Remember the phrase “he is not meant to be a leader”? But is this a given? I'm sure not. Leadership qualities in yourself can be developed, like other soft skills, and predisposition - charisma and other natural data - only help in this, but are not decisive. How can you independently “pump up” your leadership and what leadership skills are especially needed by developers who want to become team leads?
My name is Ekaterina Dementyeva, I am the HR Director of the Russian software developer MyOffice. In many areas of life, including professional ones, you need to constantly learn. To succeed and achieve what you want, it is important to continuously develop. In this article I will tell you how you can independently develop such leadership qualities as:
- Long-term vision
- Goal setting
- Perseverance
- Flexibility
- Ability to bear responsibility and share it with the team
The post will be useful not only to current and future team leads, but also to those who do not seek to formally lead a team.
Negative Leadership Traits
Leadership is not necessarily associated with a high position. Some people rise through the ranks and become weak leaders. They became managers having demonstrated competence in their previous position. Then they either failed to cope with the power they received, or reached a level of incompetence. And if they begin to exhibit anti-leadership patterns, then they are called “toxic leaders.”
Such teams fall apart very quickly; loyalty and respect for the leader cannot be maintained based on fear or manipulation. Negative qualities of toxic leaders:
- Narcissism
– for example, when developing a personal brand, you should remember why you are developing it. Excessive self-promotion, taking into account the presence of power, can play a cruel joke. Even worse is self-promotion and appropriation of the achievements of others. - Lack of Vision
– Given an infinite number of options, a leader must be able to choose the best one. Assess it in reality and in the future. If a leader has no vision, there will be no strategy, no purpose, no motivation. - Weak system of values
- authorities without values frighten people, people follow them out of fear or in pursuit of profit. It manifests itself through disrespect for people, dishonest behavior, manipulation, inconsistency, and risk-taking. - Incompetence
both professionally and lack of leadership skills. A leader does not have to know everything, but must understand his knowledge gaps and develop them in order to speak the same language as the experts. - Lack of change management skills
– a leader must be able to respond quickly, make decisions quickly, organize and motivate. The world is changing, and with it the market.
Ability to dream/ambitious
A modern leader needs a lot, but to be honest, there is one thing that is absolutely necessary - the ability to dream and infect others with your dreams. It is dreams that constantly drive our inner motor to move forward. For example, a leader dreams of creating a gadget to make the lives of millions of people more comfortable; he unites people around him with a dream that is shared by every member of the team. The manager will lead the project to launch a new product, scrupulously tracking all deadlines, not encouraging new ideas that may cause deadlines to be missed, because he is driven by the ambition of getting promoted as soon as possible.
- The price of a mistake: four signs of an imaginary leader
- The head of everything: why a well-functioning system is more important than a bright manager
Ability to work in a matrix/ability to set a task
Another leadership ability is the ability to work in a matrix structure, which now dominates large and medium-sized companies. We are used to working in structures with vertical subordination: the manager manages his direct subordinates. A matrix structure involves collaboration across functions or projects. That is, in addition to the direct manager, there is also a matrix manager, with whom you need to work within the framework of a project or function (purchasing, sales, etc.). For example, a project is being launched to outsource contact centers in five European countries, and a person in charge has been appointed from Russia. Each country has its own market conditions and different expertise in building contact center business processes. What the leader will do first is take the time to understand the motivations of the project participants and try to involve them in the project in a real way, not just in a formal way. A typical manager will write a formal letter inviting you to a general call where the project plan will be announced.
Leadership Qualities: 15 Important Qualities of a True Leader
A number of studies have been conducted, according to which about 70 leadership qualities have been identified. However, developing such a number of qualities is simply an impossible task. Therefore, we will focus on the 15 most important, based on the 20% Pareto principle. So, let's try to structure the main qualities of a leader, dividing them into 3 sections.
- Systems skills
: vision, goal setting, perseverance, flexibility, organization. - Communication skills
: communication skills, ability to motivate, support. - Personal qualities
: confidence, proactivity, professionalism and responsibility, self-control, emotional intelligence, openness to new experiences, sociality.
In the list, we will consider the personal and personal qualities of a leader, as well as the professional qualities of a leader.
The personal qualities of a leader are sometimes more important than professionalism and knowledge.
