What it takes to be a good leader appears to be one of the most important subjects researched and discussed today. Scrolling the themes touted on LinkedIn, leadership related topics are among the most popular. Consultants, experts, mentors, and coaches abound to offer advice on how to become good leaders. The list of must-read books abound with those about leadership skills. The question remains: How can each of us become a good leader?
You will find a long list of attributes such as integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, empathy, and gratitude followed by honesty, selflessness, decisiveness, trust, integrity, delegation, communication, listening, learning agility, empathy etc. I could go on and on. Books, seminars, courses, and experts would be pleased to teach us creatively what is needed to become the best leader.
But the key word here is not just leadership; the key word is a ”good” leader. What do I mean by “good”? Is it a leader with accomplishments? A leader with many followers? A leader that has stayed in a leadership position for a long time? The reason “good” needs to be defined is because many recognized leaders may not have been “good”. We can all name some frightening political leaders that made a big name for themselves but definitely cannot be described as good.
In business, many founders and CEOs of companies nearly killed their companies by creating a toxic culture. UBER, for example, was recognised as the company that shook the taxi industry worldwide. But the founder and CEO of UBER had to resign after numerous scandals to save his company. WELLS FARGO, one of the largest banks in the US had 167-year stellar record reputation but was almost ruined by a 34-year career executive. The former CEO caused endless legal headaches for his role in a fake accounts scandal that defrauded customers and ended the career of over 5000 employees.
While the above lists of leadership attributes are good, my consulting experience taught me how to recognise good leaders by observing a different set of indicators that separate out the genuinely good leaders from the fake ones. Here is my list:
- Good leadership is always reflected in the behavior and attitude of front-line workers. Good leaders head winning teams that work well together and get the job done.
- Reception areas can be clean, attractive, and even good-looking, but how about the plant or warehouse washrooms? Are they clean and orderly? What does a washroom have to do with leadership you ask? A good leader cares for his/her people; clean and comfortable washrooms are part of it.
- High employee turn-over may be caused by poor recruitment, lack of training, below average pay, or weak management. But whatever the reason, the root cause will always lead to not-so-good leadership at the top.
- Negative reviews and exit interviews from people leaving the organisation are another indicator. We make friends at work and friendship should continue whether we are on the payroll or not. Leaving the organisation with a negative memory or feeling disrespect are a sign of poor leadership.
- Good leaders contribute to making all stakeholders rich and not only a chosen few. Stakeholders include shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, managers, the community, etc.
- Good leaders answer their own phone and are always open to speak to anyone wanting to contact them. They can employ people to help them but they welcome callers. The size of the organisation will determine the response time and the availability but not the intent.
- This last one may sound obvious. Organisations that have a long list of litigations and legal disputes in public records must be, by definition, led by inferior leaders. Whether the litigations are commercial in nature, employment related, caused by customer or supplier disputes, it doesn’t matter much. The sheer number of litigations is always an indicator.
Some indicators on my list may surprise you, and not all of them apply all the time. However, these indicators have generally helped me sort through leaders who are sincere, trustworthy, and responsive to others, and those who are phoney, dishonest and selfish.
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