It is vital to ensure that you build everyone in your team to be a leader. You never know some of the members who will surprise you with their leadership qualities when an opportunity arises. Leaders are not measures by height or outward appearance. Sometimes leadership is hidden in very highly unlikely people. In the Bible, a story is told of the time David was anointed king. Brothers were paraded; some were talk, dark and handsome. Some had leadership potential written all over their faces. Some even thought their age compelled them to be selected as the leader. All these did not count; a young man who was tending sheep who happened to be youngest got the honors. What the brothers didn't realize was that while the young man was looking after sheep, he had to practice leadership in that forest. He had to care for the sheep, fight the animals that threatened the lives of the animals (lion, bear etc). He did not need people to call him a leader but he was already practicing in that regard.
1. Ability to create a compelling vision. Leaders focus on the future. They have a clear picture of what they want the organization to become. They are excited about the future and don't waste time dealing with the past. It is tragic when leaders are reduced to "fire fighters"; busy putting out fires that come up in teams at the expense of really crafting and casting vision. People will follow a visionary at any time. Vision separates leaders from followers. Followers may not come up with the vision but they would love be associated with a great vision. Above all the other responsibilities that a leader may have, vision crafting is among the paramount or pivotal ones. Without a vision, people will perish. Vision helps people look and anticipate what lays ahead in the future. Leaders who are caught up in the momentary, immediate and urgent will never take their teams further than where they are. If anything, the teams' performance and energy will be retarded.
2. Ability to articulate their vision to others. Leaders have an ability to describe that future state on words and feelings that captivate and galvanize those around them. They constantly share their views of the world with those who look to them for guidance. It does not benefit anyone if a leader crafts or creates a vision which he/she fails to "sell" to others. A leader cannot roll out the vision as an individual. It requires collective effort of team members who then bring in their skills, attitudes, experience and energy to make the vision a reality. A vision which does not have people buying into it remains "a good idea" which never transforms into reality. It is hard to sell something you are not truly convinced about. Before you can try and convince others, be resolute and convinced as a leader so that you are confident and articulate before other stakeholders.
3. Consistency. Great leaders don't change with the wind. They are flexible and open to new ideas, but they tend to be constant in their beliefs and values. Once they have articulated their visions, they keep on track without getting distracted by competing temptations. A great leader is "sold-out" to his/her organization's values. While it is important to be flexible and ready to adapt to change, a leader's character must be solid, never shifting like shadows. Consistency in character and conduct separates great leaders from the "not so great" ones. The clock remains a very stable way to tell time for one main reason, it is consistent. There is no minute longer than the other. It is set and remains so forever consistent regardless of which part of the world you are in. Leaders who believe in one thing today and disassociate from the same statement they said yesterday lose credibility. All they say becomes hollow and followers begin to doubt the leader's integrity or ability to lead.
4. Humility. High achievers have justifiable pride in their accomplishments. Leaders are human - they make mistakes. But they are not afraid to admit it when they go wrong. They are good listeners. They are as interested as learning from others as they are in sharing their own thoughts. Humble people also appreciate feedback. They thrive on learning when they've done well. And they're interested in learning from their mistakes so that they can do better. It is not correct that when you a humble you walk with your head bowed down. Humility is not judged by posture and deportment. Humility is a state of the mind which is acted out. Humble leaders are good team players. They do not make their subordinates quake and shake but they remain approachable and open minded. With some people, the day they are referred to as a leader is the day they start behaving like complicated human beings.
5. Focus. Leaders focus on the key results. They are not distracted by trivia. Whatever they do, they complete with excellence. A leader's excellence will be distorted or erased when the leader easily gets distracted or swayed around by every other thing they come across. When a leader is focused, he/she ensures that all the tasks that are at hand are completed not left mid way. While multi tasking is encouraged, it is more important to ensure that what you do you complete. If multi tasking leaves you with several incomplete projects or it makes your excellence disappear then you should focus on one and complete it. When you focus, you zero in, you avoid dealing with many issues in one moment.
6. Tenacity. Leaders anticipate problems and work diligently until they overcome obstacles. It is the role of every leader to subdue problems and ensure a lasting solution is put in place. In the midst of a crisis, all followers look to the leader to take them out of danger. When a leader loses tenacity or energy, the whole team follows suit. A leader is the trendsetter. When the leader keeps hope alive, the team is even more secure and their hope also rises. You cannot measure the tenacity of a leader until obstacles come. A leader who is tenacious will look at every obstacle as a learning point and a chance to exercise his/her creativity and problem solving skills. Other leaders will quit on smelling the existence of a challenge or obstacle.
7. Holistic thinking. Leaders can see the big picture as well as the interrelationship among the parts. Unlike those who follow, a leader sees everything. While the team in production is focused on deliverables for that department, there is also a team in marketing which likewise is also determined to see its goals and aspirations come to pass. A leader's view cuts across the whole company, all departments, all processes, all people and all products. The thinking is not limited to an individual section of the company but the whole. This is the reason why junior to middle management is usually advised to visit other departments to understand their processes and function. The reason is not so that the manager becomes "jack of all trades" but as the manager rises in the organization,, he/she is better able to manage the organization as they would have been acquainted with all of those during training.
8. Strategic thinking. Leaders have an eye on the future. They spend little time thinking about 'the good old days'. They have a clear sense of what they should do to anticipate and meet future challenges. If you are not a strategic thinker then you will not last long as a leader. The focus of every leader must always be in the future. Leaders who get caught up in the goings on of the company be it present challenges or recent issues, will find it hard to steer or direct their teams to hold onto what is not yet in their hand. From time to time, the leadership meets to talk strategy, how to achieve all that has been agreed. Out of such meetings punctuated by the various strategic thinking minds comes a strategic document which helps to direct the company towards productivity and achievement of set targets and objectives.
9. Agile minds. Leaders learn quickly. They observe everything around them and ask lots of questions so that they can become more proficient in their knowledge and skills. They are adaptable. Future leaders can modify their behavior to find a quick acceptance from people in a variety of situations and with people at all levels of an organization. If you refuse to have a learning attitude as a leader then you will find leadership to be complex. A learning attitude accommodates the absorption of new information, adaptation to the organization's processes and a general improvement in excellence in service delivery. When a leader asks questions that seek understanding, he/she is not exposing ignorance. It is a lot better to increase in wisdom through the asking of many relevant questions than to live in the arena of assumption where major catastrophic decisions or blunders can be done. Agility is a key element of leadership.
10. Aversion of tyranny. Leaders are fair-minded and avoid taking abusive advantage of people and situations. It is easy for a leader to abuse his/her authority or power. It is easy to treat people that one is leading as objects not as human beings. I have seen leaders who lose control of the team through tyrannical, heavy handed and attitude that takes employees for granted. One of the reasons why people would leave a job, even though it pays well, is the fact that leaders pay very little attention to the welfare of employees. When leaders only focus on themselves, they lose the support of those who follow. Tyranny should be averted at all cost.
Rabison Shumba is a writer, businessman and philanthropist. Writer of the book The Greatness Manual which you can preview on http://greatnessmanual.wordpress.com. Founder and CEO of Infotech Solutions and Greatness Factory Trust. Rabison speaks about success, leadership, motivation and inspiration. His trust works with disadvantaged school children supporting them with school fees and general livelihood. He also helps to network artists (musicians of all genres) to facilitate information sharing and building of future celebrities. Rabison is well traveled having been to Asia, America, United Kingdom and all over Africa. He is married to Jacqueline Edwards and they have two children. They reside in Harare, Zimbabwe, Southern Africa.
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