The Leadership Harmony…
In the process of developing my list of key qualities I believe a successful leader should have, roughly four categories of qualities emerged. I’ve coined these categories, working together, “The Leadership Harmony”. The Leadership Harmony is comprised of Emotional Intelligence, Management Effectiveness, Foresight, and Passion.
Emotional Intelligence is having qualities that focus on being able to perceive, control and evaluate emotions; I also call this the “Human Factor”, since PEOPLE matter. Leadership implies others follow. Therefore, there are many qualities, such as compassion, being genuine, respectful, approachable, trustworthy judgment, effective coaching and motivational, that define qualities of a person whom others willingly follow. The leader with strong Emotional Intelligence understands that expectations breed behavior and therefore he or she must be able to recognize emotions as valuable input to effectively lead.
Management Effectiveness is having efficient time management while maximizing the effectiveness of the leader’s impact. I.e., having an empowering impact onto others, coaching/educating to a desire result – as to foster independent thinking and execution that is in alignment with the leader’s vision, establishing measurable expectations while remediating distractions that hinder success. Management Effectiveness is so important because it focuses on the “HOW” the leader is effective with time. Time is the most valuable aspect of a person’s life, because without it nothing is possible; therefore being most impactful with this most precious gift, is the hallmark of leader’s success or failure.
Foresight, is being proactive, anticipating challenges and opportunities. Foresight can be blind to the day-to-day impacts, therefore successful leaders are attentive to the team/organization behaviors and are flexible to course correct/be reactive when necessary. Foresight, also describes the Vision, aka the “Why”. Which is beginning with a destination in mind. Effectively communicating the Vision providing purpose, and purpose is the team’s common goal and expectations for what success looks like.
Passion is what fuels every leader. Some say it is his/her divine calling. Passion and Vision are what inspires others to follow, support, and invest into. A leader’s Passion is the glue that fuses his/her Emotional Intelligence, Management Effectiveness, and Foresight that I believe is the harmony to a sustainable successful leader.