There are many things that strong leaders believe,
think and do. Below you find some that I found to be true in my 28 year consulting, coaching, and workshop practice in Europe and the U.S. With gratitude for
the many hundreds of clients who taught me what strong leadership looks like.
1. Strong leaders don’t feel the need to have all
the answers, to know it all, to be the smartest in the room. They do not feel
the need to be the super hero. They DO collect the smartest people for their
teams, they DO ask all the right (and often less obvious) questions and they DO
honor people who are smart and choose smart, and they are great at connecting
dots where others can not. Strong leaders know they can’t do it alone.
2. Strong leaders are excellent active listeners,
focusing in the here-and-now on what is being said and what is being
communicated in other ways than with words. And if they DO talk, they are
brief, clear, consistent, truthful. If they DO talk they make abundant use of
stories to share their vision and experiences and to engage their people and
connect with their hearts.
3. Strong leaders act with integrity and
demonstrate that it is safe to share not just success stories but also
misjudgments, failure, and doubts. They keep important conversations in the
room. Because they can be trusted and are perceived to be honest and fair, they make water cooler conversations redundant.
4. Strong leaders welcome dissidents, devils
advocates, “against the grain” thinkers, and people who challenge them
otherwise, because they know they need this kind of thinking and these types of
conversations to prevent self-deception, confirmation bias, tunnel vision, and
all that other horrible stuff that prevents new ideas, unusual solutions, and fresh perspectives to emerge. They know they/their ideas don’t need to be liked all
the time as long as they're respected and seen as acting with integrity.
5. Strong leaders know how to combine confidence
and presence with humility and gratitude, which for many is a difficult
balancing act. The Harvard Business Review Daily Stat on March 6, 2015 reported
the following: “Highly regarded CEOs are nearly 6
times more likely than less highly regarded chief executives to be
described as “humble” (34% versus 6%), according to a survey of
more than 1,750 executives in 19 markets worldwide. Yet only about a quarter
of the survey’s respondents say the description fits their own CEOs. The
research, sponsored by public relations firm Weber Shandwick, also shows that
nearly half of a company’s corporate reputation and market value is
attributable to its CEO’s reputation.” Leslie Gaines-Ross writes on HBR.org
In what areas can you
strengthen your leadership?
