TOP 5 QUALITIES OF OUTSTANDING LEADERS
Impactful leaders are key to every organisation’s success. Many leaders spend the majority of their time leading projects rather than listening and involving themselves with their team members. Yet, being a reliable and responsible leader has a direct impact on motivation, loyalty and productivity.
In our experience, these 5 competences for Top Leadership Performance contribute directly to leadership success. They lead to high-performing teams that are less affected by change, so they adapt quicker to new situations for better outcomes
Emotional intelligence – be authentic
Leaders with developed emotional intelligence have the ability to sense, appreciate and effectively apply the power of emotion to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity. Success comes with self-awareness and self-regulation so that you can control disruptive emotions and motivate yourself and your team.
Acute emotional intelligence allows managers to regulate their own moods and behaviours so that they have a more favourable impact on others. It helps leaders recognise and draw out personal conflicts among employees to help solve them.
Positive and effective communication – be reliable
When leaders are results-driven and overwhelmed by their workloads, they miss out on the importance of fine-tuning the way they interact with others and conveying their messages. It is human nature to be sensitive to how others communicate with us, but less so to how we address others. Developing communication skills helps build trust and reliability, and gain collaboration with others.
Coach like a leader – create heroes
Effective coaching is about facilitating and supporting your employees’ personal growth. This approach requires finesse in your management style. Part of being an effective leader is helping your teams grow, learn and create outcomes independently. A good leader identifies what prevents people from being effective and gives them the tools to teach themselves to do better. They feel responsibility not only for their own work, but also for finding the best way to reach a team or corporate goal.
Interpersonal skills – celebrate diversity
A leader with effective personal skills is respectful of employees and builds rapport easily. He or she attempts to see the situation from the other person’s perspective, actively listening in order to understand the ideas presented and empathise when needed. Leaders with developed interpersonal skills help their teams build good relationships by encouraging thoughtfulness and understanding. They are sensitive to issues of diversity, celebrate distinctions and facilitate relationships among those who may be different.
They recognise that there is strength in different points of view, varied approaches to problems and ideas inspired by life experiences. Interpersonal skills help develop relationships that add to the richness and effectiveness of a leader’s team.
Strong, valuable relationships – be the reason for improvement
Building strong relationships is about being others-oriented rather than self-oriented. A leader who appreciates others takes the time to connect with employees and make them feel important, understood and valued. Appreciating others involves recognising employees for their ideas and contributions to the team or project. If you make a habit of showing appreciation to each member of your team on a monthly or even quarterly basis, you’ll see significant shifts in employee loyalty and productivity. Strengthening your relationship-building skills will result in improved effectiveness, productivity and commitment from your team.
About the author:
I am Martina Wehner, a passionate Executive Coach and Team Trainer, expert in Powerful Team Culture and Empathy in Leadership. Find out more about your empathy in leadership and get in contact with a first free online meeting https://www.teamandleaders.com or text me mw@teamandleaders.com.
I love to hear from you!
Martina