What Does A Good Leader Look Like?

Story by: Heaven Taylor-Wynn

In today’s fast-paced work environments leaders, executives and managers aren’t often challenged to assess their performance. Most people have a work routine they’ve developed and they tend to follow it religiously. Consequently, folks do get complacent in their day-to-day cycles of managing company processes and overseeing operations.

While production and operations are important, the key to ensuring a company is operating at its fullest potential is focused and intentional leadership. Workplace leaders are ultimately charged coaching the employees to the finish line. Is it possible that you’ve gotten too bogged down with the monotonous routine of work to consider whether you’re reaching your fullest leadership potential?

Here’s a list to consider and help you get back on track.

Have you learned something from your employees?

It’s no secret that the longer you work at the company the more likely you are to hold a higher position. That being said, under normal circumstances the team lead would probably have the

most knowledge about the job. Let’s not forget though the importance of developing rapport and relationships with your employees. As their leader you ought to be learning as much from them as they are you. Don’t pass up the opportunity to broaden your horizon and truly get to know who you work with.

Do you know your leadership style?

If the answer is no, it’s time to change that! There’s so such thing as one size fits all leadership, so why not figure out what fits. The same way you wouldn’t purchase an ill-fitting shirt is how you ought to approach leadership-- once you find your style, work with it and find things that complement it. A better understanding of how you operate can help you adjust to better serve your colleagues and inform your communication skills with coworkers.

Transformational leaders encourage an environment of intellectual stimulation.

Transactional leaders offer combinations of reward and punishment to elicit positive performance and establish chain of command.

Servant leaders encourage collective decision-making and power-sharing models of authority.

Autocratic leaders demonstrate control over subordinates and rarely consider suggestions and share of power.

Laissez-Faire leaders tend to take a hands off approach to allow the employees to govern themselves autonomously.

Democratic leaders favor encourage participation by asking team members’ input before making a decision.

Bureaucratic leaders adhere strictly to rules in heavily regulated environments.

Charismatic leaders play up their charm and personality.

Situational leaders are able to use a range of styles to apply based upon the situation.

How are you empowering your employees?

Great leaders are confident in their ability to develop the employees who work under them. As a result, they ought to be able to empower those they lead to govern themselves and their task autonomously. Good things happen when employees are empowered! They’re more likely to make decisions in the best interest of the company and the clients & customers.

Can you communicate effectively?

As previously stated, there’s no one size fits all approach to leadership, at least not one that actually works. In this case, as you leader you’ve got to be able to get through to your employees. This may require a shift or compromise at some point from something you’re used to. You can’t achieve success if you’re unable to motivate, instruct or discipline those who you’re in charge of. Bad communication leads to poor outcomes. A key component of communication is remembering that active listening plays a big role.