According
to The Twenty First Century Corporation (2000), attracting, cultivating and
retaining talented people is the indispensable ingredient that drives the
ideas, products and growth of all companies. Why leadership is so important when
it comes to this, is because an influential leader is the best way to get the
best people to do their best work. Better leaders develop better employees and
both, together, develop better products or services.
This
however does not mean that a single leader, or group of leaders, are solely
responsible for every detail, aspect or solution of a working organisation.
That is a manager’s responsibility. What true leadership entails is taking
potential and turning it into reality. And yes, while the buck might stop with a
person in a leadership position, what a good leader does is ensures they have generated
creativity, cultivated an environment of responsibility and inspired those
within their organisation to do all that is possible to create a successful
company.
Now
while leading people may seem to come more naturally to some than others – it
is always a journey fraught with constant challenge and surprise and therefore
requires continuous improvement, self-management, development, constant
reconnection and of course, communication. We, here at Workpoints, have
highlighted a few pointers that will assist in the constant journey of becoming
a better leader. Have a peek:
Emotional Maturity:
There is no doubt that emotional maturity is a vital aspect in being or
becoming a better leader. This means that an individual needs to be in tune
with their emotions, needs to know how to relate to others and importantly,
according Gosling, Jones, Sutherland and Dijkstra (2012) needs to accept
criticism.
Self-Care: For
organisations to maintain their vitality, their productivity and their
competitive edge requires leaders who are healthy, strong and capable (Quick,
Macik-Frey & Cooper, 2007). This means that an effective leader needs to
keep their mental and physical health in check by maintaining a satisfactory
balance between work, exercise, family and relaxation time.
Mental Models: Often
mental models are formed by the experiences an individual is exposed to during
the early stages of life. These models then continue to shape how that
individual sees the world, makes decisions and relates to others. A good leader
is able to reshape his or her mental models or view the world through others’
models or ways of seeing the world.
Ambiguity: Most
companies, for example, look to what a leader has achieved to assess their
performance. But in ambiguous circumstances with uncertain outcomes, you need
to look at how a leader has acted (Anthony, 2010). A leader needs to understand
the fast-changing pace of the work world and be prepared for pretty much
anything.
Authentic: It
has been found that when organisational leaders know and act upon their true
values, beliefs, and strengths, while helping others to do the same, higher
levels of employees’ well-being will accrue, which in turn have been shown to
positively impact follower performance (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Therefore,
potential and current leaders need to ensure that when leading others they
remain true to themselves and what they stand for.
Self-mastery:
And lastly, as stated previously, being an effective leader is no plain sailing
– it will be a journey fraught with constant challenge and surprise and
therefore requires continuous improvement, self-management and self-development.
If a leader is to become complacent, he or she might not be as an effective
leader as he or she may have originally thought.
Author
Jillian Dabbs (MCom Industrial Psychology)
Jillian is a part of our Behavioural Specialist team here at Workpoints. She is
our content developer, our avid blogger as well as our party planner.
Workpoints is a fully featured reward, recognition and incentives platform that provides you with the tools to create a high performance organisation. Our easy-to-use application integrates simply into any organisation and instantly encourages staff to do the daily grind with excellence and energy. Visit www.workpoints.co.za for more info and a free trial!
References
Anthony,
S. (2010). Harvard Business Review: Grooming Leaders to Handle Ambiguity.
Leadership development: https://hbr.org/2010/07/grooming-leaders-to-handle-ambiguity/
Gosling,
J., Jones, S., Sutherland, I., & Dijkstra, J. (2012). Key concepts in
Leadership. Sage Publishing: LA.
Quick,
J. C., Macik-Frey, M. & Cooper, C. L. (2007). Managerial Dimensions of Organizational
Health: The Healthy Leader at Work Article in Journal of Management Studies. DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00684
Ryan,
R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potential: A review of
research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52:
141-166.
The
21st Century Corporation, Business Week magazine, August 28, 2000.
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