Neuro-emotional traits for increasing leadership effectiveness

“There are three things extremely hard - Steel, a Diamond, and to know one’s self,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in the 1750 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack.

 

As a leader you might have many roles viz. create strategies, manage resources, and inspire your team. You may be good at a few or all of these aspects to some extent. For example, having a strategic mindset, delivering profits, and having an executive presence are all attractive qualities for a leader. While these attributes are expected from most leaders and business executives, it is critical to develop specific traits that characterize effective and exceptional leaders.

 

Effective leaders simplify complexity and bring clarity

Good leaders manage to thrive in the chaos of the ever-changing world. Simplifying complexities is one of the paradoxes that leaders and executives have to embrace and handle. They can distill the complexity and create easily understandable and actionable steps that their team members can quickly take on. Great leaders have a clear vision of where they want to take their business, team, or product and can shed light on the strategy to reach there.

 

Effective leaders prioritize a few critical aspects and persistently communicate them

Many leaders, even the good ones, fall into the trap of trying to accomplish too many things at the same time. Thus, prioritizing becomes an important trait of exceptional leaders. Upon identifying the top three or four priorities, they persistently communicate these priorities to their teams and inspire them to relentlessly pursue them. Moreover, by prioritizing a few critical aspects, they provide a simple plan for achieving these objectives. And the ability to devise a simple plan that will ensure victory is what will increase your leadership effectiveness. By doing so, outstanding leaders can genuinely inspire their teams to achieve the shared goals.

 

Effective leaders contribute across the entire organization rather than their individual silos

One of the issues many companies face is that their leaders rely only on their immediate team members, perceiving the others as their competition. They fail to understand that they are a part of a much bigger machinery and structure. This behavior weakens the company and steers the focus away from the ultimate goal of positioning the company high on the marketplace.

A way for leaders to overcome this type of mindset is to modify detrimental behavior and discipline themselves. The ‘we’ that we believe we are a part of is the entire organization, instead of a small team. This will be characterized by getting out of our comfort zone and learning to be comfortable operating outside of our area of expertise. Moreover, great team leaders can play well on teams they don't lead. The most effective leaders will see their portion of the business as an integral component of the entire organization and thereby maintain a broader perspective.

 

Effective leaders operate on a strategic level rather than on tactical aspects

Outstanding leaders dedicate more time to strategic conversations with their team members. Instead of focusing on the tactical maneuvering of their teams, true leaders contribute to the strategic elements. 

The opportunities to demonstrate leadership skills are endless. Even relocating to new offices is a chance for leaders to help employees transition to the new premises, keep their spirits up, and let them feel motivated and involved.

 

Effective leaders foster learning agility and build more leaders

There are two types of business executive and managers:

1.     Those who use their team members as a means for their own advancement.

2.     Those who see the potential in their team members and develop them further.

Discerning which one of these two types a particular executive or manager belongs to is not always easy. However, a leader's track record will unambiguously show whether they build leaders or exploit the people who work for them. If an employee or manager has taken on extra responsibility after working for a particular leader, it will be a clear indicator that this leader has groomed and mentored her/ him. People who quickly rise through ranks in an organization often have bosses who have had their back and have looked out for their best interests. This trait is vital to increase your leadership effectiveness.

Having a leader who builds more leaders is excellent for an organization for several reasons. Firstly, they are more likely to groom and develop individuals who differ from themselves. This leads to an increase in cognitive diversity. Secondly, such leaders can create high-performing teams that readily explore new avenues and take on additional initiatives to spur growth. Furthermore, their teams will be excellent at challenging the status quo and disrupting the outdated norms. Consequently, they will foster innovation and long-term capital development. 

 

Leaders are made, not born!

When we talk about habits or traits for increasing leadership effectiveness, it's important to note that these qualities in leaders are typically made, and not inbred at birth. So, while we expect leaders to be charismatic visionaries, these traits usually develop as they rise through the ranks and assume more challenging roles. As businesses today demand a continual improvement in performance, emotional agility and behavior adaptation are essential traits for a leader’s growth and impact.

