If a person wishes to become an effective senior leader, what traits should they develop?

I was recently in Seattle where I spent a week working with some of the top folks at Abbott Labs and meeting with a handful of key managers at Microsoft. The focus of our discussions all focused around leadership and how to keep your best people motivated and highly engaged. When asked what I thought were the top things that motivated “talent” I decided to go right to the source and during a lunch with twelve “High Potential” employees from Abbott I asked them what they looked for in a leader that they would willingly follow and give 100% of their effort to. Here is exactly what they told me:

Lead By Example. We watch everything the leader does and listen to every word they say – then watch to make sure that they are congruent. The best way to lead and motivate me is to be a living example of the way you expect me to behave.

Loyal to the Team. Times are tough, we are working harder than ever, so it is critical that I truly believe that my leader has my back, they he or she is looking out for me and fighting hard to do everything they can to support me.

Level with Me. Tell me the truth. Be completely honest and as transparent as possible. I promise that I can handle it. The more information you share with me, the better job I can do of keeping the company strong and growing. Hide information from me and all I can do is sit at my desk and worry.

Be Empathic. Realize that my entire life is not wrapped up in the business. I am an employee… I have other things going on… like my family and my own personal life. One of the best ways to keep me motivated is to understand and support the idea of work-life balance.

Empower Me. Give me the training, resources and support I need, then let me go do my job. Micro-managing me means that you do not trust my competence or my judgment, but either way it means you do not trust me and if you do not trust me… then why did you hire me?

Show Me the Way. I need to know what your vision is for where we are headed. The more clear and vivid you can communicate that vision to me, the better job I can do at working my tail off to achieve it. Without a clear vision I have no way to prioritize my work, make fast decisions or measure my performance. Show me the goal line and I’ll start running.

This feedback correlated nicely with one of the most influential research studies ever done on the topic of leadership and employee engagement. In their seminal work, “The Leadership Challenge,” Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner looked at more than 25 years of surveys and interviews to determine what followers want in their leader. Rather than drag you through all of the data, the findings of the study essentially say, “I want a leader who will tell me the truth (honesty)-- who has a clear picture of where they are trying to the organization (vision) --- has the skills (competence) to get us there successfully, and is excited (passion) about going with me.”

Hope that helps --- John Spence

I thought the question was asking what it takes to be an effective senior LEADER... not a senior manager. Effective managers and effective leaders are not synonymous terms. While all the traits mentioned earlier are noteworthy, they strike me as nice-to-have traits for managers and are not prerequisites for leadership.

Simply: Leaders lead. They're easy to spot. People follow them regardless of reporting structure. They're magnets. Employees ask to be transferred into their team. Same for great teachers. How do you spot them? Their classes have wait-lists.

While I won't argue if leaders are born or made, by definition, Effective Leaders do stand out. And the best way I know to stand out is what I learned at the Andy Grove 'school' when I was at Intel. You have to be able to quickly and consistently have an uncommon sense for the right priorities (Andy's 'paranoia') and be able to get your stuff done. On time.

Do this and you will stand out. And people will follow you.

To be an effective senior leader you must be committed to making a real and significant difference within your domain. However, I prefer to focus on developing exceptional seasoned leaders, rather than settling for effective. Here are some components of exceptional leadership you may want to think about and deploy:

- You have to want it more. Never let up or give up - lead your teams with passion and confidence.

- You can only become an exceptional leader in the process of producing exceptional results.

- Have a vision and inspire people to want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

- Realize that before you can transform your organization, you need to be open to transforming yourself – and commit to doing so.

- Remember that the stand you take is who you are – define your identity from your commitment to changing the game, not your history (what got you here will not get you there).

- Leverage a wise and knowledgeable mentor/coach. Commit yourself to continual learning through observation, emulation, and conversation. Without outside wisdom to guide and develop you, you are not likely to become exceptional.

- When engaging people, recognize and appreciate that the journey is of far more importance and value than the destination will ever be.

- Leverage creative collaboration: ensure you have exceptional people for all positions and lead by example in tough situations...

- Always exhibit good sportsmanship – someone is always watching.

- Practice 360 degree leadership – know what others perceive as your strengths and weaknesses & keep your playbook flexible.

- Embrace competition as a positive force – it pushes potential to new heights when leveraged appropriately.

- Finally, recognize the end-game is two-fold: people and results - and results only happen through people. Have a laser focus on delivering exceptional results, but never at the cost of your people.

This is a list that requires hard work, a strong and unwavering commitment, and a monumental belief in yourself, but you can become an exceptional leader. Business is a strategic endeavor - how you move forward is up to you, but I would strongly recommend one action item above all else: partner with an exceptional executive coach (with real, relevant business experience) that will help you to define an impossible future, hold you accountable to it, and stand in your greatness (even when you can’t).

Respect - To be an effective leader you must treat your team members with the same level of respect that you expect in return. A team that lacks respect within is no team at all. A leader that lacks respect leads a team of 1!