Vision
Vision
– the ability to perceive reality, evaluate and predict the future. Don't just dream, but create a vision. This is where leadership begins. Create an image of the future, present it and convey it to people. From the vision the goal is formed. A leader with a clear vision easily inspires and motivates people.
Goal setting
Goal setting
helps digitize the vision so that it becomes clear and understandable to other people. A leader's goals are always ambitious and passionate, but at the same time realistically achievable. Ability to decompose goals and determine priorities. A true leader has several ways to achieve his goal.
Perseverance
Perseverance
as a quality that helps you move forward, overcome difficulties, find solutions, learn from failures and double down by analyzing victories and achievements.
Flexibility
Flexibility
– the ability to go beyond limits, to see in 3D. A leader must have several strategies and choose the most effective one. The ability to adapt and improvise, but follow your own path.
Organization
Organization
is a complex quality of a leader. Includes determination, concentration, structure and the ability to regulate and control. All this will allow you to assemble a team, organize the conditions and work process.
Communication skills
Communication skills
is a soft skill of our time and not only for leaders. The skill of successful interaction with people is the ability to establish contacts, communicate constructively and naturally, the ability to listen and hear, ask questions, give feedback, argue and receive information.
High level of motivation
High level of motivation
to energize and inspire others. High self-motivation is a sign of leadership.
The professional qualities of a leader are to adequately assess the situation and predict a solution.
Support of like-minded people
Support of like-minded people,
and not only in difficult situations. And in return, they will support you as a leader. Communicate politely and tactfully with subordinates, take an interest in their problems, interests, and ideas.
Confidence in your goal
Confidence in your goal
that it will be achieved. Self-confidence as a state. The leader does not show his weaknesses; difficulties only fuel his interest in work. Personal confidence is manifested in appearance: posture, gaze, breathing.
Proactivity
Proactivity
as a conscious attitude towards oneself and the situation, the ability to control and influence events, and look for solutions. React according to your principles and interests and prevent the situation from arising in the future.
11. Professionalism and responsibility
Professionalism and responsibility
– the leader assesses the situation professionally and adequately. Analyzes the situation and predicts the consequences. Takes responsibility for the result, is involved in the process, and comes to the rescue.
Self-control
Self-control
– ability to take a hit, work under stress-resistant conditions, and show restraint. And also keep yourself in a resourceful state - manage anger, manage stress, emotions and be able to recover quickly.
Developed emotional intelligence
Developed emotional intelligence
- another soft skill. Helps manage your own and others' emotions. The ability to express and manage emotions. By being able to interpret emotions correctly, a leader will be able to motivate, inspire and manage.
Openness to new things
Openness to new things
– be interested in what is happening, show genuine curiosity about group members, monitor trends and implement innovative approaches.
Sociality
Sociality
– correctly assess any situation, show friendliness. Build long-term cooperation on a win-win principle. Engage in networking in accordance with interests, values and norms, and possibly shape them.
The future belongs to leaders who change the world for the better.
What functions does it perform in a team?
Any group of people is its own well-established system that cannot function normally without a leader. Why is it needed:
- organizes the life of the department in all areas at once;
- creates rules in which everyone will be comfortable working, then ensures that they are followed;
- officially speaks with superiors on behalf of all people;
- is responsible for the results of the activities of the entire public, monitors what the results will be;
- Coordinates and modifies, as necessary, the tasks to be performed by a specific employee to achieve maximum productivity.
Conclusion: what basic qualities should a leader have?
In traditional organizations, a manager leads a team from the top down. But recently, authoritative consultants (McKinsey, BCG, Bersin by Deloitte, Bain) agree on the need for changes in the organizational design of companies. A move to flat structures is desirable, where there is a shift from positions and directive leadership to roles and collaboration. Self-government of the organization and instead of managers - team leaders.
The modern world is changing so quickly that someone can break down, someone can swim out, adapt, but by applying the maximum amount of resources and effort for this. So the future belongs to the leaders of change -
for those who can strengthen themselves and their team in any situation.
ABBYY research shows that 3% of employees make 84% of decisions and influence more than 80% of other employees. Build your set of leadership qualities, develop what is not enough to find your place in a changing world. The best way to do this is to find the right mentor - behind every great success there is someone.
- Develop emotional intelligence - learn to recognize, engage, use and manage your emotions.
- Show empathy, empathize, read and understand the emotions of others.
