Transformative Leadership: Accepting Responsibility and Forging Vision
The mark of a healthy, effective team is reflected by its leadership. Organizations and Boards of Directors regularly search for men and women who demonstrate proven leadership to assemble and train effective teams. While some possess a natural gift to lead, I have found that great leaders are made, not born. They are seasoned with wisdom over years of personal development. Let’s look at qualities that will make you one of those great leaders!
Over the course of this next month, I will share ten research-based skills and activities that make leaders more effective in their organizations. Here are the first two!
Effective Leaders Accept and Embrace the Calling of Leadership
Leaders accept the responsibility of leading. Effective leaders not only embrace their role to lead, but also feel compelled to enhance the organization. Every facet of leadership requires a sense of stepping over the line, getting onto the playing field, and entering the game.
Confidence in a leadership position is not antithetical to the fundamental definition of being a servant-leader. Executive leaders neither seize for themselves the position of leadership nor is the position a mere coincidence. Rather, they willingly accept the mantle to direct the entire ship. Great leadership begins when a person accepts the role to serve greatly.
Effective Leaders Plan and Oversee the Strategies and Goals Necessary to Accomplish the Vision of The Organization
Leaders have some sense of knowing not only where the organization must go but also how to strategically steer it. Even though the responsibility of oversight may be visionary and inspirational, leaders must also ensure that their teams remain on task operationally. To do so, leaders must be strategic thinkers and equippers. There exist clear differences between leadership and management. Management consists of developing and implementing the operational goals and vision established by the leadership team. Leadership is guiding the organization and its people, yet includes a dimension of management.
Dr. John Kotter, in What Leaders Really Do, differentiates leadership from management, stating clearly that organizations need both to succeed. In describing leadership (in contrast to management), Kotter states that the responsibility of leaders is to “develop strategies to accomplish vision—to do the tough work of gathering information and analyzing results. Leaders are strategic thinkers who are willing to take risks.” It is not enough to simply paint the picture of a preferred future. Leaders, rather, must sketch the major landmarks on the road that get the enterprise to the destination. They oversee the process to ensure that the organization is headed toward the shared goal.
Furthermore, leaders not only inspire their people with a grand vision, but also communicate strategic details about the work to give it perpetual motion forward. They then evaluate the progress. Leadership must examine and ask the tough, strategic questions along the way to monitor the quality of the efforts. As in every aspect of leadership, interaction between staff members must occur to ensure team effort. Strategic listening happens before strategic talking. Leaders set the pace, develop action steps, and focus the team on doing things right.