Are You Valued as a Leader?

Are You Valued as a Leader?
By Arthur Cooper
(c) Copyright 2003

Are You Valued as a Leader?

A recent survey in the UK asked employees what qualities they
looked for and valued most in a leader. The responses were
interesting and worth examining.

Trustworthiness.

Top of the list came trustworthiness. A clear majority of those
asked put this as the quality they valued the most. Could this
be, I wonder, because they find that this quality is so rare?
Recent examples of the behaviour of some of the top men in
industry and commerce suggest that this quality is rare indeed.

A Good Communicator.

A close second was the ability to Communicate. Employees like
someone who can tell them what is going on. They like to be
told what the plans for the company are and how it is
performing. They like to have the aims of the company and their
own part in it spelled out clearly and unambiguously.


Decisiveness.

Then came decisiveness. Employees look to their leaders to be
decisive. They don’t want to be subject to frequent changes of
direction or imprecise goals. They don’t want to see any form
of shilly-shallying in their leaders. They want clarity and
action.

Motivation and Inspiration.

The abilities to motivate and inspire followed next. Maybe these
came lower down the list because they follow from the qualities
listed previously. They are the results of those other
qualities rather than primary qualities themselves. After all,
you are not likely to inspire anyone unless you are first a
good communicator. You are not likely to inspire if you don’t
know where you are going.

People Focused.

Being people focused as a desirable quality was next on the
list. This amounts to valuing and caring about your staff and
looking after their well being at all times. This also is a
quality that sometimes seems in short supply when the going
gets tough. But you won’t motivate or inspire without it.

Visionary and Strategic Planner

The qualities of being a Visionary and a Strategic Planner have
been grouped together since they came next in order and very
close together in the ranking. They are also very similar in
nature. It does seem to me, though, that these qualities are
vitally necessary if the higher ranked qualities of motivation
and inspiration are to be of much use. You have got to have the
vision before you can motivate someone to go after it.

Driver of Change.

To be a driver of change is apparently not so very highly rated
amongst employees. Perhaps this is because change can often be
uncomfortable. This is a quality that the top management of the
company will probably value much higher than the majority of
the staff.

Charismatic.

This was ranked lower still, but I suggest that this is not
something that exists in isolation anyway. You either have
charisma (or you don’t) because of your other qualities. It
doesn’t exist on its own.

Entrepreneurial and Risk Taker.

These two were ranked lower than all those previously listed and
at a similar level. Is this perhaps a reflection on the fact
that it was employees who were asked rather than captains of
industry? By the nature of things the majority of employees do
not have these qualities themselves in large doses, and so they
probably don’t want their leaders to take a lot of risks
affecting them either. In uncertain times employees put a high
value on stability and security.

So what can be learnt from this survey?

If you want to stand out as a leader in business you must
persuade others to follow. That much is obvious. But to get
them to follow you have to take account of what they think
themselves. You cannot ignore it. So you need to be an amalgam
of what is popular with what is less popular but necessary all
the same.

With that in mind, I draw the following conclusions from the
above survey ...

1. You must be, and show yourself to be, honest in all that
you do and say.
2. You must have a precise and steadfast view of where you
want yourself and your company to go and you must be able
to communicate it clearly and unambiguously.
3. You must take decisions quickly and decisively, and having
taken them you must stick firmly to them.
4. You must consider at all times the well being of your
staff.

It doesn’t sound too difficult. Now is your chance to take the
lead.