“Are there any real leaders left?”
This was a question posed by one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers, Dov Baron, in his article with the same title. To be honest, reading that article struck a serious nerve. His question was actually more of a statement because as you read further, you will see that he has already made up his mind, and he believes there are actually no real leaders left.
So, what do we do with that information?
To be clear, Mr. Baron is a leadership coach and speaker, so anything he writes is geared toward selling his services, but let’s be honest – he could have a point. If you compare almost any leader you know of today with the likes of people like George Washington, Winston Churchill or Mahatma Gandhi, do we really have anyone who compares?
The point is that while your views on leadership may vary greatly from someone else’s, there’s no denying that certain qualities and characteristics attract more followers and garner more respect. So, the question now becomes How Do We Build Strong Leaders?
We believe there are several areas of development that will bring out the best in any leader and challenge him or her to achieve greater depth of character and stronger skills.
Let Them Be Challenged
True leaders are just that – leaders. They have learned to forge their own paths and make their own decisions. If you happen to have a corporate structure that makes all the decisions for its leadership teams, you are essentially creating a band of soldiers – not leaders. In order for them to flourish in the positions you’ve entrusted to them, they need to be challenged. Give them responsibility for major decisions. Present them with the challenges your company is facing and take their thoughts seriously.
If you are hiring quality, high-performing employees, they will need to be challenged and trusted continually in order to grow.
Let Them Learn from Other Strong Leaders
There’s something to be said for pairing up your newest talent with strong leaders who already know the ropes. Most of the benefits are obvious, but you might be surprised at how much employee performance can be improved from implementing your own mentorship programs.
Case in point: Sun Microsystems conducted a study in 2011 that showed the following key findings:
- 25% of mentees and 28% of mentors saw a positive change in salary grade compared to 5% of non-participants.
- Participant retention rates increased to 69% for mentors and 72% for mentees. Non-participant retention rate was 49%.
- Increased retention resulted in savings of $6.7 million in avoided turnover & replacement costs.
The interesting thing about this study is that mentoring not only built strong leadership qualities in its mentees, but also vastly improved them in their mentors, leading them to higher salaries and longer work retention. This strengthens our previous statement that leaders need to be challenged in order to grow.
Allow Them to Do Their Best Work and Shine
It’s no secret that even adults thrive on praise and acceptance. Allowing your leaders the freedom to explore their own roles and giving them the credit for their accomplishments is the fastest way to ensure employee satisfaction and longevity. Not only will they thrive in a positive environment and continue to find ways to improve, they will also inspire others to do the same, positioning them to mentor and lead other employees.
Hold Them Accountable and Measure Success
Holding your leaders accountable is not only crucial to your company’s success, but also to their own development within their roles. The challenge is to measure success and use accountability in a way that is positive and quantitative. In other words, expectations should be clearly communicated in order to be measured.
In this Workplace Accountability Study done by Partners in Leadership, they found that 85% of the 40,000 employees they interviewed said they weren’t even clear what their company’s expectations were. They also said that accountability was almost always administered negatively and based on those same unclear expectations.
What does that say about how you need to run things?
According to this insightful article by Robert Whipple, MBA, CPLP at Leadergrow, there are 8 key components, or “Be Attitudes” of successfully holding people accountable:
- Be Clear About Your Expectations
- Be Sure of Your Facts
- Be Timely
- Be Kind
- Be Consistent
- Be Discrete
- Be Gracious
- Be Balanced
Removing any one of these components can create an atmosphere of negativity and rebellion, neither of which allow leadership growth.
Create a Collaborative Culture that Promotes Open Communication and Welcomes Ideas
Any and every leadership style can be evaluated on the basis of one thing – communication. How well your company communicates says everything about the future and structure of your organization. Since in the previously mentioned study, only 15% of the participants claimed to have a clue as to what was expected of them, most companies seem to be failing at this one key component that can make or break them in the long run.
It’s no different for its leaders. In order to grow strong, successful leaders, employers need to open the doors of communication and welcome their ideas. Accountability, praise and challenges will go nowhere without it.
But how do you create this culture?
According to David Hassel at Forbes, getting rid of the “us versus them” mentality is one of the key factors to building a strong corporate culture. Developing strong relationships in your workforce is the most valuable exercise you can implement, but doing so requires work.
Just like in a marriage or any other important relationship, you have to lay the groundwork from the beginning. We’re intrigued by the culture Google Inc. has created. Not only do these people work together, they are encouraged to play together in an environment designed for lighthearted fun.
Of course, your company culture doesn’t have to be fun like Google’s to promote open communication. It just has to allow and encourage it in whatever way you choose. And you have to strive to make real connections with the individuals you employ.
In a Nutshell
We tend to view leaders as people in charge, and that can definitely be their main roles, but how do you define a strong leader? In our opinion, a strong leader is comprised of several key characteristics, and you will find each of them in the strongest leaders of the past:
Integrity – George Washington once stated that “Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” But he himself never sold out.
Courage – not many leaders have ever exhibited the courage of the late great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He knew the risks he was taking, but he valued the cause more than his life.
Innovation – you almost can’t say the word without thinking of the late Steve Jobs. His leadership through his innovative thinking are his legacy.
Diligence – while not a political leader, Michael Jordan, who is arguably the most well-known athlete of all time, is a perfect example of diligence. He led the Chicago Bulls to six championship victories during his career. How much influence would he have had if he had preached hard work to his teammates but did nothing with his own talent?
In order to develop these same characteristics in your leaders, you will have to use tactics that allow them to do their jobs well with as little micro-managing as possible. You will need to hire top talent and then give them the creative space to make your company great.
With few exceptions, your strongest leaders will be your greatest assets and the people who will encourage other great leaders to emerge from their teams.
Identify them. Nurture them. Encourage them. Train them. They are the future of your brand!