Do you have these 4 Critical Traits Every Great Leader Has?

In this live video, I talk about the 4 traits that any leader needs to demonstrate to truly be not only successful but also makes them leaders worth following.

We are currently operating in an environment that is ever changing, complex and with disruptions coming at us from different directions (geopolitical disruptions, technological disruptions, supply chain disruptions, etc) all at once.

In this complex environment that we operate in, these traits help us not only stand out as effective leaders but also shape us as leaders worth following. Let’s take a quick look at these traits.

These are also the traits that Lynda Gratton, a professor at the London Business School calls out as part of Adaptive Leadership.

Trait 1: Ability to lead under conditions of uncertainty and complexity

This is the ability to make be a stabilizing force for our teams in conditions of uncertainty and chaos.

We can do this by spending the time and effort to understand the complexity and hide it for the people we lead by clearly articulating what we expect from each one of them.

We do this by acknowledging the nature of the beast that we are dealing with and empathizing with the team and the challenges that they face when dealing with such situations.

We can do this by going back to the basics and making decisions with incomplete data and being intentional about these decisions and look at them as tiny experiments that we can run to test waters and build on what works and avoid what doesn’t.

We can do this by not making any non-reversible decisions which leads to catastrophic consequences.

Trait 2: Ability to adopt an Enterprise Mindset

This trait is all about understanding where does the work that we did as a team falls in the overall value chain that our organization delivers for our customers.

Once we understand that, then to ensure that every decision that we make as a leader optimizes, not just for our team (local optima) but optimizes for the overall value delivered to our customers (global optima).

This means that we need to understand the value that our team brings to the table in the overall value chain and also how this interacts with the other teams within the organization. This helps us understand the impact of each decision that we make on the overall value chain and if it improves it or makes it worse.

And when we have the understanding, it is to act responsibly and optimize our decisions so that we can improve the overall effectiveness of value creation for our customers. When this is in conflict with our own KPI’s that our team is measured on, we need to be creative as a team to still continue to go for a global optima while at the same time figuring out a way to either remove this dichotomy or over come it.

Trait 3: Ability to consistently deliver excellent performance

We don’t have to talk about this as this is a table stakes to play the game. We need to find ways and means to consistently deliver exceptional performance day-after-day, month-after-month, quarter-after-quarter or year-after-year.

We do this by ensuring that we create a culture that not only expects exceptional performance from everyone on the team, but also enables everyone to deliver it.

That means that we have clear expectations of every one on the team about what they need to deliver.

That means that every one on the team has or gets everything that they need (training, tools, access, coaching, mentoring, etc) to deliver this exceptional performance.

That means that we show up and be the role model of what it means to be a part of this team, what it means to consistently deliver excellence across the entire team, all the while balancing the local and global optima.

Trait 4: Ability to develop leaders consistently

This is the most important role any leader worth their weight needs to do well – create a strong pipeline of leaders from the people that we lead.

We do this by ensuring that we understand the people we lead, their aspirations, their strengths, weaknesses and find ways and means to help them build on their strengths and strengthen their weaknesses.

This means that we are constantly looking for development opportunities for the people we lead.

Sometimes, it could be through formal training.

Sometimes, it could be by getting them to shadow us or some other leader within our organization.

Sometimes, it could mean that we get them to lead a project, a team meeting, an offsite, a presentation to senior execs or customers.

We are always looking for opportunities to allow our teams to learn, develop and deliver.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is not enough to have these traits and not use them. It is crucial that we use each one of these traits every single day.

It is by showing up as a role model, being intentional about using each one of these traits on a daily basis and balance our priorities with out organization’s priorities and marry them with the aspirations of the people we lead. When we do this, we become effective as a leader and create the potential for us to become leaders worth following.