In a recent poll, people dedicated to improving their communication skills – real people who are alive and well and who are leaders at work, church or in their families (or all of these) – rang in loudly and proudly about what makes a leader great. In your mind, what makes a leader great?
CONTINUAL SELF-IMPROVEMENT LEADS THE PACK
Well, in the New Insights Communication Poll, 62.96% said that “continual self-improvement” leads the pack of what makes and keeps a positive leader effective…ethical…centered…ever focused on change and problem-solving. I was happy to hear that a positive leader seeks to better her or his best performance without being a perfectionist.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE AN “EFFECTIVE” AND “ETHICAL” LEADER?
As a culture, we tend to idealize but not worship our leaders. We want to look up to people who demonstrate strengths we would like to have, but don’t. We like courage in the face of fear, good communication skills, ability to win a talk point, the wisdom not to take things too personally, and traits that support people contact and project achievement. So what do you consider to be a “real leader with heart, soul, guts, brains and an ability to inspire team members to all go in the same direction?
PROFILE OF A QUIET LEADER
My “big picture” profile of a good leader is:
A good leader is first and foremost a man or woman who is the leader of his or her own life
One who is continuously getting better in little ways that create large rewards
An open person who is curious, growing and changing…and likes to get to know others
Both a wise professor and novice learner who is unafraid to be in either the student or teacher role
Willing to constantly walk the team out of the box they find themselves in
Results-driven: “What you get is what you see!” motto
Results-analytical: “Let’s stop doing what isn’t working to do something different that might work!” motto
An expert problem-solver: Enjoys solving business and people puzzles
Good selectors and motivators of diverse team members
Able to fuse together multiple conflicting agendas with the torch of a single-minded mission
RESULTS OF THE NEW INSIGHTS COMMUNICATION POLL
A total of 54 votes were cast to determine what makes a great leader great. Is it humility? Is it really working hard? Is it working smart by selecting the right team? Is it being a powerful communicator? Is it using new technology to achieve uncommon results? Is it being like Bill Gates? So, first things first, let’s go over the oblique results of the leadership poll last week at www.drogrady.com:
AN EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL LEADER STAYS CENTERED BY:
SKILL #1: CONTINUAL SELF-IMPROVEMENT…. *62.96% (First Place)
SKILL #2: BEING HUMBLE…………………… 16.67% (Second Place)
SKILL #3: INFLUENCING PEOPLE……. 11.11% (Third Place)
SKILL #4: SELECTING GOOD TEAMS….9.26% (Someone else’s place)
SKILL #5: WORKING REALLY HARD…..0.00% (No place at all)
Hey, I was raised on the belief that “hard work and elbow grease” are what made people successful! I guess we’ve changed our minds about that, although I think hard work is still part and parcel of the “street smart” business executive and home leader. And what about being a great communicator, as many of our U.S. presidents have been? A frequent trait of poor leaders is that although they think they can talk to others…they “can’t talk.”
ARE YOU TOO HUMBLE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD MR. OR MS. CHANGE EXPERT?
Continual self-improvement was the star member of the leadership quorum. Notably, “being humble” pulled in a respectable #2 place. Who would’ve guessed? And I have to ask: are leaders really humble or just acting humble to get the results they seek? Perhaps it’s a little of both…except for the “ethical” leader who has to be a man or woman of his or her word…not always easy in this “big bad-good world.”
RUN ACROSS THE FINISH LINE TO GRAB FIRST PLACE
I was misguided because I thought “selecting good teams” or “effective hiring and firing” would run across the finish line to grab first place. Well, actually that’s not entirely true. I thought “the humble leader” might get the call, but then I knew I was just being my old sarcastic self because I had just finished reading in USA Today about another arrogant leader who was stealing headlines by declaring that his opponents were “morally and intellectually wrong.” At least he could have said “deficient.”
Dennis O’Grady, founder of New Insights Communications, is at that strange phase in life where he likes to think he’s a great and effective leader, the co-head of the O’Grady house, but with three teen-age and pre-teen girls co-inhabiting his life, his leadership abilities are constantly called into question by inquiring and typical adolescent minds. He knows they’ll realize in a few years just how great a leader he really is (and was all along…they just have to grow up to realize it!). He’s also author of the recently published TALK TO ME: Communication Moves to Get Along With Anyone.
Previous New Insights Communication Polls have included “Does Your Attitude Work To Make You A Better Leader?” “What’s Up With Your Confidence Level?”… “When You Argue, Are You Always Right?” … “Are You Shy or Stuck Up?”… “How Do You Handle Anger?”…“Are Men or Women Better Communicators?” “How Easily Are You Frustrated?” Read more about these challenging, growth producing topics, and other topics of personal and relationship interest here four minutes every day of the week to make change happen fast and last.
Dr. Dennis O’Grady provides executive coaching and professional development training in Ohio and surrounding states.