Paradoxes in the life of a business owner

When you decide to start your own business, you will receive an abundance of information on how to start it. No one, however, prepares you for all the paradoxes that you will encounter in this journey. If you think about your role as the owner of a company, you will realize that you have many responsibilities and commitments to fulfill. Soon it will become painlessly clear that you cannot fully discern as to which of these responsibilities you are doing well and which ones you suck at.

Sometimes you wonder: Are you working IN your business or working ON your business. Are you managing or are you leading? Are you putting out fires or preventing them in the first place? 

Is your ‘leadership style’ a growth enabler or a growth barrier?

Leadership involves many inconsistencies and demands continuous behavior adjustment. Many fail to keep up with the constant changes and get stuck with their auto-conditioned behavioral style and then expect that everyone must adapt to it. Forcing that style on others and taking the ‘it's my way or the highway’ approach will only deem you as ‘one of those’ bosses!

The best way to enable growth is to listen to what others have to say, understand what optimizes other people’s performance, and be agile in adapting to the situation.

A huge paradox in the life of a business owner is - Are you a boss or are you a leader?

The truth is, you are and must be both!

One of the mistakes many business owners, and managers in general, tend to make is being too friendly with the people they are supposed to manage. They don't know how and where to set the boundaries. Very few people know precisely how to behave when they first become a boss or a supervisor. They find it difficult to resist the intoxication of power and simultaneously their need to be liked by everyone.

Being too friendly will not get you far, nor will it assert you as a leader. Similarly, being too authoritarian won't get you better results. Essentially, you must strive to find the balance and one way to do that is by being empathetic. It does not imply that you will stop holding people accountable for their work. It only means that emotional intelligence and business success go hand in hand. These two can and must coexist. 

To be a good leader, or a boss, whatever you want to call yourself, you must embrace these paradoxes and determine your customized choices. Some situations will require you to lead from the front, and others will need you to let your team lead. Should you make decisions quickly or take your time? Well, both - depending on the situation.

Each meeting, person, and task will need a customized approach. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and trying to create it is worthless. Every interaction and issue will require you to be agile in your thinking, fine-tune your strategy, and continually adjust your actions.

Leaders need to be optimistic and realistic, enthusiastic and cautious, all at the same time. You need to build an optimistic vision for a project as you want your team to be focused on the goal. At the same time, you want to be realistic and alert everyone that things may not play out as planned based on the occurrences of external events. How open and transparent should you be about possible issues? Should you share all the trivial and irrelevant information? Would it be okay to share bad news right up front? Balancing all these disparities is vital to avoid causing anxiety, fear, or worry among your team members! 

This is what happens during change management like let's say due to a merger you move your office to a new location. We know that merging is always a challenge as people may be worried about layoffs and a new working environment.

Do your employees participate or contribute?

Should a leader create a structure or allow freedom? Should people involved in your organization contribute to the development of the system or participate as a cog in the machine?

Generally speaking, organizations could have a mix of both. The manufacturing side of things could be more process and precision-driven, while the product design could function with more fresh thinking and innovation. A leader's job is to recognize when to allow the brainstorming to unravel and when to step in and steer the conversation in a specific direction.

Final thoughts

As we have observed, different scenarios demand different approaches and hence leaders take these paradoxes in their stride. Plus, resilience is vital for a good leader. As a business owner & leader, finding the right balance and knowing how to adapt to the ever-changing variables is critical.

The Manager title is dead, long live leadership!

 

Ever-changing customer demands, volatile markets, uncertain environments, ambiguity, etc. directly affect how businesses operate today. Stagnation is the road to failure, and as the business cycle progresses, things become obsolete after some time and require replacing them with an improved alternative.

With that in mind, it is time to discuss a controversial topic: The Manager title is dead, long live leadership! Managers were the backbone of any successful project, and in a lot of companies, they still are. However, the approach to how things are done is rapidly changing, and it requires different qualities, attributes, and behavioral traits.

