appreciate APPRECIATES!
- Vision-If you want to become a good leader communicate an inspiring vision and be the living example of it even when the going gets tough.
- Cultivate Open relationships– Open honest relationships are important to create a growth culture. Make others feel safe to speak up. The faulty flow of information is the crap that screws up the good. Create different ways to communicate ideas, concerns, and performance.
- Empower and equip others to become future leaders– Good leadership means surrounding yourself with future leaders and not feel threatened by their success. Hire for personality, drive, execution and accountability. Skills and experience will always play a part, but in today’ world they’re simply not enough. Accountable, responsible teammates are worth their weight in gold.
- Grow yourself– Remove the barriers of I can’t and create roads of I can. Most teams are held back by what their leader thinks of not only the team, but how the leader perceives them self as a leader.
Finally one of the most important traits that makes a good leader? The ability to follow! You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.
Is there something you would add to the list of “What makes a good leader?’ If so, feel free to comment.
Tony Jalan
Equipping, Educating, Empowering, and encouraging others to become better leaders!
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