Tom in the first post has been the most encompassing in what a leader needs. I'll take the view of emotional intelligence. 1) know yourself, your strengths, challenges and capabilities better than anyone else. Understand how and why you do, think and act the way you do. 2) Know others better than they do, understand how and why they think, act and do what they do. Help them maximize their abilities and continually grow. 3) Have the skills and understanding to utilize 1 & 2 to move both you and them through continual change and growth.

The planning, financial, systems etc can all be learned, but the above 3 is why most fail.

Adding to Holly's answer, I think effective leaders must from time to time ask themselves a number of fundamental questions and be able to honestly answer them with a "yes":

Do I Know What Needs To Be Accomplished?
Have I Separated What’s Wanted From What’s Needed?
Am I Aware of All Assumptions?
Can I See Clearly?
Am I Managing My Time?
Do I Run Productive Meetings?
Do I Communicate What Is Important?
Am I Listening To The Right People?
Do I Cultivate Relationships?
Am I Aware of My Own Belief System and That of Others?
Do I Build Effective Alliances and Coalitions?
Do I Act With Integrity?
Do I Make Decisions And Take Responsibility?
Do I Get The Right Things Done?
Do I Inspire People and Create A Sense of Urgency?
Do I Instill Trust and Confidence in People?
Am I Prepared To Make The Necessary Trade-Offs?
Am I Willing To Put Myself At Risk To Do What’s Right?
Am I Doing Everything I Can?
Am I Making A Difference?
Am I The Right Person For The Job?

An interesting situation would occur if you're already in a senior leadership role and give too many "No" for an answer, particularly to the last question.

In addition to what's already been shared here, I would add the ability to transition from 'doing' to leading. To know their people and trust they have what it takes to get the job done and give them strategic direction. Secondly to create a learning enviornment so people evolve and grow through their work. It all goes to valuing people, not just what they produce.

You're right Bob. Just because someone is exceptional in a technical position, does not necessarily mean they'll be as exceptional in leading a team. They are very different skill sets. However many organizational leaders feel it's a logical next step to promote these "stars" into positions of leadership even when it isn't a great fit.

Our summer research shows that executive presence is a key attribute in defining a leader. In fact, over 300 current C-level executives said that presence was a factor in promotions more than 85% of the time. That’s why it is a key part of any leadership curriculum or high potential program.

Executive presence is the confidence to express your ideas with conviction and the ability and desire to engage and influence others in the process.

Many people think that presence is an innate skill. But, only 5% of leaders surveyed and interviewed felt that their skills were innate. Instead, most say they think intentionally about how they need to come across, and they work hard to stay focused and deliver an authentic, succinct and relevant message.

If they weren’t born with it, how did they get it? Overwhelming, the response was observation. All of the CEOs interviewed observed the environment around them and noticed the distinctions and characteristics of other leaders. Most can tell you the moment at which they knew their sense of presence made a difference in their careers. They were observant, intuitive and focused on what set people apart.

Without a doubt, they worked hard. While most can identify a specific event that launched their careers, they can also site multiple examples of events where they thought it might happen. So, they were always ready…always prepared…to put their best foot forward.

Our advice to rising leaders is assessment and feedback. Find out early how others perceive you and identify the choices you can make to turn initial impressions into lasting ones.

I've just finished reading a great book "Sacred Hoops" by Phil Jackson the basketball coach.I've always believed that to be an effective leader you have to manage yourself first. Jackson talks about how he applied his - obviously successful - philosophy to himself before he was able to apply it to others. The philospohy is based on selflessness, teamwork and gaining a deep understanding of the people with whom you work. Great characteristics for a senior leader.

I'm currently reading Bossidy and Charan's "Execution". They provide examples of effective leaders - Dick Brown at EDS, Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan - and describe why they were effective. They had many of the characteristics described above but also placed great emphasis on people.

Both books are worth reading if you have time.

In my 'Making You a Leader' seminars, exercises very quickly demonstrate to participants that leaders:

 Take the initiative and take action
 See and find opportunity, such as spotting a need for a solution
 Set the vision to take the opportunity
 Set goals to accomplish the vision
 Communicate the vision and goals
 Inspire, motivate, and influence others to make commitment to the vision and goals
 Encourage and enable taking action
 Keep people focused, energized, persevering, and on track with respect to vision and goals
 Create the environment for each person to exercise leadership of self and others
 Direct, coach, delegate, support, lead the way
 Follow when appropriate
 Set the example, walk the talk

Donna, excellent comment and as a technical professional myself (licensed professional engineer) I found that all of my managers never made the transition from doing to leading. They did not even transition to managing let alone leading. Sometimes employees don't fit the jobs they have.

FIRST be an effective worker, then a JUNIOR Leader. A leader needs a system to approach their responsibilities/duties. I stick by ancient term PLOC.
Plan: 1) HAVE ONE 2) Participate in the effort, know what is being created, assumed/ Be in the Know.
Lead: 1) BE THERE! 2) Stand up for your effort, team, training, ideas, values.
Organize:1) Collect all the data, all the questions, and assemble the knowledge; and the pros who have been doing it and ask them how it is going; seek their input and listen. 2) Look for leaders and assign them by skills. Justify new ideas and leadership and support the old guard.
Control: 1) You get the Big check for the right decisions. 2) You get the big Flame for the errors. 3) Ensure you know what is supposed to happen; question WHY if it doesn't; HOW if beat the timetable; HOW much no matter what happened. and KEEP records, minutes, comments. 4) Call back the leaders and ask for comments, conclusions and recommendations. 5) Spend some money on the successful projects and those who made it happen. Give them more authority, freedom and tasking appropriately.

