Great Leadership Is A Choice

Three Qualities of Great Leadership

The three top principles you should routinely subscribe to or constantly be aware of are accountability, humility, and active engagement. Great leadership means you:

• Take more of the blame; that is called accountability.
• Take less credit; that is called humility.
• Stay focused on your company or organization’s vision, mission, values, reputation, and execution results; that is called active engagement.

The leadership journey of great leaders is not easy. There will be times to celebrate your accomplishments, but most of your focus will be on the challenges and complexities you will encounter along the way. You will benefit from focusing on the required outcomes and from leveraging the right teams — whether the ones you have or those you can develop — to get things done. Great leaders always keep in mind that they will not be successful alone; success takes the support and effort of others.

The Power of Situational Leadership

The great leaders learn to master a concept called situational leadership. This concept has had the most profound impact on me as a leader. I recall that in one of my best leadership and management development classes, the instructor made a specific point about the difference between leadership and management, which are often confused.

In simple terms, management is more about control, and leadership is more about influence. In this class, I was introduced to situational leadership, which has many aspects. But for me, situational leadership simply means adjusting your engagement style to the environment and the experience level of the people you are dealing with. Different approaches and styles are needed depending on a person’s level of maturity, skill, and commitment to the task.¹

I became very conscious of “who” I was dealing with, which, in turn, would inform me of “how” I needed to lead in each situation. I would continue to remind myself of the difference, especially when coaching others about leadership versus management. This concept applies to different people and relationships, whether they are customers, colleagues, friends, or family members.

The great leaders will deal with unpleasant and unpopular situations with “speed” and with “style and grace”. They will always lean toward delivering promptly and communicating “what people need to hear versus what people may want to hear”² in a professional manner, no matter how difficult it may be. Also, the great leaders invest time in “listening” and ensure everyone has a voice at some point, even when the leaders have made up their minds. Listening is a valuable resource because you might pick up something extra that you did not know about or consider.

Set the Tone with Balance, Coaching, and Curiosity

Great leaders learn when to work and when to play, because you often work harder than you play. Sometimes, it’s okay to play harder than you work. In the industry, we once called this concept “work-life balance,” but it is now more appropriately referred to as “work-life integration.” You are at your best, and the odds of being a better leader or employee increase when you have a healthy life outside of work and other things to look forward to besides just working. It also serves as a leading example because it sets the tone for the company’s culture, vitality, and employee well-being.

Great leaders learn to become great at developing talent. They find the necessary talent, determine how best to use it, and, where required, develop new talent for the company. One of the nine important roles during your career cycle is being a builder. One of the attributes is being a great coach because builders know how to get the best out of each position on their team, as well as the other resources needed to execute the game plan. Also, builders form habits like one of my favorites, “lifting as you rise, not when you arrive.” These leaders are mentors and/or sponsors who invest in the development and advancement of others.

Many great leaders have some level of curiosity and display what I call the Curiosity Advantage — the power to constantly explore new ideas, adapt to unknown situations, and proactively challenge the status quo. They recognize that outstanding leadership requires practice, practice, and practice, as well as an unbounded desire to learn and understand more deeply. Great leaders are typically successful because of their ability to execute a vision and their track record of performance. They usually have great answers or ideas for many of the questions we wrestle with in life and in business. But their real superpower is that they often ask practical questions as they converge on the best answers or solutions — why?, how?, and what if? Their impact is felt because they turn control into influence, vision into reality, problems into opportunities, individuals into communities, and leaders into great leaders. They understand that great leadership is a choice.

So, being a great leader can be your choice.