The Art of Business: Leading Like a Pro
What does it take to be a great leader today — not an effective manager or a successful business owner — but a leader, someone who inspires the troops, helps people reach their goals, cultivates excellence?
Some people, naturally, are more adept than others, but there are certain behaviors that are common among all good leaders. The key word here is “behaviors,” not “skills, ” because leadership, above all, is about leading by example.
You can learn to behave like a leader, just get ready for plenty of missteps along the way; “Clearly leadership is a learned experience. It’s just not learnable quickly,” says David Minionis, Ph.D. a corporate leadership and organizational effectiveness trainer in Fairfax, Va. “So treat yourself kindly as you strive to attain these essential leadership behaviors.”
1. Be passionate. “Enthusiasm is incredibly contagious,” says Minionis. “A little passion can go a long way in inspiring people.”
Minionis cites as an example Herb Kelleher, president and CEO of Southwest Airlines. His passion for fun and flying has filtered down to the employees, who love their jobs even though they aren’t as well paid as employees of other airlines.
“If you fly Southwest, you feel the passion for the work, and it emanates from the top.”
2. Create a vision. Nothing so defines a leader as someone who has a vision. “It doesn’t have to be complex vision but it should be reiterated often and changed when necessary. Vision is like the beacon on the horizon. It gives an organization direction and galvanizes people into action.”
But a vision must be well conceived and meet two important criteria:
- It should be tough but achievable;
- It must be possible to tell when it’s been achieved.
If the vision is truly lofty, establish shorter milestones along the way. “You may never reach your vision if you’re constantly raising the bar, but you can reach milestones, and that helps people feel they’re making progress.”
It’s easy to stop a single person with a vision but it’s hard to stop a hundred people who share the same vision.
3. Align and motivate people. Perhaps the most difficult task facing a leader is motivating others.
“What you really want to do as a leader is build ownership among employees. You want to give people not only the responsibility but the ownership of their work,” says Minionis.
The best leaders are those that motivate others to challenge themselves and to take on challenges. “It’s funny, but when things go really well, the leader is almost transparent and that’s the way it should be.”
Another way to align people is to create a set of shared values that drives the work ethic around you. By creating values — and sticking by them — you create an environment that promotes good work and lets people know where they stand.
Minionis and others also suggest that another effective way to motivate people is to empower them. “Allow them to make decisions and encourage them to take risks,” says Minionis. “And when they make mistakes, turn them into learning experiences not reasons for punishment.”
Of course, not all employees are trained well enough to be set free, which is why good leaders are clear about their level of involvement from the start in four areas:
- Direct: “Let’s do this together.”
- Coaching: “I’ll help when you or I think you need really help.”
- Facilitate: “Check with me or coordinate through me when you’re ready to make major decisions or need assistance.”
- Delegate: “I know you’ll do a good job without my help.”
Good leaders are clear about their involvement and remain consistent throughout.
4. Surround yourself with talent. Leaders need people more than people need leaders. So smart leaders are sure to surround themselves with people as talented — or more talented — than they.
“There isn’t a person alive that doesn’t have tremendous weaknesses. If you can realize yours and align yourself with your counterparts, you’ll be an more effective leader,” says Minionis.
Because small business designers are entrepreneurial by nature, they tend to want to do everything themselves. This approach can spell doom. “At some point leaders have to let go and learn to delegate. If you’ve been smart enough to bring on effective people, you can delegate with confidence.”
5. Be flexible. The image of a stoic, Patton-like leader may be attractive, but a flexible leader has a far greater chance of success.
Each situation and each person is unique. A good leader judges each situation with a fresh eye and creates the appropriate response. When dealing with people, Minionis calls it adaptive leadership. “The way you interact with one person may be different than the next. It’s important for you to adapt your needs to the those of your people, not the other way around.”
Flexibility, obviously, comes in handy in response to a changing marketplace, but it also works when established responses seem adequate. “By trying variations upon standard models you evolve new and potentially better models. Leadership is about adapting and evolving,” says Minionis. And when employees see leaders try new approaches. they’re apt to do so as well.
Flexibility extends to you as a person in the form of personal transformation. Take ongoing graphic design courses, learn a musical instrument, paddle a canoe, suggests Minionis. “It’s very empowering and liberating for employees to see a leader working on his or her own stuff.”
Above all, remember there’s only one way to lead, by example. Perhaps that’s what makes leadership so hard. You’re always a leader no matter what you do.
This article was last modified on July 18, 2023
This article was first published on December 22, 2003
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