Essential Leadership Traits for Inspiring and Empowering Teams
"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions."
- Harold S. Geneen
Equating leadership with authority is a common misconception that still persists in today's society. When we think of leaders, images of a high-ranking officer in the military or a manager giving orders in a loud, authoritative manner often come to mind. Although being in a leadership position does grant an individual authoritative power, good leadership is more than just that. As quoted by Harold Geneen, a leader's attitude and actions speak louder than words.
Challenges Abound
We are navigating an era of rapid technological disruptions and unprecedented economic development. These events create ripple effects for young adults entering the workforce. Individuals are now more highly educated, self-aware and expressive in terms of upholding their rights to be heard and respected in the society. Meanwhile, organisations already recovering from the economic impacts of a global pandemic must adapt to a workforce that is increasingly culturally diverse, mental-health conscious, and intrinsically motivated.
As if meeting performance KPI isn't hard enough, leading, inspiring and retaining your own workforce makes good leadership almost seem like an impossible task to achieve.
For me, understanding, practicing and upholding leadership has been a work in progress. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to review of my own experiences, and identify some important behavioural traits that I believe form a sturdy foundation of good leadership.
Humility
Leaders do not have the right answers all the time, nor are they immune to making mistakes. What differentiates someone who has the potential to achieve great leadership and someone who does not is the ability to be humble. I discussed humility in more detail in a previous post. Possessing this trait is very crucial as it gives the leader a perspective of equality instead of superiority, open mindedness rather than a fixed mindset.
Working for someone who leads without humility is a painful experience. Such an individual conducts himself/herself with ego, exhibiting behaviours like ignoring feedback, fault finding and blaming others, being inflexible, making decisions independently and impulsively. Just imagine, if your superior or colleague behaves egoistically at work, how unpleasant things would be.
In contrast, I've had the privilege to work under humble superiors who value and seek collective intelligence and feedback. They recognise their shortcomings, thus they seek collaboration with others and leverage on their unique qualities for collective success. As a result, these leaders foster a conducive environment for mutual respect, trust and higher work efficacy.
Transparency and Integrity
The work environment is dynamic and circumstances are ever changing. Good leaders need to be capable of managing change with transparency and integrity. Transparency refers to maintaining open and honest communications with others, seeking and incorporating feedback into the decision making process. Integrity refers to how leaders carry themselves based on good principles such as accountability, consistency and honesty.
When new changes happen at work, uncertainty, fear and doubt can arise among employees when insufficient information or clarity is provided. The situation can be exacerbated when leaders are inconsistent with their actions or lack the track record of following through on their decisions and words. Good leadership upholds transparent communications to build trust and confidence in dealing with uncertainties. Although decisions and actions need to be carried out swiftly to deal with challenging situations, they must be justified, fair and concrete.
For instance, when one of my colleagues had to be away from work urgently for a period of time, my superior back then could have redelegated my colleague's portfolio based on his discretion. Instead, he gathered the team and had us lay out all of our responsibilities first, before he proposed how each of us could take on different parts of our colleague's portfolio. The discussion was done in an open manner, allowing honest feedback and suggestions to ensure fairness within the team. After the meeting, my superior then followed up with a finalisation email detailing the decisions made on the work allocation and why it was executed that way.
Although the above approach might take a little longer, my superior's actions instilled trust and respect within my team. This stimulates motivation and collaboration at work, improving productivity and establishing a healthy team culture.
Empowerment
"Real leadership is leaders recognising that they serve the people that they lead."
- Pete Hoekstra
Leadership is not a solo act, nor is it about micromanaging subordinates. As Pete Hoekstra has expressed, a key responsibility of a leader is to remove obstacles and create a conducive environment to nurture the potential of their team for collective growth and excellence. Having a focus on meeting the needs of the team and the company, leaders are encouraged to make decisions guided by values and good principles.
I believe that a good leader is able to see the potential in others, and strives to lift their capabilities beyond what they thought was possible. Personally, I feel empowered when my superiors grant me the autonomy to experiment and meet work objectives in my own manner. In addition, they exercise patience and understanding when I make mistakes. Instead of reprimanding, they maintain professionalism through thoughtful guidance and reason. As a result, I feel valued and recognised for my efforts while being intrinsically motivated to do better.
Unfortunately, consistently empowering others can be an uphill task, especially when there are strict timelines and high expectations at work. There have been urgent situations where my superiors resorted to micromanaging, even going as far as blaming and undermining the efforts of my team. During such times, it is very easy to begin doubting our own capabilities, dampening morale and energy levels. Having gone through how detrimental and disempowering such behaviours can be for a team, it is a lesson I vow not to emulate in my own leadership journey.
Concluding
"Become the kind of leader that people will follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position."
- Bryan Tracy
Leadership is a journey, not a destination. There are countless paths to take, and each offers unique lessons and challenges. Along the way, leaders inspire others, learn from their experiences, and leave lasting legacies.
I have come to realise that there is no definite answer to what makes a leader. However, some traits such as humility, transparency, integrity and empowerment are essential. Taking inspiration from Bryan Tracy's quote, I remain optimistic and curious about finding and developing my own brand of leadership. One that holds true to my own values and positively influences those around me.