ICON LEADERSHIP

There are many articles that write about underrated qualities in a great leader. Nearly all of them describe the same qualities; accountability, innovative, subject acumen, or flexibility. I never seem to hear people talk about two characteristics that I'm always looking for in my leaders. Development and diversity are, in my professional and personal opinion, the most underrated character traits in great leaders.

Development

Keep in mind that I am looking at development from a coaching perspective. Great leaders are lifelong learners, and always find ways to inspire their followers to have the same passion for learning. Leaders with this attribute are difficult to find, because their entire clan is keeping up with their pace. They're able to pinpoint weaknesses in their followers, provide them with development resources, and motivate and inspire them to follow through on the opportunities to grow.

Tony Robbins has a great quote on growth, "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten."

The truth of this is that great leaders find ways to encourage, grow and develop their team members, because they realize they will only get the same results if they don't progress, change and adapt. While good leaders are trailing behind, motivating their team to develop on their own. Great leaders are tracking the progress of their team's development, and forecasting to prevent the next hiccup.

Diversity

Something that I've always cherished in an individual on my team, diversity as a characteristic is someone who holds a wide range of experience to provide a, jack of all trades if you will, range of skills, knowledge and abilities. This quality is something that I feel is only view under race, gender and creed. Great leaders are not only teachable but great teachers too, not only good talkers but great listeners, not just good at time management but they're great under pressure when things don't go as planned. They have both blue collar and white collar skills, not afraid to get a little dirty if needed, but are also on top of their administrative duties.

In my experience, I've only ever met one person who was truly diverse. He showed empathy, but knew exactly when to draw the line. My dad would try his best to learn and master a new skill, but he knew when it was time to delegate. His level of ambition, and integrity, for a project was contagious. It developed a sense of pride, and ownership, for a project within everyone involved.

This type of diversity is the very thing bottom line employees seem to complain about in their managers. The most common complaint: "My boss doesn't even know what I do." Being diverse means; you understand the basic duties of the people involved on your team. This allows you to recognize their hard work, while helping to brainstorm through inefficiencies.

I can only hope that by now you understand the importance of being diverse and driving development. These two attributes really do make good leaders great.

Let me know your thoughts or experiences.

In my experience, many organizations work under the mantra; Change is constant, yet purposeful. Although, the purpose can be something as simple as experimenting with a new idea, or extravagant as an implementation based on statistical strategic forecasting and planning. An innovative team must be
adaptable to the change to sows.

When discussing change and leadership, we need to look at change as an opportunity to show how strong and adaptable the team is. It is up to you, as the leader, to be the motivation and encouragement to your team. John C. Maxwell said, "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." How you react to change is what will inspire others to either be an advocate of change, or an adversary. Good leaders grow, but great leaders grow with everyone together.

John Kotter writes several book on leading change. He breaks down change leadership into 8 steps: Create a sense of urgency, Create a powerful coalition, Create a vision for change, Communicate the vision, Topic Remove obstacles, Create short-term wins, Build on the change, and Create a change culture.

Creating urgency requires the team to have "buy-in" and own the vision of change. The entire team should be supporting one another in accountability toward the change. To build a sense of urgency, have genuine and convincing conversations about the topic with the influencers within the workgroup. This will also help build a needed coalition.

These advocates for change must work together. Constantly increasing momentum surrounding the topic of change. A great way to build momentum is to have your team gain ownership in the vision. Creating a clear vision for change is absolutely critical. Share the vision through core values, credible support (by your coalition), and providing an execution strategy.

How you share your vision is up to you. It can be in a morning meeting, a formal presentation, or in one-on-one conversation, but be sure to let you passion for the change shine through. This is how you will drive the change. Connect everything back to you're vision, and talk about it frequently.

As you've gained the necessary momentum, you'll be able to identify change barriers more easily. Quick and swift action will be needed to remove threats and obstacles preventing change. Lift up those who are the advocates for your change vision. Remove, and redirect, those who are not supporting your goals and vision. Reward those short-term targets that have been met.

Share the "wins" with the entire team, and organization (if needed), to motivate and maintain change momentum. By acknowledging the short-term goals, you will be ensuring the team's focus on the vision. Continue to instill the drive for change by building on the change.

In my experience, change comes to an abrupt stop when the team celebrates the achieved vision, but doesn't know where to go next. So, identify the strengths and weaknesses during the change process, and address them with the team. Allow them to grow. Have the team provide criticism for future change, and a new vision for the future. This will give them ownership in the change culture.

Don't forget to recognize and inspire key change leaders, and share their success stories to inspire others to partner in the change culture. Leaders within teams should be advocates of an adaptable workgroup.