How to become an effective leader? It’s all in the personality of a man/woman!

As many of you will know, people have this perception that a true leader is the person with the highest possible degree or the person who invented the product or service, though this perception is false! Yes, a higher degree will help the leader prove to working colleagues that they are determined in finishing something and that they have the intellectual capacity but question is, does all that show their honesty, loyalty, decisiveness and how open they are to people? You thought about it? Well the answer is no! It is the personality of a man/woman that makes them a true leader, that make people want to look up to them. With this thought in mind, I will explain the different personality characteristics that people want to see within a leader and some of the traits that make leaders less effective.

Honesty:

The beauty about honesty is that it inspires employees through actions and not simply through words. Honesty is the gateway to earning and building trust and creates a close bond within team dynamics. Through this, though it may be good or bad news, employees will not refrain from being honest and open when they have made a mistake or have personal issues. Honesty builds working relationships that achieves success for the entire team – not just the leader.

Decision – making: (Being decisive)

Leaders are constantly expected to make decisions that impact the employees they lead and the organisation, without failure. As Zenger and Folkman discovered in their research, “Employees’ want a leader whom displays fearless loyalty to doing what’s right for the organisation.” In conclusion, true leaders weigh up all the options before making critical decisions based on what is best for the company – CONFIDENTLY!

Openness:

This subtitle refers to how imaginative and insightful a leader can be and how open they are to new experiences and change within the company. A leader that is open with employees creates an upward communication channel that allows ideas from all departments. Setting stretched goals provides room for creative and dynamic ways to achieving goals. Finally, a true leader should allow the various ideas from the different departments to be tested and discussed eventually resulting in the best possible outcome to be used. In other words, through these means an organisational culture is created where every employee’s opinions are valued and heard.

Passion:

If this particular characteristic is transparent to employees, the things they will do for that passionate leader is unimaginative. Passionate leaders create an atmosphere of motivation amongst employees, makes them feel passionate about the company and know they have a role to play in the vision of the organisation. When you communicate the vision to your employees, let them feel your passion, your hunger and your desire! This will ease the process of employees getting on the same boat as you. One thing to keep in mind........ Passion is infectious!! People will go to war for your passion.

Conscientiousness:

This term is the measure of a leader or person in terms of organizing, thoughtfulness and thinking ahead. A true leader needs to be highly organised personally and when it matters for the team. A leader should have empathy and sympathy with their employees and have the ability to provide feedback and support and should create short and long – term objectives for the group that controls everyday projects.

In conclusion, these are the personality characteristics that make an effective leader, a true leader, the real leader of business! Now do you want to be the leader that lacks empathy; fearful of change; bossy; poor judge of character; out of balance or simply lack humility?! This type of leader will leave you stranded right where you are, stuck in your seat, reading blogs on the internet! Now go be the leader your employees’ want you to be, getting off your seat and start making a difference in the lives of your employees and organisation!