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Leadership in the Eye of the Beholder
We can also ask if the leader’s followers are willing to make "sacrifices" for the leader’s objectives. Truly great leaders are able to inspire their followers to such a degree that they are willing to give up something for the leader and to demonstrate a commitment to the leader—and the cause. This degree of commitment is noble but can be exploited by unprincipled leaders. In addition, successful leaders have followers who believe the leader’s goals are important enough that they support those goals by encouraging—and re-aligning—others so the entire group’s behavior supports the leader’s priorities. Finally, a leader must create an environment of trust and mutual respect for what each person contributes to the organization or cause. These four conditions of inspiration, commitment, group cohesion, and a culture of trust and respect, allow successful leaders to create a workplace in which followers are willing to make short-term sacrifices to help colleagues, or another work unit, achieve their objectives. The best leaders work hard to encourage productive relationships between followers because they realize that mistrust is ultimately destructive for all. This environment of mutual trust is also reflected in how well followers relate to the leader. Successful leaders have trusting relationships with their followers that allow for behaviors like admitting a mistake or discussing personal concerns without fear of retribution. The culture of an organization is reflected in countless behaviors, some of which are readily apparent and some not. You have to pay attention to the micro-behavior in any organization to determine the extent to which leaders are developing trust or, subtly, albeit unintentionally, undermining follower confidence and dedication. The final point I would like to make is that great leaders manage people so they respond to the cause, not the leader’s personality. It is common to see some political leaders, for example, asking for loyalty on an individual level. Similarly, in an organization, when you hear someone say, “I’ll do this, but only because you asked,” that merely demonstrates loyalty to, or possibly fear of, an individual leader. Identification with a cause is leadership of a quite different kind. The most successful leaders transcend personality to develop a follower’s loyalty to the organization’s goals. Such a leader will continually challenge followers to reach for challenging but attainable goals so they will stretch and grow. So how do you, or the leaders you know or work for, measure up? |
Much has been written about leadership. But what do we know about what truly makes a good leader and what followers want and expect from their leaders? To begin with, the best leaders inspire their followers to go beyond whatever is minimally required to get a job done. That inspiration is not based on coercion, but a dedication to the leader’s goals and vision.