Success Impulse: The essence of good leadership
What is the essence of good leadership? Volkmar Völzke explores this question in this issue of his monthly column. A new impulse for success for managers who want to work on the quality of their leadership.
Do you want to improve your leadership skills? Then ask yourself the following question from time to time: "Why should someone want to be led by me?"
Leading and being led
I know that the answer is often not easy. And it doesn't only refer to formal managers, but to every human being: It should matter to you that people want to follow you (and horses and dogs, too, if that's your passion). Whether you like it or not, leadership is influencing toward positive outcomes.
I used to dance seriously for a long time. There it is the case that the men have the leadership responsibility on the floor (at least when I danced). I never met a dance partner who thought weak, unclear leadership was good - on the contrary. (Important: This is about not around gender roles!)
Three tips for the essence of good leadership
That's how we all feel: We are happier and achieve more when we lead ourselves and others well. So what does that mean exactly? Here are three important reminders that many people forget from time to time:
- Self-Leadership. Leadership begins within yourself. You can never lead others better than you do for yourself. This includes, among other things, clarity about your own goals, consistency in implementation and recognition of success.
- Clarity. The number one criterion for good leadership is clarity: clarity about goals, clarity about "why," clarity about first steps, clarity about decisions, clarity about values, clarity about everything. The quality of leadership is directly proportional to the clarity of the leader.
- Consequence. This comes right after clarity: bad leadership is often characterized by a lack of consistency, by "egging on", by delays. Attention: Consistency starts with yourself (see point 1). If you are lax to yourself, you cannot expect consistency from others.
Extra tip: Rate yourself on each of the three points on a scale of 1-10. How good are you really at it? Then have others rate your leadership. Again, you don't have to be a formal manager to do this.
Well then, let's increase the quality of leadership together! The world needs it more than ever.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
