Leadership Success for Teams and Projects
Leadership involves having the ability to inspire, motivate, and guide a team towards a common goal. It requires a combination of qualities, skills, and behaviours that enable a leader to effectively manage and influence others. Leadership isn’t about telling people what to do or having power over others, it’s about giving people a reason to follow you for the benefit of the group and to find a higher purpose.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
How to be a Great Leader
Becoming a great leader is a lifelong journey, but there are some key qualities and strategies that can help anybody develop leadership skills. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to interact with senior executives and leaders in marketing, operations, technology, finance, people and culture, etc., and have been in leadership roles myself. Below are things I’ve observed are common in great leaders and what they do that makes them successful:
1. Develop a Clear Vision
Great leaders have a clear image of what they want to achieve and communicate this vision to their team. They are able to articulate a compelling vision that inspires and motivates others to work towards a common goal. While giving strong direction, they also let people work, refrain from micromanaging, and are available to support when needed. The vision should be something people can get behind and spark intrinsic motivation. Great leaders are excellent at goal-setting and should be involved at the organizational, departmental, team, and even individual level.
Along with being a visionary, a great leader is decisive and able to make tough decisions when necessary. Despite ambiguity, they are determined to achieve xyz, and show the way. They weigh the pros and cons, gather information, and make informed decisions that benefit the team as a whole. Oftentimes, they don’t have all the information and must act on what’s available.
2. Build Trust
Great leaders make people feel welcome and safe. They understand the needs and feelings of their team members and show empathy towards them. They also have a high level of emotional intelligence, which allows them to regulate their own emotions and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. They treat everybody with respect, make them feel valued, and genuinely care about them as people. They might check in once in a while, just to see how you’re doing. They make people feel good about their work, be motivated to do their best, and strive for excellence together.
Leading by fear might garner short-term gain, but will never be a successful long-term strategy. If people are only doing things through fear of punishment, the result will be anxiety, paranoia, and mistrust. It demoralizes people and breeds resentment. On the contrary, when leaders make you feel safe, “the natural reaction is to trust and cooperate.”
Great leaders are optimists and they believe everybody goes to work trying to do their best, wanting to contribute value, and willing to help each other out. They don’t believe that anybody goes to work trying to make other people’s lives miserable. This is not to say they have blind optimism, but are generally positive, and believe that things will get better, especially when they are bad.
Great leaders demonstrate integrity in everything they do. They are honest, transparent, and ethical, and they hold themselves and their team members to high standards of conduct.
"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." – John C. Maxwell
Great leaders lead by example. They set the tone for the team and they do it by practicing what they preach, showing the team what’s expected through their own behaviour and work ethic. Not only do they talk the talk, they walk the walk. They are also self-aware.
Accountability is important to a great leader. They take responsibility for their actions and decisions, and hold themselves accountable for their mistakes. Being vulnerable themselves also demonstrates that they too are human. Great leaders contribute to a safe space and make you feel that it’s okay to make mistakes. They provide feedback and coaching to help you improve. It’s easy for a leader to be positive and supportive when things are hunky-dory – it’s how a leader deals when SHTF that separates the good from the great. A great leader will always have your back.
3. Empower the Team
Great leaders inspire their team members to achieve extraordinary results and make a positive impact in the world. They empower their teams to make decisions and take ownership of their work. They encourage you to share ideas, concerns, and problems. Great leaders create an environment where the team feels empowered to take risks and make mistakes, while still providing guidance and support. They help remove obstacles, set you up for success, and celebrate wins.
Great leaders focus on strengths and encourage development. Sometimes, they believe in you before you even believe in yourself. They are always in your corner and root for you because you’re one of their own. They won’t just treat you like a number or a cog in the wheel. Great leaders will never try to squeeze as much work out of you as possible, but will instead prioritize your well-being, growth, and will help you get where you want to go. They’re as excited as you are for your success.
A great leader notices when somebody is struggling and helps them through it, whatever it is. They make an effort to ensure nobody suffers alone. If somebody is underperforming, a good leader assumes positive intent while seeking to understand in order to determine root cause, then focuses on solutions.
They trust you, your work, and your recommendations, which in turn, makes you trust them. They truly believe that you win together and lose together.
Great leaders foster a positive culture that values collaboration, creativity, and growth. They make you want to look out for those around you. A great leader recognizes that achieving great things requires the efforts of a team. They are skilled at building strong relationships with team members and creating a culture of teamwork.
4. Communicate Effectively
Communication is key in leadership and it needs to be open and honest. Leaders need to be able to communicate a vision, goals, and expectations clearly and effectively to the team. They are mindful of who they are communicating to; they recognize what their audience is focused on, and are aware that everybody has different motivations. Communication is important in leadership because it facilitates understanding, resolves conflicts, promotes innovation, and boosts morale.
Great leaders include you in their thinking by justifying decisions. Rather than going on a “power trip,” they share why things may be a certain way. This in turn promotes engagement and demonstrates fairness.
5. Continuously Improve
Great leaders are always looking for ways to improve themselves and their team. They have the courage to take risks, make tough decisions, and stand up for what they believe in, even in the face of adversity. They should not be afraid to try new things, fail, learn, and innovate; great leaders build a platform for people to do the same. A great leader is committed to continuous learning and personal development. They are open to feedback themselves, and seek out new experiences and knowledge, and use this information to improve their own leadership skills as well.
One Minute Manager
This book offers easy, practical suggestions that could make immediate improvements for any leader. While I don’t believe in “hacks” or “quick fixes”, there is a tremendous amount of valuable information in this short book.
Servant Leadership
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy and approach that emphasizes serving others as the primary goal. Instead of the traditional top-down approach, where the leader is in charge and subordinates follow, servant leadership flips this dynamic on its head by prioritizing the needs and well-being of those being led.
I align with this particular type of leadership. I believe servant leadership is effective because it prioritizes the needs of employees and creates a positive work environment that fosters trust, collaboration, empowerment, and high performance.
Check out these insightful articles:
Leadership Without A Title
You might think of leaders as having some kind of authority (i.e. positional power). They are usually your boss, your boss’s boss, or even your boss’s boss’s boss. But this isn’t always the case. Great leaders don’t need to rely on positional power to lead. It might help to get attention off the bat, but great leaders know how to command attention – and it doesn’t need to be in an aggressive way. Through project work, particularly those with multiple stakeholders, I have witnessed the major impact great leadership can have on organizations in general and in the success of projects.
Project Managers, for example, don’t always have positional power; project team members may not report to them directly. For the sake of a project, however, having influence is important and necessary for success. It is the responsibility of project managers to deliver outputs that enable business benefits and leadership skills are important in doing so.
Check out these great articles on leadership in project management from the Project Management Institute Learning Library:
Leadership is needed in a variety of situations and contexts – in organizational settings, crisis situations, community initiatives, personal growth and development, etc. It can involve any group of people trying to accomplish something together. Leadership can be a lonely undertaking, but also a very rewarding experience. If you put in the effort to be a great leader, you’ll bring success to your teams and projects.