My favorite quote summarizing leadership:
"The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves."
Leadership is accountable to employees and the employees’ perception/willingness to commit to an organizational goal ahead of their personal agenda. A committed follower performs at an elevated level, which augments organizational performance. The ability to fulfill the psychological needs of subordinates and adapt to the human/environmental situation while attaining organizational goals are characteristics of exceptional leadership style.
Leadership and management are not separate entities. Effective leaders incorporate management strategies into their style; however, not all managers are effective leaders. Leadership is visionary providing influence and direction through a composition of acts and behaviors. Those acts include mundane management skills that are often task oriented and uninspiring.
Effective leaders:
- Visionary
- People/organization centric
- Emotional intelligence
- Accountability
- Autonomy for self determination
- Elicit high performance expectations
- Engage vested members in decision-making
- Support innovation, risk taking, critical thinking, and intellectual curiosity
- Ethical: align actions/words
- Transparent, communicative, sharing knowledge
- Proactive
Ineffective Leaders:
- Task oriented
- Egocentric
- Manipulative
- Aggressive
- Low levels of emotional intelligence
- Ambiguous expectations/messaging
- Lack creativity/status quo
- Passive/reactive
Where do you fit in the characteristics of effective/ineffective leadership style?
Perceived leadership style often conflicts with a leaders’ personal perception of their own leadership style (image vs identity). As stated in a previous post “Before someone can become an effective leader of others, they must possess a deep reflective understanding of self-awareness”.
Wicked leaders stifle performance, productivity, and profitability by failing to understand or fulfill the psychological needs of the people performing the tasks (Despised)
Good leaders communicate goals and show interest in their people while maintaining the status quo (Revered)
Great leaders create a high performing culture of committed followers willing to be innovative while holding each other accountable to the decreed organizational expectations. (We did it ourselves)
Leadership is foundational in establishing the organizational culture. Organizational culture influences the openness to change, behavioral norms, and sustainability of competitive advantage. Culture and sustained competitive advantage are contingent on the organizational commitment of the followers. Followership is a reflection of leadership effectiveness; therefore, leadership is responsible for organizational performance.
Soteria Alliance develops leaders who create high-performance work cultures!