- Develop the ability to persuade - form the right beliefs for yourself and others.
- Defend your point of view based on idea, analysis and evaluation.
These are the qualities that characterize a leader as a great person! Be the leader of your life!
Modern models of leadership fundamentals
Any leadership model is based on the condition of having power
(formal or informal) and on
influence
, that is, how the leader influences the team in order to achieve the goal and increase work efficiency.
Over the last 100 years, the topic of leadership has been interesting, there are a huge number of leadership models, new concepts continue to develop, but all of them can be divided into three stages according to the chronology of development.
What qualities characterize a leader as a great person? There are many of them, you need to create your own set.
Personality theory
The theory of personality traits is the theory of great people. She argues that a person must have a set of personal qualities that will make him a leader capable of leading people.
In the earliest days, scientists said that leaders are characterized by 5 basic qualities:
- Mind or intellect
- Dominance or dominance over others
- Self confidence
- Activity and energy
- Knowledge of the matter
But most people who had these qualities remained followers. Later, the theory developed and 4 groups of leadership qualities were identified:
- Physiological – appearance, including height, weight, body type and face, voice, health, performance and energy.
- Psychological – personality type, temperament, character. They are hereditary and depend on upbringing.
- Intellectual – mental abilities, memory, logic.
- Personal and business qualities - decency, communication skills, organization, responsibility.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to identify a universal set of such leadership qualities; the list turned out to be endless. The theory suffers from a number of shortcomings, but overall it served as an impetus for the development of a number of other concepts.
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Leadership behavior concept
The concept of leadership behavior - states that the effectiveness of a leader is determined by his behavior, leadership style, which can psychologically influence people.
Depending on the behavioral approach, each leader has his own style. For example, Kurt Lewin identified the following leadership styles.
- Authoritarian - power is in the hands of the leader; goals, the choice of means and methods to achieve and all communication comes from top to bottom and is not subject to discussion. Effective in the army, police, firefighters.
- Democratic – delegation of a number of powers, decision-making is divided into levels, communication in two directions. Effective for creative people and universities.
- Liberal – removal of powers from the leader, self-government and horizontal communication. Effective in groups.
D. McGregor's Theory "X" and "Y" focuses the leader on the work and on the person himself. It is good for its simplicity, logic and clarity of motivation.
The Likert system is based on the leader’s trust in his subordinates and distinguishes 4 styles.
- Exploitative-authoritarian – relationship in the “Master-slave” style.
- Benevolent-authoritarian - relationships in the “Boss-subordinate” style.
- Consultative-democratic - relations in the style of “Elected leader - subordinate”.
- Democratic - relationships in the “Leader-follower” style.
There is a theory of leader behavior based on rewards. Motivation is built not only on the “carrot and stick” principle. According to this theory, there are 4 types of leader behavior depending on the use of reward and punishment measures.
The most popular, in my opinion, is the concept of behavioral leadership styles by Blake and Mouton. They created a matrix based on two variables of leadership behavior: horizontally - interest in work, vertically - interest in people.
In general, the concept of leadership behavior attracts the attention of managers due to its simplicity; there is a connection between the leadership style and the team itself. But it does not provide flexible solutions in cases of sudden changes in the situation.
The ability to lead, have vision, fearlessness and flexibility are the main qualities of a leader.
Situational Leadership Concept
The concept of situational leadership is based on a combination of leadership qualities and behavior, depending on the situation. A leader must behave differently depending on the group, the professionalism of the employee, the situation, and even the influence of the external environment.
The founder of the approach is considered to be F. Friedler, who developed a scale of characteristics of the most preferred employee (MPE), which helps to form a team.
According to the behavioral model of leadership “continuum of leadership behavior” by R. Tannenbaum and W. Schmidt, 4 styles are distinguished:
- exploitative-authoritarian,
- benevolent-authoritarian,
- advisory,
- involved.
According to the House-Mitchell “Path-Goal” leadership model, there are the following management options:
- directive,
- supportive,
- participating,
- achievement oriented.
According to the theory of the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Model, leadership is positioned based on the social situation and the following styles are distinguished:
- directive,
- mentoring,
- supportive,
- delegating.
The adaptive approach (authors Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton, supplemented by Arthur Yago) is based on the specifics of the team and the characteristics of the tasks. The leader focuses on the problem and the team's involvement depending on its complexity:
- sole choice of solution,
- takes into account the opinion of staff,
- detailed analysis and search for a joint way out of the situation,
- dividing employees into groups to make decisions.
And a huge number of approaches. The integral model is characterized by a synthesis of team spirit and charismatic leadership. This model is only for the complete authentic personality.
The concept of transformative leadership is used by leaders-reformers and innovators to unite a team capable of innovation. There are also concepts of charismatic leadership, where the leader takes on the role of a leader. The attributional concept assumes that the manager remotely controls the work, observes and, if necessary, corrects it.
The concept that is closest to me is situational leadership, where the leader himself chooses his style based on the current situation. Whatever leadership model you use, every leader has certain qualities. But again the question arises: which ones?
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Leader effectiveness
A person holding a leadership position must develop in all areas: improve his qualifications, level of education, improve his knowledge and skills.
To analyze the effectiveness of a manager, it is necessary to take into account many factors, including:
- increasing labor productivity;
- growth of fixed assets;
- speed of fund turnover;
- increase in profits.
If the result on these indicators is positive, the director’s activities can be considered effective.
Knowledge
To be appointed to the position of head of a company, you must have at least a higher specialized education. In addition to this, you need to have a good understanding of economics, management and psychology. Professional knowledge implies an understanding of the relationships between various processes and the search for optimal options for solving assigned problems.
The strengths of a manager include the ability to competently manage a team, achieve high financial performance, comply with civil and labor laws, understand taxes, budgeting, and conduct personnel policies.
Stiff competition and time constraints must be taken into account. A modern manager must speak at least 1 foreign language, be able to drive a car, and have knowledge in related professions.
The director of an enterprise must understand the activities of all departments of his company:
- production workshops;
- branches;
- legal service;
- accounting;
- HR department;
- supply department;
- marketing department;
- logistics;
- archive, etc.
Responsibility for the work of all these departments lies with the director (regardless of the field of activity of the enterprise). Thus, he must have a wide range of knowledge to effectively organize work and control the implementation of assigned tasks.
Skills
A manager's professional skills characterize his ability to quickly respond to various changes, interact with people, and achieve high results. Here it is necessary to emphasize the following qualities:
- Balance is the ability to take control of your emotions. This is the main quality of a leader: to remain calm in various situations and set an example for your colleagues.
- Self-confidence is the main personality quality necessary for interacting with others. A confident person always remains calm. Subordinates will follow the example of such a leader. Such relationships between the director and the team will create a favorable atmosphere in the enterprise.
- Resilience to stress helps you maintain clarity of thought. Such a person will not get lost whenever a problem arises; he will be able to maintain calm in the team. Making important decisions in any situation is the key to career success.
- The desire to win. This character trait is characteristic of confident individuals. The desire to achieve a positive result provides an incentive for career advancement. Enthusiasm is contagious, and the company's employees will also strive for achievements.
- The presence of organizational skills implies the skills of quickly assessing the situation, identifying primary goals and clearly calculating the time to solve them. Such inclinations are not only innate, they can be developed in the process of working on oneself. A competent manager evenly distributes the amount of work between subordinates and controls its implementation.
Skills
Skills are an important component of any type of activity. They reflect accumulated knowledge and experience gained. Professional skills represent knowledge that is constantly being improved.
The main business qualities of a manager are:
- Logical and critical type of thinking (practical intelligence). It is easier for a person with such a mindset to work with large amounts of information, discarding everything unnecessary and not being distracted by trifles.
- Carrying out a large number of tasks at the same time requires endurance and composure, and quick response skills. You must be able to use all your abilities and hidden potential to make the right decisions.
- A manager must be able to feel other people and understand the hidden motives of their actions. This skill is called social intelligence. A person with such abilities has a good understanding of people and knows what to expect from an employee. He understands well that for effective work it is necessary to create a healthy microclimate in the team and motivate his employees.
- Adequate self-esteem, a tendency to analyze one’s actions, self-criticism, choosing the right line of behavior - such abilities are the privilege of a manager. Low self-esteem and self-doubt hinder the full perception of information, and overestimated self-esteem often leads to the fact that planned plans turn out to be impossible.
- Knowledge of economics and marketing. For an enterprise manager, it is not paramount to master all the nuances of the technological process and the work of each employee. His responsibilities include understanding the process and product quality, its compliance with standards and market requirements.
Habits
The director needs to understand that he is an example for his subordinates, so he must imagine what he wants his employees to be like:
- collected;
- delicate;
- active;
- scrupulous, etc.
If a boss wants to ensure that his team does not use obscene language during communication, then he needs to prove to his subordinates by his own example that it is possible to communicate without using obscene language. In the subconscious, subordinates will form a model of behavior in which a successful person communicates politely and culturally. Demanding that others follow any rules, you must directly adhere to them in life.
If the words and actions of the boss differ from each other, such a situation will not contribute to the formation of a respectful attitude towards him on the part of his subordinates. What a person brings into the world with his behavior, habits and appearance speaks for itself.
Habits are a reflection of a person’s personality, but in the process of daily activities a person ceases to notice them. Only those who have the makings of a leader can recognize their strengths and weaknesses, admit their shortcomings and work to correct them. The process of self-improvement should not stop.
A competent leader knows how to manage his subordinates, because he has mastered management skills, without which it is impossible to lead a team.
Characteristics of a good leader:
- setting high goals;
- finding the right approach to colleagues;
- staff development;
- promoting your products on the market;
- establishing relationships with key clients and investors;
- rewarding the company's employees for their contribution to its development.
The boss's leadership should be such as to stimulate employees to grow and develop.
Psychological and social characteristics
This is the ability to build high-quality and trusting relationships within the team. The task of the “chief” is to fulfill his role and functions in such a way that relationships between people only get better.
What qualities of a modern successful leader should a manager have:
- Communication skills – the ability to love communicating with staff, to find a common language with everyone, regardless of their role, position, gender and age. This helps strengthen the team's position.
- Justice - not a single person will forgive injustice from his boss. All disputes and difficulties must be resolved in the correct way. Each group member needs confidence that he can turn to his superiors with any question and will receive a competent, honest and objective answer.
- Teamwork - a real leader will have to defend the interests of his employees before higher or inspection bodies, external and internal, and protect them from threats and fines.
- Creating all the conditions for realization and self-realization, he will do everything to make it convenient and comfortable for his staff to work, and for the company to work like clockwork. He provides training and provides everything necessary for the moral and career growth of new candidates for leading positions. For this, they are usually appreciated by the entire company team.
Exercises for developing leadership qualities from Natalia Fefilova, development director of 404 Group
There are special exercises for developing leadership qualities:
Exercise “My Leaders” - learning to learn from others
- Name at least three leaders with whom fate has encountered you.
- Rate them as leaders: good, fair or poor.
- Now list three main characteristics of each.
- From the resulting nine characteristics, choose three that influenced your own views.
Exercise “My Victory” - development of personal integrity and motivation
Remember and write down any of your victories. It doesn’t matter what: play, study, work. Something that happened to you and at which you were better than others. The size of this achievement is not important.
Now, try to understand what exactly you did better than others. What allowed you to be better. It could be a skill or knowledge or understanding of some principle. Write it down.
Now imagine being asked “how did you do it?” Imagine explaining to others how they could be better. Now imagine all those people in your country, on our planet, whom you could help improve their results.
All! You are a leader for a certain part of the people. It doesn't matter how many people you could help. The main thing is that you could already become a leader. And that means you can in the future.
This exercise can be performed several times for different achievements.
Exercise “Elastic band” - developing confidence
This is a fairly well-known exercise that is useful not only for leaders.
Remember the moments when you felt the most confident in yourself. Maybe it was a successful exam, the best result in a sports competition, a performance at a concert, or you simply managed to do something better than others.
Remember a moment when you felt like a hero. Once again, experience it emotionally vividly. Note the supporting symptoms of your confidence.
Put a medical rubber band on your left wrist. Now, repeating the technique described above, if you feel a surge of uncertainty, you need to pull back and sharply release the elastic band, “anchoring” the uncertainty with a painful sensation. The pain blocks her.
Having created a state of confidence in yourself, you need to reinforce them with a positive emotion, for example, drinking a cup of your favorite coffee or eating chocolate candy.
It is enough to work with an elastic band for a month or two and you will be able to give it up, having learned to build confidence in yourself.
If you decide to become a leader, no matter what it takes, don’t stop halfway. Go forward towards your dream, use the exercises we described and increase your self-confidence. I wish you success!
