Three habits of effective leaders

It doesn’t matter how old you are or what industry you work in, but over the years the chances are that you will have worked with and for many bosses/leaders/managers, some of whom were awful and had possibly been promoted above their ability, whilst others appear to have taken to leadership like a duck to water. There are natural leaders, but many, if not most, have to work at it and are given ‘management training’ or simply work out from previous experiences of past managers the good and bad of leadership.

Which begs the question; Are you a leader? It doesn’t matter if you’re a Director or a Graduate entry-level employee, leadership is an essential skill that can propel you and your career to bigger, better things. There are countless books and on-line forums dedicated to the subject, but here are a few of our thoughts.

What are three habits a competent leader practices regularly?
The first habit is asking different questions. This is about expanding your curiosity. The second habit is taking multiple perspectives. This habit is about listening well and understanding the perspectives of others. The third habit is looking at systems, and that one reminds us that while the human brain likes to break things down into manageable parts, it is the unwieldy combination of those unmanageable systems that opens us up to new possibilities.

Do even the best leaders make mistakes?
Yes of course. They'll get mad and make mistakes, and sometimes they won't even recognise that they've done that. But the best leaders, like entrepreneurs, never stop learning, never become so arrogant or complacent that they stop believing they have room to grow. John F. Kennedy wrote that "leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." The good leaders (almost) never forget this.

What else separates great leaders from everyone else?
They create environments where people can thrive. We all have the experience of people who make us feel small and less capable than our colleagues versus those who make us more capable in their presence than we are without them. Good leaders remember that their perspective isn't the only truth, and they welcome entire human beings into the workplace -- inconvenient emotions, vague hunches, thoughtless mistakes and all.

If I want to become more of a leader today, how should I start?
Believe that you can change and begin to look for the ways you might need to by asking for feedback from others. Forgive yourself for your limitations (rather than denying them or beating yourself up about them), and then seek to grow beyond the way you understand the world today.

Nothing above is groundbreaking or revolutionary but hopefully a few common sense thoughts.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray