Truly great leaders don't just understand the process, they understand people.»
Great leaders do not micro-manage, they empower.
(for employees), I offer three of the best things I have personally researched that
great leaders do.
Great leaders don't have all the answers, but they know how to ask the right questions — questions that force others and themselves to move past old and tired answers, questions that open up possibilities that, before the question, went unseen.
Excellent point, John Jay, like the George Takei photo I saw on Facebook says, «Great Leaders don't tell You what to do... They show You how it's done.»
Before we dive in, lets review the six foundational things that
great leaders do differently.
As we continue to use Dr. Jim Laub «s servant leadership assessment tool that gauges organizational health, the fifth thing that
great leaders do differently is they provide leadership.
As we continue to use Dr. Jim Laub «s servant leadership assessment tool that gauges organizational health, the third thing that
great leaders do differently is they develop people.
But great leaders don't make those decisions often.
Great leaders don't stress about how they might be perceived and neither should you.
While
great leaders do a tremendous amount of thinking, that thinking happens behind the scenes.
Great leaders do that by telling stories and painting verbal pictures so that everyone can understand not just where they're going, but what it will look and feel like when they get there.
Great leaders don't treat people how they themselves want to be treated.
Great leaders do more than offer great returns.
However, as different as leaders are today, there are some things
great leaders do every day.
Becoming a great leader doesn't have to be a soul - searching journey, nor is it dependent on your natural charisma.
That's why every great team player answers the following question the same way
every great leader does:
The greatest leaders don't just move past an obstacle — they find meaning in it, and use it to their advantage.
Becoming a great leader doesn't mean that you have to incorporate all of these traits at once.
Being
a great leader does not require you to be the best at your job.
In his book, Allison outlines 5 specific habits that
every great leader does — habits that won't just lead to a highly effective organization, but to his or her personal happiness.
Not exact matches
When Google sifted through immense troves of data to determine what makes a
great leader, what quality
did they come up with?
Be Good at Everything and
Great at Something Customers expect your business to offer quality at good prices with prompt service, but they don't expect you to be the market
leader on all three fronts.
Like Jobs, all
great leaders know why they
do what they
do.
A
great leader, though, will
do one thing that the others don't: he or she will make the people around and below better.
These are
leaders who, as I wrote in my book
Great CEOs Are Lazy, prioritize wearing the «Coach's Hat»: their entire goal is to build a safe and accepting environment where people are encouraged to
do their best work.
My colleague Maria Pergolino pointed out that when people say they are a thought
leader they are saying they take the time to help others by not only
doing a
great job but also making an effort to package it up via blogs, presentations, etc., so other people can learn.
Just because you're a
leader doesn't mean you're a
great one (we witnessed a shocking implosion of a CEO at a major drugmaker just this past week).
«The
greatest leader is not necessarily the one who
does the
greatest things.
Effective
leaders allow
great people to
do the work they were born to
do.»
«No man will make a
great leader who wants to
do it all himself, or to get all the credit for
doing it.»
«Not that he
did a
great deal of good, but at least he didn't make a mess,» one business
leader wrote.
However in many organizations that I work with, they say it's
great that the new
leaders get training and development in order to be effective — but the more veteran
leaders do not get training and development whatsoever.
Not only
do figures like Mark Zuckerberg and President Obama credit fiction with expanding their outlook and exercising their minds, but science even suggests that a
great novel can boost empathy, a hallmark of excellent
leaders.
Great leaders are honest and transparent, and have high integrity — they
do what they say they are going to
do, and they walk their talk.
Great leaders have a higher level of perseverance, stick - to - itiveness, and drive than most anyone else, and they can be counted on to get things
done.
You know a
great leader when you're working for one, but even they can have a hard time explaining the specifics of what they
do that makes their leadership so effective.
«You can't have a
great culture over time if you don't have
leaders who are modelling it and living it and behaving in a way that supports that culture.»
Are
great leaders born or
does it take a lifetime of experience to manage the masses?
Great leaders are passionate about what they
do, and they strive to share that passion with everyone around them.
Related: 8 Must -
Dos that Make Good
Leaders Great 6.
Like Jim Collins says, the role of a
leader is to grow
great leaders so when you leave the organization doesn't miss a beat.
You're a
great leader and can handle a group of people, but you also don't know anything about business and technical areas.
Great leaders understand communication and sell that huge vision, but don't lose sight of the details that are necessary in getting there.
«The title alone of this book has been a
great lesson for me, and I think it is something that every
leader has to
do or learn to get comfortable with to manage stress and stay productive, effective, and happy in their role.
Simply put, the best
leaders surround themselves with
great people because they know they can't
do it alone.
Being a
great leader involves
doing the hard things that most people don't want to
do - and therefore won't.
In the book The Secret: What
Great Leaders Know and
Do by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller, an interviewer states that he provides candidates a list of personal and professional references.
Great business
leaders and companies don't just make money.
All you've got to
do is break from the content - generating crowd and embrace the qualities that make
great business
leaders, well,
great.