Keys to unlocking leadership

by Joanne G. Sujansky

As we lead groups and organizations in the 21st century, it’s not surprising that autocratic and hierarchical leadership styles and methods no longer work. The changes in organizational structures, workforce composition, technological systems and customer expectations created a need for a different leadership approach.

There has been much research on what it takes to be a leader.  Personality theorists argue that great leaders are born. The behavioral-based studies observed leaders in terms of task-orientation and relation-orientation. Strong leadership was seen to depend on adjusting one’s style to the situation or style of the other.

In the last decade, principles have become the hallmark of sound leadership. We’ve seen the distinction between leaders who do the right thing and managers who do things right. Leaders as servants and developing leaders from the inside also have emerged as significant themes.

While we are informed and enriched by more than 70 years of exploration into leadership, there are five key components to leadership that are demonstrated by effective leaders. These form a framework to unlock the leadership within an organization by developing existing and emerging talent.

Begin with your self
While it has been said in many ways, successful leadership begins with the individual. Successful leaders share a set of traits or principles, including a high degree of integrity, authenticity, courage and curiosity. 

Effective leaders are congruent. They know what they stand for and they have the courage to convey it and the consistency to live it. Their followers can trust them, as they know who they are and what they stand for.

Successful leaders are willing to take risks with visibility and vulnerability. They demonstrate and build courage through this willingness. Leaders learn to take complete responsibility for their decisions and actions, while sharing credit. Masterful leaders learn, live by and communicate these principles. They create confidence, respect and loyalty by operating with integrity and authenticity. 

This is more than a personality profile; it’s a way of being and behaving, based on core principles that truly work and that can be developed.

Shape and share a vision
Given the indisputable evidence on the significance of vision, how can leaders still try to operate without one? Navigating with vision is another basic key to effective leadership and those at the helm who try to lead without one are seriously crippled.

Organizational members need to know where the organization is going. Without direction, they flounder. To have direction, motivation and congruence, employees must see the big picture. Employees need a vivid sense of the future that compels them to action. When they are committed to the vision and align it with their personal objectives, a synergy is created that lifts, fuels and propels them forward. 

Dynamic leaders consistently develop, articulate and reverberate from a clear, concrete, inspiring vision. They draw out natural desire and build unity and momentum through an exciting and colorful picture of possibility.  

Practice partnering
In the last decade, the practice of partnering emerged as a key to successful leadership. When we actively align with others to achieve mutually desired results, we are partnering. Successful leaders think and talk in terms of we, actively sharing information, power, involvement and responsibility for decisions that affect the business.

Willing leaders select partners with different perspectives, talents and interests. A diversity of talents and perspectives is clearly an advantage, when tapped appropriately. If leaders fail to acknowledge and value each person as bringing a unique set of skills and experiences to the workplace, they lose a natural resource and damage the organization. 

Partnering involves clarifying expectations and tasks, and building relationships. It is a powerful process for gaining commitment, building loyalty, strengthening retention and leading through collaboration.

Yet, as with vision, it is not enough to simply clarify and articulate expectations. As needs and circumstances change, expectations must be clarified and communicated. This is where an adaptive style furthers the collaboration. Proficient partners are flexible and responsive to situational needs and changes, but still share the commitment to a common goal.

Continually coach
Another key to unlocking leadership is through coaching. An organization can be viewed as a large, organic team. The leaders provide the strategic game plan, the encouragement and recognition, the grooming of necessary competencies. A coaching approach also balances task and relationship. Effective coaching requires trust and respect for the coach and for the team member. Employees benefit from clear directions but only if tempered by acknowledgement of their vital role on and their contributions to the team. 

This is where the well-known practice of using mistakes as learning opportunities provides a key to unlocking talent. Winning leaders encourage their people to take risks, to pick themselves up, to use mistakes as learning opportunities. When people know that mistakes are understood as a part of the experience, they’ll be more creative and take more risks. They allow for their own mistakes as well as those within their group, using fumbles to become stronger and more adept.

Winning leaders practice becoming masterful coaches. They endeavor to develop and improve their coaching skills and benefit from being coached. They become masterful listeners and keen observers to catch people succeeding and to openly praise them.

Build resilience
Finally, a key to enduring leadership is resilience. Successful leaders learn to listen to their own system and to provide the elements that sustain them.  Resilience, or the ability to bounce back from crises, sudden or continuous changes, and the intense demands of today’s organizations, requires a relaxed and healthy system.

There is nothing new about the importance of balancing good nutrition, sufficient rest and playtime. What we know is that it is a key of successful leaders. They live with great challenges and demands; the ones that ride the unexpected with composure are those that have built a buffer. They maintain their reserves, being able to make energy withdrawals without breaking the bank.

From the lessons on leadership, we know leaders can be developed. The five key components to leadership that are demonstrated by effective leaders provide guidelines for developing an environment that fosters the principles and practices critical to organizational success.