VLOG - Leadership

Shockingly 75% of employees declare that their leader at work is the worst part of their employee experience. With these odds you might want to spend the next few minutes reading what a quality leader looks like and evaluating whether your leaders are stacking up.

Unlike management's focus on operational tasks, leadership centers on inspiring, motivating, and guiding individuals or teams toward shared goals. Whether we seek quality leaders or aspire to become one, it begins with a genuine desire to lead, prioritising others' well-being while aligning with the company's vision.

Let’s assess whether the leaders in your team possess the seven key attributes of quality leadership and the intuitive ability to apply each of them when needed. Attribute:

1. Are your leaders inspirational, able to lead people to enthusiastically engage and dedicate themselves to an outcome?

2. Are they empathetic, willing to journey with others and lead along-side them?

3. Are they strategic, able to translate the company vision into doable acts and outcomes?

4. Are they change controllers who will develop the trust required to guide others through periods of change?

5. Are they growth guides, who will develop the skills and experiences of their workers.

6. Are they self-aware, able to recognise their own limitations and admit their failings.

7. Are they visionary, able to see growth and opportunity everywhere?

All 7 of these attributes are critical in quality leadership and should not be compromised on.

When evaluating leadership quality, it's also vital to ensure leaders are well-placed in your organisation and when hiring for leadership roles, understanding your business's and team's leadership style needs is crucial. There are eight key styles that need consideration, and while leaders may embody multiple styles, each leader will have a dominant one.

1. The transformational leader is a big picture operator motivated by bringing about change.  

2. Transactional leaders tend to incentivise performance and penalise non-performance.

3. A democratic leader likes to work as a team and roundtable ideas and strategies, hearing from everyone.

4. Autocratic leaders will unilaterally make decisions, so outcomes are achieved quickly

5. Strategic leaders will serve their team so the team will serve them.

6. The laissez-faire or zero leader will delegate responsibilities and then leave everyone to their own devices.

7. Bureaucratic leaders achieve outcomes by adhering to policies and procedures.

8. There is the charismatic leader who is charming, inspirational, motivational and an expert communicator. They will paint the picture of the vision and leave the team to take it from there.

Placing leaders in ill-fitting roles or hiring the wrong leader for your business and team often leads to discord and reduced productivity. This issue won't naturally resolve so if you're uncertain about addressing it, reach out to us for guidance and support on your options.

If you'd like to make positive change in your business today, I'm here to help and you can reach me at kayleen@ripple.net.nz or on 027 647 5000.