Leadership Qualities to Excel

ABILITY TO LEAD SELF

Leadership is all about leading a team of people who can meet organization goals and assist in growing, not only the organization, but themselves as well. Budding leaders, aspiring to reach leadership heights, therefore, should first be successful in leading themselves. This can be done through a 3-step process:  

• Self- Awareness

• Exercising Self- Control

• Continuous Self- Improvement

Self-Awareness

This step includes a process of carrying out weekly self-retrospective on self-performance (what went well and what did not), continuous self-assessment and visualization as to how to enhance/maximize the potential and seeking feedback from boss, teammates, family members and close friends.

Exercising Self-Control

All human beings have their own limiting behaviors which includes reacting to situations, short tempers, biases etc.  Building strong relationships and handling situations in a mature manner is key for the growth of all, especially for the budding leaders. 

Budding leaders should become very conscious about their thoughts, feelings and emotions. The weekly self-retrospectives and seeking feedback from boss, team mates, family members and close friends will also help in a big way to identify such behaviors. 

Budding leaders should be able identify such reactive behaviors soon as the same happens and take corrective actions immediately. Some of the common ways to do so are taking a pause, having a glass of water, and temporarily stepping away from the situation. 

Regular exercises and meditation should help to bring more calmness of mind as well as awareness in the long run.

Continuous Self-Improvement

Self-improvement is a continuous process for all, especially so for the budding leaders. This is a very important tool for the growth of people and the organization. Budding leaders should be constantly adopting self-improvement techniques to enrich their knowledge, especially in the areas that are identified during the self-awareness process as areas that need improvement.  

Budding leaders should do the following to keep self-improving:

1. Attend trainings/seminars (relating to technical area of expertise, self-improvement as a person, mindset, leadership, public speaking etc.), 

2. Reading books/articles

3. Exchange thoughts/ideas with industry peers using social media 

4. Get mentorship 

The knowledge gathered should be shared and implemented.  

Work Ethics

Budding leaders should exhibit strong work ethics at all times. Only then, can they lead by example in the future. Work ethics include integrity, respect, punctuality, and discipline. Adherence to company rules and regulations is also very important.

PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

Leadership is about building a high performing team who can meet the performance goals of the organization.  For budding leaders to become such leaders, they should maximize their own performance to start with.  

This process starts with knowing about the organization. Seek information about the organization:

• Nature of activities (Product or services provided; customers and geography)

• Organization vision and values

• Organization chart

• Key policies (Employee handbook, etc.)

• Benefits (Health, welfare etc.)

• Awards and Recognition System

• Seeking and receiving feedback system 

• Performance appraisal system

• Scope for learning and development

The next step is to do proper expectation setting about the role:

• Details of the role

• How does the role align with the company goals?

• Key Performance Areas

• Criteria on which performance will be evaluated

• Boss’s expectations 

Armed with the proper role expectation, budding leaders should keep continuously scaling new heights of performance, keeping the following key aspects in mind:

• Be result oriented. Always work with goals & targets

• Quality of work is uncompromising

• Always state facts 

  • It is common to make mistakes; admit it, correct it, learn from it and do not repeat

• Take responsibility for your actions

• Build strong relationship with team members

  • Involve (meaningfully) in team interactions  

  • Seek opinion & feedbacks for improvement

  • Maintain confidentiality

  • Show eagerness to learn from others

  • Be ready to help others, always

  • Follow team rules 

  • Coordinate well (E.g.-Proper handover during shift change) 

  • Never put down team members

• Keep to your commitments

  • Whenever you are not able to meet any commitment or deadline, you inform well in advance, apologize, and propose an alternate plan

• Be transparent about the status of work/project

• Participate in all employee related activities (e.g.: outings, surveys)

• Participate in meetings/events/trainings

  • Speak up/ask questions

  • Provide constructive suggestions

ASSIST IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change is inevitable. Change is necessary for the growth of organizations. Leaders should manage the change management process in an effective manner. Budding leaders should develop a mindset for change. 

Change need not always be something big or complicated. Small changes to improve the daily working life of team members is also an important aspect of change. Technology upgrade is also an important component of change management. 

Budding leaders should keep eyes open for change. They should provide constructive suggestions to the management Including investment in technology which will make both the processes and team members more efficient. 

Budding leaders should also volunteer to be part of any change management implementation group, whenever such opportunity arises. They should play in a meaningful role in:

• Identification of the need for a change 

• Establish the benefits for the change 

• Planning and implementation stages

• Drawing up realistic timelines, along with assignment of responsibilities

Changes create feelings of uncertainty, and therefore, the adoption process by team members should be well managed
Assist the management in carrying out the implementation without causing any hardship to the other team members.