 

The difference between a manager and a leader

Generally speaking, a position of a leader offers more creative freedom than that of a manager. A leader leads the team and motivates them to achieve strong results. Whereas a manager works under a set of strict rules and short-term objectives that could hinder long-term growth. If you decide to overlook some of these apparent issues and push them under the rug, the long-term consequences will be detrimental to your business. The way to build a resilient business is to embrace each piece of information with an open mind. 

 

Be a visionary, not a coordinator

Essentially, the goal of a manager is to coordinate all parts of a project. The objective is to streamline the workflow, assign tasks to everyone, and perform day-to-day tracking to ensure all the timelines are met.

On the other hand, a leader is responsible for the success of the project, and the implementation of an overarching vision for further enhancement. A leader helps everyone on the team understand and keep the bigger picture and vision in mind when executing the tasks. The leader’s focus would not only be limited to assigning tasks, but also on explaining the backdrop, context, and purpose of the project. By doing so, all employees will know why they are doing what they are expected to do.

 

The focus must be on the people and not solely on the project

One of the main reasons why the manager title is dead is because managers are project-centric. They focus only on ensuring that the project is completed within the set deadline, people meet their individual objectives, and the project stays within the boundaries of the budget.

The reason why everyone chants ‘long live leadership’ is because leaders are people-centric in addition to being task-centric. It is true, though, that all projects must be completed on time for a business to succeed. The key variant is that the results of the project completion are only as good as the people behind them. That's why a leader focuses more on people, to help them realize in their own way about the purpose and rationale of what they are trying to achieve.

Thus, emotional intelligence plays a vital role when selecting or promoting people to leadership roles. The benefit of an emotionally intelligent leader to an organization is the enablement of a motivated and empowered workforce who consider themselves to be an integral part of the company. These engaged and committed employees will strive for the success and value growth of the business.

 

Executing a project vs. envisioning new ideas

A manager gets tasked with the goal of completing a project as per the company’s directive. All steps must be executed with precision and within the respective deadlines. Based on what we have discussed so far, it is safe to say that a manager focuses solely on the execution of tasks and driving short-term results. Even though this is required for the company's immediate success, there is an even bigger agenda that a leader pursues.

A leader uses a different approach. Managing the team effectively and the project in an efficient manner is just a single facet of the complete equation. The ultimate goal is to motivate employees through the completion of projects, help them envision innovative approaches, and enhance the level of effectiveness. This will eventually lead to better outcomes, sustained growth, and long-term value.

Every project needs to facilitate employee development, knowledge gain, and skill enrichment. This helps in building a high-performing team versus just a short-term success that makes people feel that they are dispensable. Such a short-term approach can lead to a lack of a deeper level of engagement, and employees might constantly seek another job or role. If a leader uses a project as a tool to equip employees with new skills and help them learn more, it will create a sense of importance and belonging. Employees will feel that they are a valued part of the organization, and not just a replaceable entity paid to do a job.

As we mentioned initially, the business cycle emphasizes the importance of catering to the change in the market conditions and customer preferences. In the earlier time, managers were a necessity for businesses to survive on a pre-established path. In the 21st century, it’s time for a significant improvement for taking the business and people to the next level.

 

We need more leaders to guide people through the transition to a new age of business!

The core values of a leader are to:

·  recognize potential

·  encourage innovation

·  invest in upskilling of the workforce

·  participate in talent optimization 

·  inspire and motivate employees

·  ensure high-performance through coaching and mentoring

 

Whether a project needs to be completed on-time or there are issues with the employees, it's a leader's job to help overcome such hurdles. Transitioning to a new location for better opportunities or to pivot to new markets is a big deal, and employees may have trouble navigating through the process. While a manager would coordinate the required steps and ensure that each phase is on time, a good leader needs to guide them through this change.

 

For those who are in ‘management’ roles

Manage tasks, Lead people

Manage process, Lead purpose

Manage efficiency, Lead effectiveness

 

Long live leadership indeed

By now, we hope that you see why the Manager title is dead due to the inevitable evolution in business. Looking at the wholistic scenario will ease the acceptance of this change that is needed to meet the evolving needs of both your customers and employees. For sustained growth and progress, it is best to embrace this change. Long live leadership!