TXM Recruit Recruitment
What does real talent in recruitment look like? Is it someone that just smashes the numbers or is it someone that can smash the numbers whilst helping others smash theirs? All teams are looking for people that can get the best out of their peers and that means leadership.
5.5 min read
In the book ‘Good to Great’ the author, Jim Collins points out that of the fortune 500 companies they reviewed for their content, ‘Good’ companies that went on to being sustainably ‘Great’ companies hailed ‘Level 5 Leadership’ as one of the tell-tale signs of successful organisations.
So, if the good and the great understand the power of great leaders what does it take to become one and how should one act?
Luckily for everyone leadership skills are not something you were magically gifted at birth, they are operational tools that can be learned along the journey.
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In this blog we’ve put together our top ten attributes displayed by great leaders.
What you do yourself
1. Walk like a leader
2. Create like a leader
3. The three P’s of leadership
4. Lead and learn
5. Connect like a leader
How you treat others
6. Mentor don’t preach
7. Eat what you are cooking
8. Communication is key
9. Empower others
10. Creating synergy
What you do yourself
1. Walk like a leader
Confidence is always what you want to see in a leader. People need and want to be inspired. Leaders embody that type of confidence in themselves and express it in the words they say and the actions they take. They ooze with self-assuredness and humility; drawing people to them and motivating them to go the Xtra Mile.
2. Create like a leader
Once upon a time the role of CEO used to go to someone from the accounts department. These personalities were extremely risk averse and used to embrace ‘tightening the belt’ philosophies especially when times got tough.
Now the role of the CEO is trending towards people that have previously worked in commercial roles or roles that have demanded creativity and income generation as opposed to cost savings.
Showing your ability to think creatively and outside the box is a striking advantage for a professional, and a great way to help your advancement.
3. The three P’s of leadership
Be Passionate, be Positive and be Proud.
There is a great deal of emotion rolled into these mindsets but where this helps is the effect it will have on your team and peers. Be immensely proud of the services you offer as this will help others believe in them also. Be a positive person to be around, because people enjoy others that feed them good energy rather than drawing energy out of them. And finally passion is always the fuel we need to deliver things professionally and on time.
A word of caution though, manage your emotions. Take time to do a personal audit on how you are travelling to make sure you are in the correct frame of mind to deliver the three P’s professionally.
4. Lead and learn
With new technology the business world is constantly evolving so it has never been more important to stay at the front of the game. To do this you need to have a love of learning. Keep searching for what’s new in your sector. Think outside the box and discuss with your peers and superior’s ideas that you’ve picked up. Create a think tank between your peers to find solutions for road blocks.
5. Engage with heritage
Identifying with the heritage of your company can help you in a couple of areas. First it will allow you to see the experience built up in the business itself. This experience will offer you insight and knowledge to help speed up your learning.
It will also express that you care about the brand, and people that care about the company are the type of people you want championing it and driving it forward.
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How you treat others
6. Mentor don’t preach
If you are positioned in a place where you become a source of knowledge it is important to take note; to inspire growth great leaders do not preach they mentor.
Mentoring includes trust, relationship building and involving students in the process.
Think of the Benjamin Franklin quote ‘Tell me and I’ll forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn’.
7. Eat what you are cooking
It’s important to practise what you preach. People will measure you by your actions not just by your words. So make sure when you promote a way to do something you are ready and willing to roll your sleeves up and do it also.
The most successful national sports team on the planet the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team (who’s win rate throughout their history is over 80%) have their senior most players clean out the dressing room after every match they play.
This creates a flatter organisation where the younger players understand the value of hard work and that no person is above the other. The overriding affect is it creates humility and a strong bond of togetherness.
8. Communication is key
In all relationships communication is key to success and great leaders understand the importance of this, some say the true art to great communication is being able to listen.
The Greek philosopher, Epictetus stated ‘We have two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak’.
So listen, learn and add to the dialogue constructively.
9. Empower others
Great leaders look to empower others with whom they work by delegating tasks and not looking to micromanage. Providing the process has been explained and accepted thoroughly the work should be handed over to the colleague with full confidence.
Where possible the person delegating the roles should look to celebrate any success, this will resonate with the team member being celebrated and its human nature to chase more compliments once you have tasted it.
They will possibly get something wrong if it is a new task and this should be dealt with quickly but remind them about the success they had earlier, so they connect their role with a strong positive emotion again.
Don’t fear mistakes as mistakes are just great lessons and a part of the cycle of improvement.
10. Look to create synergy
Ultimately the skill in a leader is the ability to make the team greater than the sum of its parts.
Look to get people working collaboratively on solution. Try to bring the best out of people and see where everyone can work together to amplify what it is you deliver.
Think you’ve got what it takes to lead and inspire others?
Then why not click here and explore what TXM Recruit has to offer?
