Perhaps the best place to start when asking the question of what makes a good leader is to ask ourselves, what is the end goal here? What do we aspire to? What would the leader aspire to? When we think of great leaders, we will often think of inspiring superhero types. People with heroic puffed out chests, powerful voices, and that cool air of confidence. They always know the right thing to do.
And they have this uncanny ability to reel off motivational speeches at the drop of a hat. No one ever defines these great leaders, because they just don't want to. The leaders are so just And why is that? There's no need But if anyone did cross them, they would be immediately put to rights with a stern, but a fair judgement. These are the leaders that make us feel safe, that steer our ships through uncharted waters, and make us feel like we can do anything as a team. But these heroes of stereotypes straight out of Saturday morning cartoons that you watched as a child, the chances are that you do know a few people like this from your past or from your childhood, maybe a parent fulfill this role, or a teacher that put you on the straight path through life, the motivated do your very best.
Maybe you know, celebrities or famous people, historical leaders, that you aspire to, that motivate you to do your best. But for the most part, this is not the reality of what makes a good leader. Of course, these trades can help you to keep followers help people to trust you, and to build a team. But they are not necessary for you to become a really great leader. And it's just as well. If we try to fulfill all the traits that we perceive in great leaders, it would be an enormous pressure on us.
So what does make a good leader? What are the minimum requirements? Ultimately, the best leader is the leader who gets results. They do this by organizing, stabilizing and motivating a team. They do this to get more out of them than they would be able to accomplish on their own is called synergy. So to put it simply, does having this lead in place make a big difference to the team's ability to accomplish goals?
If the answer Yes, then it's very worthwhile having this leader in place. The leader ensures and encourages, and indeed creates a synergy within the team. synergy means that the output of the team as a whole is much more than each of the individual members at it together. If the answer is no, then it's best not to have that particular leader in place. They're not fulfilling the goals of reaching the team's goals. However, this is also a dangerous approach.
And approach based on the leaders performance leads to all manner of testing that is not really in the interests of the team, or the organization. For example, a leader might be punished or penalized if they fail to meet monthly targets, or if they seem to be spending too much money. This seems to make sense when you think about it. Leaders in terms of their ability to help teams meet their goals. But this is forgetting one small factor the factor of time because a leaders ability should not be measured in terms of their ability to accomplish x in T amount of time. If that is the only concern and the only aspect of performance that the leader is graded on, then in all likelihood, they will end up making the wrong decisions for the good of the organization and the good of the team.
This is very common. This kind of leader will stick with what works. They will stick with what they know. They will avoid taking risks, or evolving the business model or the organizational model for the team and to make and meet new challenges. A good lead should see the road ahead and preempt challenges, working out strategies how to overcome them before they actually happen. In this way, the organization or the team will flourish instead of failing.
The same theory applies every situations as well in other social situations. For example, in a family, the team leader, or the parents strive to keep the family together to keep them happy, but also to try and improve their well being. The supermom and the super dad are able to look ahead and provide contingencies in case of crises in this way, maintaining the stability of the family. So we can conclude that a good leader helps a team achieve the goals more effectively than they would if he or she were not there. That was a rather abstract view of leadership. And it doesn't really give us anything practical, anything concrete to work with and strive towards.
So let's look at some of these practical traits that a good leader needs right now. Good leaders believe in what they're doing. Perhaps one of the most important things for a good leader is that they believe in what they're doing. That's to say that good leaders should have a real passion for what they're doing, and really believe in it. This is important, because it will help them to make the best decisions for the long term of the organization. And also because it helps to inspire others.
Good leaders see the big picture. leader needs to be able to step back and see the bigger picture. They need to understand where the team is headed, and what challenges will face them along the way away. This is important because it will allow all the individual members of the team to focus on this smaller aspect. Good leaders have broad knowledge. A leader should be something of a jack of all trades.
The reason for this is that it will give them the understanding to see how all the pieces fit together. And it will mean they're able to deal with issues as they arise across departments, even when that means taking more of a top level approach, rather than understanding all the detail. You'll also find that having some basic experience in each aspect of your business can help you to get more respect from the profession. knows in each aspect of your organization good leaders understand people. A good leader should be able to work with anyone. This means they need to be able to empathize with people and to understand what makes them tick so that they can inspire them to take action.
Good leaders are great communicators. This also means you need to be able to communicate as a leader. Not only is it your job to communicate the plan, in a way that your team can fully understand that it is also your job to communicate to your superiors and to your clientele. Good leaders think ahead. A leader shouldn't just be dealing with the day to day challenges the organization should be thinking hold on He's one step ahead. You need to be constantly questioning what the next challenge will be and how to face it.
And you need to be thinking about how to grow, improve and scale your organization. Good leaders have contingency plans. leaders need to have multiple contingencies and backup plans, think of the worst case scenarios and prepare for them. Good leaders lead by example. It is important that you will lead by example, in every case. This means that you need to take a do as I do approach rather than making one rule for one person and another for yourself.
It also means generally setting the tone to Look to their leaders as barometers to identify how serious any given situation is, and to know how they should react. If you panic, then your team will panic. If you stay calm, then your team will stay calm too. A good leader needs to be courageous. If this sounds like a Saturday morning TV show again, then bear in mind that we're not talking about the kind of courage that gives you the strength to stand up to terrorists. Rather, we're talking about the courage to take risks and to break the mold.
This is very important. Good leaders take responsibility. And once you have made that decision, whatever it is, It's critical that you stand by it and face the music whatever happens. This means you need to accept responsibility when things this can seem unfair at times, but once again, it is actually a feature that is important for the welfare of the team. By accepting responsibility, you remove culpability from your team and give them the freedom to work without fear of repercussions.