Keys to Effective Leadership in Business

When speaking on leadership, so many typical conversations occur such as being responsible or educated, but the fact is that there are many people out there that are highly skilled and educated, responsible to the core and possess a high ethical and moral value system that cannot lead.  It happens time and time again, a person of great skill in a company is promoted due to their exceptional results, only to fail as a manager or team leader.  So there has to be more to leadership then these elements.  After doing some research, these qualities are what I found often are common amongst leaders:  Inspirational, good listening skills, ability to forecast, and courage to act.

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.  It is not magnetic personality, that can just as well be a glib tongue.  Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.  It is about making other leaders and not followers.  To do that, one must recognize the strengths in others and then nourish them.  In projects that can allow for a little time and guidance, do not put your best man on the job.  Put your second best man on the job and guide him to a number one performance.  When you take others under your wing and nourish them to become leaders, you grow a team you can count on to make decision in your absence.  This inspiration to be more then what one currently is not only builds self confidence in the individual, it builds investment in the company providing that leadership.  An employee vested in the success of your company for personal reasons will perform at a much higher level then the one strictly motivated by the dollar amounts in his paycheck. 

Get in there, roll up the sleeves and lead by example if deadlines are difficult or staff is short.  There is nothing more inspiring to have your boss at your side sweating out the details rather then just expecting the results on his/her desk the next morning.  This is not a new concept in the world of business and politics.  Even John Quincy Adams stated, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." However to do this, to help others be even more then what they realize they are capable of you must have the second skill, good listening.

Active listening is one of those skills that's both surprisingly simple as well as surprisingly effective.  It should include allowing others to make a point before interrupting, and valuing the opinions of others.  In addition to improving your personal and professional relationships, listening also helps to prevent misunderstandings and facilitates cooperation.  A great listening technique involves rephrasing the speaker's words and repeating them back to them.  This shows that you are listening and are following them.  Pay attention to what they are not saying as well as what they are.  Sometimes a leader can pick up things to guide with by what the person is avoiding bringing up due to a lack of comfort in that particular subject area.  Pay attention to the body language of the speaker.  Does their posture show true intent or are they just speaking to hear themselves talk.  When you respond,  are their arms folded across their chest?  This is a common defensive posture.  There are many good books and seminars out there on communication skills, make sure to use one that includes active listening.  One I recommend is Active Listening: Improve Your Ability to Listen  and Lead (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership)) Without this skill, you are not truly hearing the needs of important people in your life or business team and therefore, cannot take appropriate action. 

Again, this not a new idea or a new revelation to business and relationships.  Epictetus from 55 - 135 AD is quoted as saying.  "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."  Unfortunately, the competitive nature often jumps into conversations and we become focused on winning a point or making ourselves heard and we lose the concept of open-minded and receptive.  An important aspect of good communication as well as personal growth.

Another important aspect of leadership is the ability to forecast.  On a larger scale, businesses are forced to look well ahead in order to plan their investments, launch new products, decide when to close or withdraw products and so on.  Often, the financial well-being of the entire operation rely on the accuracy of the forecast since such information will likely be used to make interrelated budgetary and operative decisions in areas of personnel management, purchasing, marketing and advertising, capital financing, etc.  What often gets overlooked is what will the employees need to meet the ever changing needs of the company.  Is there training on new concepts that are needed.  Is the time taken to educate the employees on the reasons for the change and the positive end results.  One mistake often made in business is to throw change at employees with a 'just do it' mindset.  However, if employees or even children for that matter, understand what is to be gained in the change and what the impact to them personally will be;  they will be better able to manage the change and move forward in a positive manner.

One of the most important skills is the ability to make a decision, to take action.  Often in today's world, untrained leaders are put into positions to make decisions they do not feel empowered to make.  A leader forecasts the end results of a decision and makes it.  It is often heard by frustrated employees, "will someone just make a decision." Leaders maked decisions and stand by them. If they make a mistake, they own them and learn from them then move on.  By rolemodeling decision making,  you teach others to do the same.  Whereever possible, give people the power to make decisions and learn.  Face it, most of us got our best learning experiences when we fell flat on our faces.  By listening to what is going on and monitoring our teams, we can intervene before such mistakes our disasterous to the company over all.  A mentor of mine is always saying - "trust but inspect."   That is our role as a leader, to teach and inspire others to reach for the stars.  As they reach, we guide their progress and help them analyze their results. 

People do not have to be born leaders.  They can learn to lead.  Take the time to listen to those that are where you want to be.  Forecast your decisions and possible end results before making decisions then look at who you need to achieve that path.  Inspire others by being the person, the team player, that you want them to be.  In other words, don't sit back and tell what is to be done, show what needs to be done.  Roll up your sleeves and be willing to stand side by side on the sales floor, the copy room or even the mail room if there is a need and a shortage. Not only will it show your leadership skills and that you care for the team you lead, it will allow you to hear new ideas and spot problems quicker, it will allow you to find your future leaders as they step up beside you. 

Cheryl Matthynssens
Wealth Masters International