Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. -John Maxwell
Today, we live in a time of complexity and rapidly changing business environment and the CEO of the traditional time no longer serves the interests of the companies of today.
We need to face that a change in our management role is more necessary than ever and managers have to adapt themselves into the global changes in workplaces with their employees and their customers.
Leading companies are looking for highly capable leaders to lead their business roles and challenges and confidently entrust them in holding the leadership stick with which they will wisely guide the company in the present and the future.
Jeff Wong from Ernst & Young’s, global chief innovation officer said: "…corporations today need to think about the organization in a more inclusive way and beyond of making revenues and profits.”
The constant ever- changing world of today’s business landscape requires another leader's DNA in order to operate effectively in unknown conditions from anywhere in the world.
There is no doubt that success in business comes from great leadership that is based on the essential elements of inspiration, vision, innovation and human relations —which can drive any corporate success.
Business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists, and other creative thinkers than they do with managers. In fact, I found a lot of similarity between soccer coaching and leadership.
Soccer coaches act like leaders on and off the field. They are trained and cultivate true leadership skills such as: duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, Mental Agility, Sound Judgment, Innovation, Interpersonal Tact, and Personal courage.
Because of global changes and advanced revolutions in technologies, the leaders of tomorrow are those that can shape the impact of those changes; they have to come up with new solutions and identify new opportunities.
Leadership vs Management
Leadership and management are totally two different things, and the biggest difference between them is the way managers and leaders act, perform and motivate others.
Primary difference is that leader's action is to inspire and motivate the people who follow them while managers plan, organize and coordinate for the people who work for them and both people follow their vision of success.
Some people hold mystical beliefs to what a leader is and assume that only great people are worthy of their great power while others believe that a leader has the capacity to translate his vision into reality.
Leaders can visualize purposes and generate value in work; they are active instead of reactive, they shape ideas instead of responding to them, they develop fresh approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options. They project their ideas onto images that excite people and only then develop choices that give those images substance.
Managers are tactical and come usually from a command-and-control perspective. They manage work while running the day-to-day operations of the company as they are work focus, give directions and maintain status quo.
Effective way to develop leadership
From the review below, we can see the reality about leaders today and that emphasize the great need for learning updated programs to help develop leaders at the pace of change: how to speak the new language of leadership and to know the whole spectrum of today’s business challenges.
Opposing the myth that leaders are born and not made there are good news that leadership skills can be learned and the ideal and effective way to develop leadership is to enroll to one of the top programs that specially designed for executives who need to manage international activities, managers who are in charge of international outsourcing services, international sales, or cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
The most important characteristics
After doing some deep research on this topic and although there are more than five characteristics, I’ve found these of the most important to be a great leader:
1. Vision
" Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." - Jonathan Swift
Great leaders create and share a compelling vision for the future of the company with a clear and consistent direction, collecting a wide range of information from various reliable sources, in addition to seeing the big picture and thinking outside the box. As leaders influence others to achieve a common goal, they are masters of turning Vision into Action and Action into Results.
Leaders inspire and empower others, and their vision of leadership goes beyond their written mission statement to guide others to follow them and see that the vision ultimately becomes a reality. The vision of leadership penetrates the workplace and is expressed in the actions, beliefs, values and goals of the organization's leaders.
2. Inspiration
"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John C. Maxwell
A leader inspires others around him to unleash their talent and potential by creating a shared sense of belonging and achieving society's goals.
Lead by example gives an example to others taking full responsibility for his actions thereby influencing, motivating and motivating others to take the initiative, work for a common goal and carry out the tasks to achieve the goals of the organization. The leader is an example of keeping cool, treating people with respect and showing perfection. He serves as a role model for others, and they will follow.
3. Innovation
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." Steve Jobs
Strong leadership requires an eye open on innovation in achieving and implementing their vision. They always have to empower themselves and thus empower others because as leaders they cannot rest on their laurels if they want to lead the company to get effective results.
Innovation is a prominent and vital activity of leadership and has become the core of growth, performance, and evaluation. Innovative leadership is a form of leadership that allows successful leaders to already raise the bar on their performance of their organizations.
Great innovative leaders have some unique qualities: a passion for innovation, a long-term perspective, have the courage to fail and learn from failure and have a deep involvement with the innovators as noted by bill George, 2012.
According to a professional survey on leadership and innovation, more than 70 percent of senior executives say innovation will be at least one of the three drivers driving their companies' growth in the next three to five years. Other executives see innovation as the most important way for companies to accelerate the pace of change in today's global business environment. The study also shows that most executives are generally disappointed with their ability to stimulate innovation,
4. Impact & Action
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence." ― Sheryl Sandberg,
Leading an organization in uncertainty and continuous change requires a comprehensive and effective activity by the leader, while making courageous decisions, turn failures into opportunities, and able to accept changes and operate in an intensive business world and an environment that changes in a flash. A good leader presents the vision of the company clearly to the staff; he thinks about new strategies while setting short and long-term goals, planning the way to get there and do it with determination and consistency.
The leader has the confidence to take his vision into reality and takes all responsibility for his actions; he adopts alternative plans in times of crisis and unexpected failures that arise on the way to achieving the goal. He knows how to lead the organization forward and serves as an example to others.
Effective leaders are performance-oriented. They are very responsible and ethical and are willing to help people grow as individuals and have the ability to delegate authority over others and thus make people work together as an effective team.
5. Human Relations & High EQ
"Treat employees like they make a difference and they will." - Jim Goodnight
Leaders are required to acquire soft skills such as good interpersonal relationships and high EQ (emotional intelligence).
As heads of a global organization, they are often required to connect, embrace and leverage a variety of perspectives and cultures while fostering positive relationships and feelings among others - their partners, customers, and employees -local and international staff.
Great leaders also encourage, help to empower and grow their teams to facilitate the achievement of the organization's goals. They must also be communicative, very clear and pleasant and even willing to help those who need guidance or any help.
The best leaders need to maximize their human resources, develop people so that they can meet future challenges and often they need to give positive feedback on any improvement in their work. Also, respect them and give the feeling of partnership, nurturing teamwork in a pleasant and good atmosphere, mutual support, see everyone as an individual and thus create a positive climate to work in that helps partnership and the growth of people and the organization altogether.
World's Greatest Leaders
There are a lot of people who are leaving indelible marks on society and the list is long, but we picked some great leaders as:
Sir Richard Branson is leading by example and a business magnate as he says: "Leadership doesn't have a secret formula; all true leaders go about things in their own way." He is a transformation, motivational and remarkable leader "… you have to become an expert at your passion." He is an investor, a chairman of over 400 companies, and a philanthropist.'
Oprah Winfrey has been the champion of those who are down on their luck for a long time and still makes waves in others' hearts.
She is a great example of someone who comes from very humble beginnings and uses her story to uplift other people and shows them that they can achieve their goals. She believes that: "Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate and to connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives."
Leaders Across Borders
Leadership is an ever-evolving discipline and skill and leaders who want to gain successes in global expansion need to build relationships & trust as there is more than just cultural sensitivity. They have to gain some initial factors such as leadership cultures, Cultures of trust that require flexibility and curiosity in order to fit into global markets and lead across boarders too. When a leader fits his attitude within his company, then he can adjust himself to other cultures and global environments.
As this is also a great and wide topic to delve into itself, let's leave this blog for our next newsletter's article.
In light of the above, there is still a real need for great leaders that remain a big challenge for most organizations. So, go out for a good soccer match and watch how a real leader behaves in the field.
I'm willing to see more men & women who can transform the world and inspire others to do the same.