These qualities of great leaders and leadership make the difference between whether people follow you or not.
Trust
Trust is the foundation of any well-developed relationship, including your relationship with your team. Your team needs to be able to trust you if they’re to follow your directives. Therefore, cultivating a high level of trust enables you to create a work culture that is highly productive and where tasks are performed quickly.
The best way to develop trust is to create positive relationships on your team and prioritize the well-being of others. Also, it’s essential to prove you can deliver quality results and follow through on commitments. If you stay consistent with these three behaviors, you’re guaranteed to build trust.
Stability
If you provide a stable work environment for your team, they are more likely to stay loyal. This also increases your organization’s reputation, which can help you gain a large following from the industry’s talent pool. After all, stability means security and safety – a fundamental human need.
Stability can be achieved through open communication, provision of adequate resources and development of an “optimism culture.” In turn, you’ll get increased team engagement and effectiveness.
Balanced Empathy
Great leadership requires a touch of humanity and compassion. That means caring enough about your team members to put yourself in their shoes and respond intuitively to their needs. However, it also means maintaining a balance between conveying compassion and demanding only the best from your team.
This enables you to build a high-performing team that feels understood and appreciated. Such a team will follow you through the highs and lows of any project and will strive to ensure your organization comes out on top.
Confidence
Confidence is the ability to sell your goal to others so clearly they will ultimately buy into it. Genuine confidence can be highly infectious, and it inspires followership because people are naturally inclined to defer to authority figures.
If you want to portray confidence, you also have to look the part. For instance, great leaders often make an effort to be smartly dressed, take care of their health and pay attention to every aspect of their appearance, from their hairstyle down to the shoes they wear.
In addition, your posture, mannerisms, smile, handshake, tone of voice all speak volumes about whether you’re truly confident in your leadership role. One of the best ways to develop confidence is to choose a leadership coach or mentor that will help you develop the qualities you seek in yourself.
Uniqueness
It’s a given that great leadership means having enough charisma to attract followers, but being a unique leader goes well beyond this. There are leaders with charisma but no substance, so if you are a leader who’s always doing what they do best, then people will notice, and you’ll be able to stand apart from the crowd.
You’ll eventually be surrounded by a team of people that would like to keep working with you because of the novel work experience you provide. For instance, if you have a highly driven personality, you will inspire others to complement your efforts and move in the direction you want.
Likability
If you want to lead a team of people that not only follows you but can vouch for you, it’s essential to be likable. This is the secret to creating a following that lasts. In addition, being a likable leader means making an effort to develop personal relationships with your team members.
It means being approachable and giving people your time and attention when they need it. Finally, likable leaders are humble – they do not feel or act like they are better than others. Instead, they value and demonstrate integrity in every moment.
These qualities of great leaders and leadership make the difference between whether people follow you or not. Applying them inspires others to greatness and helps you become a better leader – always a win-win! QCBN
By Jamaal McCoy
Jamaal McCoy is the general manager of Findlay Auto Group Prescott. He can be reached at 928-443-8300 or jmccoy@findlayauto.com.