Quality Leadership

All of us, at one time or another have probably been subjected to power-hungry supervisors that lord their position over us and expect instant, blind, unquestioning obedience to what they demand. If you haven't you are one of the fortunate few. Once I was critiqued by a supervisor and was instructed that I needed to work on not being so sensitive and to be tougher. I replied, "Why is it that people who are sensitive are told they need to toughen up, but the bully's are never told to smarten up?" What are the qualities that good leaders/supervisors display?

According to Brené Brown in her book Dare to Lead, being a quality leader requires vulnerability. It requires courage to engage with your staff even in the face of fear. However if you are open and honest with those you are supervising it will pay off in the long run.

A great leader is someone who has the ability to see and develop potential in people. They respect the people in their team and have honest, kind conversations about tasks that are needing to be done and what the expectations are for job completion. They do not demean or put down workers even when they fail at a task. They have learned to work at improving the connections between people.

There are times when tough conversations need to happen and a good leader will have those tough conversations. It doesn't help if leaders talk behind other people's backs about where they need to improve. It needs to be a face to face honest conversation. And sometimes it takes modelling of what you are actually expecting. There are so many different learning styles and it is important to know what learning style best suits who you are talking to. There are numerous types of learning but 4 main ones are: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and logical learners. If you are just talking (auditory) to a hands-on (kinesthetic) learner it may be hard for them to process the task you assign. The best way to create a culture of belonging at work is to celebrate the diversity of everyone that works for you. Include everyone's talents and you will have happy workers.

Another great skill for a leader to have is the ability to take ideas and the dreams of the company and be able to share them clearly with everyone so they can visualize where they are heading. A person who can share ideas in such a way that everyone understands is a great asset.

A great leader is open to ideas from the working staff. Allow the workers to share their ideas and share your ideas with them. Develop an atmosphere where people feel connected to each other and valued by the company. Be clear about what is expected of your workers.

And when mistakes happen - and they will - a good leader doesn't shame or blame the worker but will help them learn how to be accountable and fix the mistakes so that they grow and learn. A good leader can see their own humanity and see the humanity of others as well and works to create a team that supports each other.

Works Cited