GROWING LEADER EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH TRAIT DEVELOPMENT
As a businesswoman, you would know that there are those times calling for the establishment of direction, aligning of people and resources, and motivating and aspiring the team members to search for new ways of working and to attain new heights.
These are the times that you should tap into your leadership traits for effectiveness. You will have to be emotionally active and involved. Ready to shape ideas instead of responding to them and be open to new possibilities. Doing the same thing in the same way but expecting new or better results will not bring you or the team far.
The effectiveness of leaders often improves when they understand that there are three key ingredients to the success of goal attainment. These are the leader, the team members, and the leadership process. Understanding your role as a key person in the formula of goal attainment can be extremely helpful. Leaders assist their team members to formulate, understand and attain common goals in the most efficient manner.
Assigned leadership comes with the formal job designation but emergent leadership comes from within. Can you get group members to positively respond and actively participate in building the business? Being a good role model, considerate, knowledgeable, transparent, and enthusiastic are all positive leadership traits that can improve the cooperation in the team. It starts with the leader.
The leader needs to know that it is acceptable not to know. If you can acknowledge this, you are ready to manage your growth as a leader. You also need to know that it is not so much about you but more about the bigger picture. Working with humans who have emotions, aspirations, and lives. You work on a planet that has limited natural resources and is crying out for sustainability. Serve customers that have numerous options for solving their wants and needs. Staff need not be in your team, the planet can continue without you, and the customers can vote with their feet. Be nice. Grow positive leadership traits and build up an effective team. Great leaders care.
The trait approach to greater leader effectiveness is not the only way of leader development but it is a crucial starting point. The good news is that leadership traits can be cultivated although we still hear the phrase “being a born leader.”
Different traits are required in different settings. Identifying and cultivating your specific leadership traits according to your career aspirations are particularly important. It is not something that will leave you exposed or stressed out that you fall short as a leader. Rather, partaking in such a process will be an exciting journey wherein the support of a skilled business consultant becomes a valuable investment in your development as a leader.
Are you still unsure about investing in your development as a leader? Just think about the leaders that made an impact on your life. Which traits made them effective? Which traits do you think will make you a successful and effective leader?
Dr. Santie von Below can be contacted at +27 (0)82 613 0719 or santie@fundtechconsulting.com for the assessment and development of leadership traits through individual consulting sessions or workshops on the topic.