Equipping Leaders To Be Brilliant

What’s a leader? Some people would say that a leader is somebody who helps and guides his or her people to be their best selves and to do their best work to reach company success. Others could expand the definition to be somebody who provides direction for the people while striving to maintain a level of performance and motivation. In a sense, both are correct.

But what’s a leader in a crisis like COVID-19, a phenomenon that placed astounding demands on businesses? Clearly, it was a trial by fire that had no rulebook. The unpredictability shook everyone to their cores and made it almost impossible to respond accordingly. While the primary concern of every leader was the safety of the employees in the organization and their families, leaders also had to look to and strategize long term solutions and systems that can preserve the business together with the people. So to redefine what a leader is, it would be somebody who not only provides direction and effectively leads, but who can also navigate through and promote transformative change.

When it comes to equipping leaders to become more efficient in leading and landing changes, it’s become even more apparent that apart from continuing to strive for performance, leaders must also be inspirational and comforting. 

POSITIVE PROACTIVENESS. While it’s tempting for leaders to fall into their negativity biases during times of crisis, they must also know how to recognize that such a crisis or challenge is happening—and prepare for it as calmly as possible. In fact, it would also help to be optimistic about it. Through this, not only do leaders boost morale and shine a light for employees, they will also be able to mount the appropriate response, and have a mindset that looks ahead and looks for solutions.

COLLABORATIVE STRATEGY. In most cases, it can be tempting for leaders to just think, “I’ll just do it myself,” but this is not always the smartest way to go. If leaders set clear priorities and goals, empowering others to implement the solutions to get to the goals will be more efficient and productive for everyone in the organization.

CLEAR COMMUNICATION. Conversing with people to make sense of a strategy and contextualize it in a relevant way enables teamwork to happen smoothly as everyone knows what they expect from each other. This means leaders must communicate with clarity and must express it purposefully and appropriately depending on the audience they talk to.

INTENT AND IMPACT. A purpose-driven leadership is key to exceptional performance. When people understand their purpose, and when leaders are able to implement ways to highlight that in a team, they are more likely to achieve more concrete results, even in the midst of change.

INTEGRITY IN ACTION. Leaders with integrity are models or ethical behavior, and they are able to practice honesty and authenticity. They follow through with commitments as much as possible or look for a just compromise when big situations like a pandemic arise. If a leader stands up for what he believes in and lives the organization’s values, this helpes to build trust between the leaders and the employees.

Every team must have faith in their leaders to make the right decisions. From CEOs to line managers, they need to be trusted to lead, and at the same time, they need to trust their people that they can do their job well.

Want to improve your organization's employee experience? Send us an email at [email protected] and we'll schedule a free consultation and/or workshop that will support your employee engagement initiatives!