6) (Ask me about the CAT theory of Leadership).

I was once asked by a more junior leader; "How should I distribute bonus monies among staff members?"
My response may have been old and over simplified, but I said "Take care of those that have taken care of you. Think about who would hurt you, or your group, the most if they were to leave, and take care of them with nice bonuses." It is simple, tried and true.
I believe this strategy works up the management ladder just as well, and this type of thinking helps to keep you surrounded by talented folks. After all, chiefs can only be as good as the warriors around them. I always remember what Dan Marino once said in a commercial; “Take care of the hands that take care of you.”
Of course, this only addresses financial rewards and there are countless other attributes that make a good senior leader. Good leaders may watch many different activities, but always keep their eye on the ball.

Great question Gary. I would focus on building self-awareness, empathy and listening skills.

Managers accomplish. Leaders inspire. For someone to become an effective leader, they must be able to envision what might be and then motivate those around them to embrace and accomplish the dream.

Well said John Spence!

Leadership is s lifestyle that few of us choose to lead. In other words, as John points out, leaders are always on stage and must act the part at all times. Leaders build goodwill over time but goodwill can be lost in a matter seconds following a leader's tirade when things go wrong.

If we want leaders, we should hire leaders. New hires with leaderships ability make themselves known fairly quickly but if they are treated poorly or ignored, they'll be leading elsewhere. So if you ever wonder where all you leaders are, look at you competition.

I would rank good coaching skills and an ability to find and support good subordinates in a high position. If you can find good people to work with you, and you can help them build success in their positions then you will find your ability to accomplish the things you need to as a leader much easier. Leadership is sometimes good followship as well.

As long as the leader consciously keeps the focus intact with the end-goal of producing leadership better than himself, he/she is naturally promoted to the so-called senior leadership position. It will just happen without the leader himself realizing about it.

Anders has a good list and the last question should be answered NO by most senior leaders I suspect.

Yes, and when the new leader or manager fails to perform as expected the executives say "Whatever happened to John , we had such high hopes for him?" Seldom if ever do executives realize that the mistake was not John's but rather their own failure to know their people.

Great point Sally, perception is reality! As John stated, people follow a leader regardless of reporting structure.

The key through out this conversation seems to be self-awareness, something that not everyone has. If one can become self-aware they can continually improve in all areas and be prepared for almost any opportunity.

It's OK to think selfishy as long as you are continuously selfless in your intentions and your actions. Everyone holds themselves at some value that should be celebrated.

I think Holly provided you the key result area. A leader must keep the mission in focus- but that requires both short and long term components. His/Her integrity (great paraphrase from Stephen Covey: Honesty is telling the truth; integrity is insuring that your words conform to the truth) insure that the message can inspire others to help achieve those goals.

A Good leader is one who is aware of his/her own behaviors and strengths for example how he/she leads, communicates, approaches tasks,and what motivates him/her. It is equally important that he/she identify these strengths in his/her team. Knowing how to motivate your team and how to communicate with them effectivley is where a lot of potentially good leaders struggle. When this happens productivity slows down, team morale suffers, and the stress among team members can cause conflict and negative behavior.

“If a person wishes to become an effective senior leader, what traits should they develop?”

Since traits are developed long before we become employees let alone leaders I suggest the answer may not be too helpful. Most of us are not suited to be senior leaders anyway.

However, if we want to become a senior leader in the distant future we need to become well-educated in our job/industry and educated in the areas that impact a senior leader's job success, i.e., management, marketing, sales, etc.

Managing and leading are not the same activities so be sure you want to be a senior leader and not a senior manager. Managing is easier than leading and there are far more management positions available than leadership positions.

The things I admire most in a leader are as follows:
They are honest in their effort to keep others apprised of things that effect them.
They have the ability to make decisions that are in the best interests of those around them, even if it negatively impacts their own situation.
They don't use their position as a leader to gain advantages over others.

An interesting quote...
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
Winston Churchill

Jerry M. Striplin
President
Global Business Group

All good points and ceratinly applicable in today's environment.

That said, it is my experience the #1-Issues is that excellent Leaders "Know what they don't know" and they recognize and worry the most that the members of their senior team "Don't know what they don't know".

Secondly, they have the experience to recognize and address these gaps and lead their teams to expand their knowledge-base to ask both the right questions to define the right answers.

Jerry
Jerry@Global-Business-Group.com

 Communication is one of the most key elements of leadership. Good communication skills need to be learned to effectively become a good leader or manager.
 Motivation is another variable that plays into good leadership.
 Teamwork is always something to consider when striving to become a good leader. This means not only teaching your employees to work together but to become part of the team yourself.
 As always, increasing your education is definitely a good thing when trying to improve leadership, Take the time to learn as much about your position of being a leader as possible.

Ability to Set Priorities