Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
—Peter Drucker
Have you given much thought about the type of leader you want to work for? What skills and behaviors matter most and inspire you to thrive and perform at your highest level? Another way to look at it is to assess the type of leader you don’t want to work for. That may be easier!
Over the years we’ve listened to what our clients have shared but we’ve never taken a formal poll. Here are some of the more common wants that we heard:
- Inspirational
- Humble
- Builds trust
- Sets and leads towards a vision
- Caring and passionate
- A desire to develop others
- A good listener
- Provides meaningful feedback
- No hidden agendas
Steven J. Stowell, Ph.D. and Stephanie S. Mead, MBA did conduct a survey from 2100+ individuals and asked for the top three qualities they wanted in their leaders. The results were:
- Communication skills (45.2%)
- Interpersonal skills (44.2%)
- Values and ethics (41.9%)
- Personal attributes (30.2%)
- Coaching and feedback (21.8%)
- Credibility (22.3%)
- Direction and strategy (16.7%)
- Management essentials (5.6%)
Did you find any of the poll results surprising? Soft-skills and people skills seem to be the prevailing “want”. Were there any key omissions from your list, and do you think technical skills are a need?
Let us know!
People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.
—John Maxwell