Five
Qualities of Great Leaders
Takeaways
The 4 E’s and a P Framework
What It Means
The best
managers often have five key qualities in common: energy, the ability to
energize other people, the ability to execute, the edge (or ability to sense
what’s coming and see around corners), and finally, an outsized dose of passion
for everything they do. These are success indicators for high performing
players; they represent the attributes of people you want on your team, and the
attributes you should seek to develop in yourself.
Why it Matters
·
People
with ENERGY thrive on action and
relish change. They exude optimism from their pores. They love life. It’s as if
they have sparks exploding out of them at all times. And their boundless energy
is contagious to your organization’s culture.
·
People
who ENERGIZE others get them revved
up, inspired, and firing on all cylinders. People love working for leaders who
energize them; they get excited and feel more driven to make the company
better.
·
People
who have the EDGE that it takes to
stop stagnating and make tough calls needed to keep business moving forward.
·
Every
team needs people who can EXECUTE
and get the job done. They know how to put decision into action and push then
forward to completion.
·
People
with PASSION – a heartfelt, deep and
authentic excitement about work and life—are naturally going to perform better.
They care for their colleagues, customers and friends, and they care about
winning. They love to learn and grow and enjoy watching others do the same.
Action Plan
Positive Energy and Optimism
Positive
energy and optimism are the stuff of great leaders. If you and your team have
it, then the goals you can accomplish have no limits. You will be able to push
through when times are tough and inspire others to do the same. Teams that constantly
display an authentic excitement about everything they do never have a hard time
finding new talent to join their ranks. In fact, they quickly become the team
that EVERYONE wants to be a part of.
Your Starting Point
Positive
energy and optimism must be real. You can spot a phony a mile away. By exuding
energy and optimism, leaders can keep their team inspired and keep projects on
track even amidst the most difficult challenges. How would you characterize the
energy and excitement that you bring to work every day? What about the energy
levels of your team? How can you bring them to a new level?
1.
Am
I able to come to work every day and display energy and excitement for what I
do even when I may be tired or have troubles at home?
2.
What
do I do to energize others to be their best? Am I the kind of colleague or boss
that others want to rally around?
3.
Think
back to several tough decisions you have had to make over the last six months.
How quickly were you able to weigh the options and move forward with decisive
action (even if you didn’t have every bit of information)?
4.
True
or false? When it needs to get done, I get it done. I push forward and get
across the finish line. No excuses.
5.
I
love what I do. I enjoy my life, my work, my friends, and my family. I can’t
wait to wake up each day and get going.
6.
Identify
five people at work and in your personal life that you are naturally drawn to.
What qualities do they exhibit that make them so appealing and inspirational?
Quick Wins for High Energy
As you
think about positive energy and other leadership qualities, it is tempting to
conclude that either you (or others around you) have them or you don’t. While
all of us have some natural levels of energy seem to be “just who we are,”
there are things that great leaders can do to “activate” and develop the 4 E’s
and a P in themselves and their teams.
Take the Mirror Test
Ask
yourself every day, “Am I displaying the right traits?” “Does my team see me
practicing what I preach?” As a manager take a long, hard look in the mirror
and if you’re just seeing a dark cloud, don’t even bother showing up at work.
When you’re a leader, you can never be dull. Act alive: act as if you’re on
fire.
Explore Training and Team Building
Activities
Talk to
your team about whether they feel they have the tools and skills they need to
be successful. There might be some simple solutions to address skills gaps or
fix processes. But often team members never get asked directly what they need
in the way of their own development.
Play up Victories
Be it
closing a new sale or designing a key process improvement; celebrate wins large
and small with recognition and rewards. If you want to bolster team energy
levels, seek opportunities to make a big deal out of everything you possible
can, infusing your people with the confidence they need to contuse to do their
best.
Paint a Bigger Picture
Always
make your team feel they are part of something big and important. Convey to
them all the ways that their work really matters. They aren’t just teaching a
class, they are building character that will change children’s lives. Your job
is to give work at every level a larger, more epic purpose.
Make the Mission Come Alive
The more
you can rally your team by defining a clear vision of what’s in it for them if
they deliver, the more energy you’ll get. A great mission coupled with a great
set of values can be inspirational—but only if you make sure everyone has a
reason to have skin in the game. If they don’t, maybe some of the lack of
energy in your team has to do with a lack of clarity about what they’re supposed
to be doing, why they’re supposed to be doing it, and what they have to gain.
If this is the case, consider, “Mission Statements That Work,” and “Motivating
Your Team with Mission and Values.” You probably have some work to do in
getting your team aligned and focused on how they are going to win.
A Reminder When Hiring
What to look for
Sometimes
you are hiring for functional areas in which you need to have the raw talent
and experience, first and foremost. But you should always be evaluating a
candidate’s level of energy and passion at the same time. While leaders are sometimes
born and often made, these particular qualities often tend to be more nature
than nurture. They can be tough to teach or train. If they’re missing when you
hire, they’re unlikely to emerge later on. Edge and execution can more easily
be developed over time through coaching.
The impact
of an upbeat team is undeniable:
·
Positive energy is a confident and affirming vibe.
It’s a personality trait that invigorates and excites others.
·
Optimism is a feeling of hope, expectation
and bright certainty. It’s all about looking forward to winning.
Positive energy
and optimism keeps projects and teams on track—especially amid difficult
challenges. Naturally these are qualities you really want to have in all of
your team members (and yourself).
Positive Energy in Leaders
·
Helps
you communicate the mission and vision to your team
·
Help
when you deliver candid feedback
·
Helps
the team leader be seen as a positive role model
Positive Energy in Teams
·
Helps
the team live and breaths the vision
·
Feedback
naturally gets interpreted as an effort to improve the team
·
The
best players are attracted to teams with positive energy
Game Pages
Positive Energy and Optimism
It’s easy
to get stuck in a rut. It’s easy to see the glass as half empty rather than
half full. It’s easy to fill your head with reasons why you can’t win, why the
economy is too tough, why your competitors are too storing.
Great leaders
aren’t afraid of acknowledging challenges and they don’t pretend that
everything’s going fine when it’s not. What they do, however, is focus on the
solution—the path through the problem and the tactics that will allow them to
win. As a leader, you must confidently paint a clear way forward.
Nobody
wants to follow a leader who is down, depressed, and has no energy. Your team
is seeking a leader who can take them to new heights and who inspires them to
do more every day—to be their best.
Team Energy Infusion
What are the top 3 ways I can
energize my team in the next 6 months?
What’s in it for my team members if
they hit their goals?
Goal:
Purpose:
Reward:
Goal:
Purpose:
Reward:
Goal:
Purpose:
Reward:
My Execution Hit-List
Rank in
order the top five priority projects I need to complete within the next month:
Project
Resources Needed Possible Roadblocks Resolution
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2
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3
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4
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5
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How does each project tie to the
company mission and contribute to business growth?
What are three “time-waste”
projects sucking my time that I should deprioritize?
1.
2.
3.
Energy
Today I have demonstrated ENERGY
when I . . . .
It has helped to achieve my
company’s Mission by . . . .
Energize
Today I ENERGIZED my team by . . .
This supports the values of my
organization because it . . .
Edge
Dealing with
_______________________________________________________________________ was a
tough call, but I demonstrated EDGE by . . .
Making this call and moving forward
means that . . .
Execute
Today I demonstrated my ability to
EXECUTE and get it done when I . . .
This moved my team forward because
it allowed us to . . .
Passion
My job was especially exciting
today and I am so pumped about . . .
And now I can’t wait to . . .
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