So much has been said, written and thought about leadership that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify what actually makes a good leader.
So when the BBC announced it was dedicating two thirty minute radio shows to the subject, by asking leaders from politics, business and sport what they believe makes a good leader, we had to tune in. Listen again to the programme here: http://bbc.in/fbhJ5S.
So here are 10 of the attributes listed by the leaders interviewed included:
- Self confidence
- The willingness to rise to the occasion
- Luck and circumstance
- Thick skin
- Affection towards and from your followers
- Being decisive
- Vision – a clear view of what you want to achieve and how
- The ability to communicate, influence and inspire others towards your vision
- Being good at what you do
- A team of good followers
Comedian Mark Steel takes a more cynical approach, pointing out that in history exceptional leaders have been so focused on their mission that they become obsessive, often at the expense of their families, relationships and health.
Interestingly the show identified that there have been academic studies carried out to identify the key characteristics of great leaders. This is known as Trait Theory but unsurprisingly nobody can agree on the list. There continues to be much debate about whether leaders are born or can be made with little evidence suggesting that leadership is a genetic feature which is with us from the outset.
So assuming that the leaders of the future will be the result of training in its forms Prof Alex Haslam (University of Exeter) points out that it is vital that organisations measure the impact of leadership education.
He goes on to suggest that building teams is at the heart of growing leaders.
“We are still very much bogged down in the idea of leaders as great individuals and people that are set apart from the group. By putting leaders on a pedestal and treating them as special and different, we loose what is really special about leadership which is that it’s the best of us and we, everybody, is a part of great leadership.”
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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.
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This blog is written by Fresh Tracks: Experts in running team building activities , team development programmes and conference organising.
Website: www.freshtracks.co.uk
It is interesting that your opening statement in this article has been questioned and considered for decades – yet quite similar attributes have been written about. I guess we must be on to something. For example, in a 1994 study that lasted seven years, executives were asked at regular intervals, ‘What do you look for and admire in your leaders?’ Their answers were consistent over the period of the study – in order of importance, team members expect their leaders to be:
• Honest
• Competent
• Forward-looking
• Inspiring
• Intelligent
• Fair-minded
• Broad-minded
• Courageous
• Straightforward
• Imaginative
• Dependable
Although these qualities may not initially appear to be purely supportive characteristics, each of them shows that supporting team members is a vitally important aspect of any team leader’s role.
In all dealings in the workplace, be it with clients, suppliers, team members or management, leaders must:
• Act with integrity
• Show respect
• Be open, honest and fair
Cheers.