Follow the Leader
What makes people want to follow their boss from one job to another? From company to company?
What does it take to be a leader that people follow?
1. Integrity: For most people, integrity should be the price of entry in looking at a leader. Can they be trusted to do the right thing for the business, and even more for their people? Do they have ethical clarity? “Grey ethics” directed at someone else could be directed at you tomorrow. Would you put your career in the hands of someone you couldn’t trust?
2. Passion and vision: Do they have a vision towards which they are trying to lead the team and the organization and the company? Can they inspire others in their communication of this vision? Can you feel the passion? Does it clearly lay out the path forward, the goals to reach for, and why others should feel energized and commit to follow?
3. Mutual common values: What’s important to you has to be important to them. A leader with a company that has a deeply mission-driven approach to improve something may generally be more “followable” than one who is primarily motivated by making money…but making money appeals to people too. Whatever floats your boat, be sure the leader (and the company) is in synch with it.
4. Caring: Do they care about you? Your well-being, at work and at home? Your family? If you are burning out, do they think to ask why, to help you to manage the workload better? To be there when you vent? To show you how to prioritize?
5. Coach: Do they spend time on your professional development? Do you get ongoing feedback on how to improve, what to do differently, how to be more compelling, how to learn to influence? Do they empower you to make decisions? Do they put you in situations where you are forever learning?
6. Listener: Given everyone is always too busy, do they take the time to solicit and hear your perspective and that of others? Are you able to have a dialog with them so you can exchange ideas and opinions on the path forward? On what didn’t work and how to fix it? On options for new initiatives to explore?
7. Champion: Do they thank you and others for a job well done? Do they stop, amidst the frenetic pace we live and work in, to show gratitude? Do they broadcast your success so that others in the company know? Are they at the table highlighting your skills and supporting you when discussions happen around promotions and new assignments?
8. Builder of great teams: Are they known for the terrific, high-performance teams they build? Does the team function in harmony, engage in strong debate, collaborate and then demonstrate the ability to make a decision and move on it decisively? Is there diversity of all types within the team, whether it be gender, ethnicity, background, skills and personalities? And do they enjoy being together?
9. Only Human: Nobody is perfect, and it is a wonderful thing when someone can admit it. Do they share with you when they have failed, and what they have learned from it? Do they manage failure with grace? Do they own it? Do they show humility? I know many leaders have huge egos, and sometimes can be brilliant as well, but I believe people follow them “in spite of”, not “because of”.
10. Admirable: Do they command your respect? Can you learn from them? Do you want to be “just like them” in some way or another? It may be the astuteness with which they pick their battles, or the ability to influence an audience, or the resilience to handle pressure with calm…just a few examples of the great leadership qualities you may want to learn.
What about other qualities like, “Are they nice? Are they likeable?” While no one would ever want to work for someone who they dislike, it seems that “being liked” in itself is not enough for anyone to follow someone.
I know that I, like most of us, will always have work to do on many of these dimensions. No one is likely to personify all these characteristics; we all have different strengths and areas to work on.
Are you self-aware enough to know what your strengths and focus areas are in your path to becoming the leader that others will follow?
Originally published on LinkedIn