SkillBrief
Successful Leadership
Great leaders are commonly described as "natural" or "born" leaders.
Although some leaders seem to have been born to lead, this isn't always the
case. Most inspiring leaders develop their leadership skills through hard work
and effort over time. And they also rely on several key behaviors.
To be an inspiring leader, you should demonstrate five behavioral traits:
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enable those around you to act
share your vision
challenge the existing system
encourage others
model the sort of behavior you're asking of others
Enable
Enabling others around you to act entails building a cohesive, collaborative
team based around trust and honesty. There are three ways to enable
others:
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cultivate collaboration – To effectively enable others to act, there must
be a culture of collaboration. As leader, it's your job to cultivate this
collaboration. This is important so there's a common sense of creation
and responsibility.
empower others – Enabling others to act means empowering them so
that they take ownership of what they're doing. Giving people freedom
to make decisions engages and empowers them.
turn followers into leaders – Enabling others to act means ensuring
that they're capable of acting on their own initiative – turning followers
into leaders. This is about strengthening them, but also giving them
more authority and responsibility.
Share your vision
Sharing your vision reflects progressiveness. To provide inspiring leadership,
you need to imagine a positive future and be passionate about it – and
convey that image and passion to others. There are three steps to sharing
your vision:
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imagine the possibilities – To be an inspiring leader, you should look
beyond what's happening today and imagine the possibilities of
tomorrow. When imagining the possibilities, don't focus on your own
personal vision – you should listen to what others and identify what's
meaningful to them.
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enlist others – It's your job to awaken others' passions – making them
proud and committed. You enlist others in the cause by appealing to
common ideals and values. You do this by aligning the organization's
vision with what matters to them.
mobilize everyone –To mobilize everyone, a powerful approach is to
animate the vision. This generates enthusiasm and excitement. It also
motivates others to take decisive and courageous action.
Challenge
Inspiring leaders always look at how change could produce improvement,
innovation, and growth, which reflects progressiveness. As part of this
willingness to challenge the existing order, inspiring leaders do a number of
things:
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anticipate change – An inspiring leader watches for coming changes
and prepares the organization's response. Identifying these changes in
advance – and addressing them when they happen – requires you to
be flexible, creative, and competent.
observe external developments – It's necessary to observe external
developments, which means monitoring what's happening outside of
your own organization to see changes before they occur. It's essential
to talk and listen to others, whether they are employees, customers,
suppliers, or anyone else with insight.
seize the initiative – When challenged or when an opportunity presents
itself, an inspiring leader seizes the initiative and makes things
happen. It's often in times of difficulty or adversity that the qualities of
an inspiring leader are most evident.
experiment and take risks –You should work to create a climate within
the organization where taking risks and experimenting are expected.
Inspiring leaders know that it isn't success that breeds success, but
rather it's failure that breeds success.
Encourage
As an inspiring leader, you provide more than guidance or direction – you
provide energy and encouragement. People need this to consistently perform
at a high level, behave courageously, or persevere. You encourage others in
a number of ways:
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acknowledging contributions – When acknowledging contributions, you
should explicitly recognize someone's effort or success. Doing this
fosters a climate of appreciation and recognition.
celebrating shared values – By celebrating shared values and
achievements together as a group, you strengthen these values and
improve performance. A celebration shows respect and appreciation,
and fosters a sense of community.
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perpetuating success stories – Perpetuating success stories provides
an example to others of what you want and expect from them. You
should watch for instances of people doing things well – and tell others
about it.
Model
You need to prove you're committed to the values you champion. To
convince others of your personal commitment, it's important that you're seen
to be doing exactly what you're asking others to do. You can do this in two
ways:
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personify the common values and getting others to model these values
– As an inspiring leader, it's your job to personify and represent your
organization's common values to everyone – to people within your own
group or organization and to those watching from outside. Try to serve
these values as best you can.
get others to model common values – An inspiring leader gets others
to model the organization's common values. This means showing
what's expected so others can also represent these values. Perpetuate
success stories about how others have represented the values in their
own behavior.
There are five key traits that inspiring leaders demonstrate in their behavior.
First, inspiring leaders enable others to act, which entails cultivating
collaboration, empowering others, and turning followers into leaders. Second,
they share their vision for the organization with those around them and, in
doing so, imagine the possibilities, enlist others, and mobilize everyone.
Third, inspiring leaders are willing to challenge the current way of doing
things, and should – as part of this – anticipate change, observe external
developments, seize the initiative, and experiment and take risks. Fourth,
they encourage others, which includes acknowledging contributions,
celebrating shared values, and perpetuating success stories. Finally, inspiring
leaders model whatever it is they're asking of others by personifying the
common values and getting others to model these values.
Course: The Voice of Leadership: Inspirational Leadership
Topic: Foundations for Successful Leadership
© 2011 SkillSoft Ireland Limited