Increase Your Business' Leadership By Looking For These Skills And Traits
FRESH CONTENT
The nature of the working environment has noticeably pivoted in the past few years. The Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown, and shifting to remote work for many people changed how teams are managed, while the Great Resignation forced many company leaders to re-evaluate their management style.
Recently, new versions of a business leader have emerged, more aligned with what today's employees want from their employer. The "Command and Control" leader has given way to a more humble, thoughtful, and effective leader. If you want your business to remain competitive in the future, then look for these leadership traits when hiring for key positions today.
Leaders That Value Wisdom
Your leader doesn't have to be Obi-Wan Kenobi to be wise. Instead, a wise leader understands how to use their knowledge to benefit others. Wise leaders may be natural mentors; they enjoy teaching others and fostering an environment of learning and growth. They're confident in their knowledge and abilities and have a quieting effect on negativity.
Leaders With Vision
"Vision" is one of those buzzwords that's everywhere in corporate America but doesn't seem to have meaning. In a practical sense, a visionary leader has not just the goal in sight but also a practical path to get there. Vision requires clear communication, showing the team what each step towards success looks like as it relates to their jobs and tasks. It's the ability to share the bigger picture and then break it down into achievable milestones.
Innovative Leaders
Change is constant, and leaders that develop creative solutions to problems or bring a high-level idea to life can be very valuable to companies in a hyper-competitive field. Innovate leaders are the ones that ‘build a better mousetrap" and are able to execute the plans and systems needed to repeat their successes. They're creative but grounded in the practicalities of what is achievable with their team and their resources.
Discerning Leaders
Cutting through a workplace's distractions, noise, and chatter to determine priorities is critical for a good leader. Quickly being able to look at the array of your team's needs, concerns, and questions and then prioritizing them according to which will have the most impact on the team's goals is essential. A leader that lacks discernment is one that very quickly will feel like a hamster on a wheel, always going but never getting there.
Energetic Leaders Motivate Others
An energetic leader isn't like Tigger the Tiger, always bouncing around. Instead, they have the passion and drive to fulfill their goals but use restraint, focusing their energy on leading their team to achieve greater success than they dreamed. A leader with strong energy also intuitively understands how to draw on the energy of others on their team, instilling their enthusiasm into others so the entire group is able to achieve more.
Bottom Line
When hiring for a leadership position, recognize that not everyone will have these five qualities. Instead, these five qualities describe five different kinds of leaders. A savvy hiring manager will be able to recognize which of these types of leaders job candidates are, which can help them find the right kind of leader to support and achieve the different goals a company has. Understanding leadership qualities can help with team building, as different tasks require a different type of leadership.