There are various acclaimed leadership types and styles with different names and descriptions capable of confusing anyone, if one is not careful. However, it is necessary to note that regardless of how you coin or describe your leadership style, it must have some attributes to be effective and successful in 2024.
Just like me, I believe some of you would have also wondered at some point in time why there is always so much buzz around leadership and why this buzz has refused to go away or quiet down. Well, I was able to unravel a few things about leadership that completely changed my attitude and mindset about the topic. I realized that leadership is not just about being on top to dole out instructions and commands. It is more about ownership and taking responsibility. More importantly, I discovered that good governance and leadership are one of the cheapest and fastest ways of achieving a positive return on investment (ROI) when considering implementing a workplace wellness programme in any organization.
A well-crafted wellness programme must give considerable attention to the best leadership style and roles obtainable in the organization of interest for it to be successful. From the foremost act of management buying into the idea of the need for the work environment to be physically and psychologically safe to the leaders’ actual participation, I cannot seem to fathom what the odds can be.
These reasons made it crucial and necessary to share the attributes leaders must possess this year to keep their ace game on. Thus, a leading leader must:
Be Committed – A leader must be committed to the vision, mission, ethics, and ethos of the organization which, they lead. These plans must be actionable to engender commitment by the leader(s) to encourage employee buy-ins, engagement, and dedication. Only a leader who knows where he is going should take others along. This knowing comes with a level of devotion by starting with the why. Steve Jobs was excellent at this even when most people didn’t know what the Apple Company was on about. He was so loyal to the brand and its vision that when he was initially ousted, no one else could steer the ship of the company till he was re-instated as the CEO. And even up till now, the gap of his demise still shows.
Leading leaders’ commitment does not evolve around business strategies alone but also people strategies. Therefore, a need to commit to the growth and development of the employees through a robust learning culture that gives excellent room for a great succession plan is a no-brainer. Leading leaders are also committed to their people’s well-being by encouraging work-life balance, workload management, civility, and respect.
Be Trusted – Trust is a big deal within and outside organizations and a recipe for success this year. Brand perception, loyalty, and staff dedication always stem from earned trust. Earned trust becomes an indicator of good leadership over time, which cascades into every fabric of the company like human capital management, production quality, service standards, and effective communication. A few quick ways a leader can earn trust within the organization include setting non-self-sabotaging clear boundaries, accountability, transparency, reliability, and integrity. Setting boundaries as a leader should ensure awareness and respect for others for mutual respect to emerge. This year, a leading leader must be generous, non-judgmental, and keep confidential matters confidential without using it to witch-hunt. Generosity in this context is not limited to giving material things but should include compliments, words of encouragement, recognition of efforts/good works, and rewards for excellence.
Be Empathetic – Talking about generosity above syncs perfectly with the need for leading leaders to be generous with giving graces. Empathy allows leaders to imagine walking in other people’s shoes, which is achievable through regular one-on-one chats with team members and managing layoffs in the most humane way possible after exploring alternatives. Being genuinely concerned for people and what goes on with them outside work can positively affect productivity, availability, and engagement. When a leader actively listens and provides psychological protection and support, he is set up for success and ready to lead the organization this year.
Be Clear – Clarity of purpose is one thing, communicating expectations clearly to employees is another. A leader who wants to be successful in 2024 must learn to write his vision down, especially that of their company, and ensure his people easily understand it to run with it. The ability of a leader to concisely and constantly communicate how to achieve set goals to his people makes them unstoppable. This attribute also applies to managing expectations. A leading leader ensures the free flow of information, easy access to resources, provision of necessary work tools, training, and patience to boost his success rate. With clarity also comes a clean conscience, fairness, and equity. An organization’s decision-making approach positively impacts employee engagement and a sense of belonging. Involve everyone in some decision-making processes and be kind enough to give general reasons for not following through with their suggestions. Appreciating their input and being open with your feedback will go a long way in encouraging them. Hence, a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches is always a winner if you know how to handle it.
Be Flexible – In a fast-changing world like ours, where nothing is certain, it’s best to be a flexible leader who allows for a reasonable and rational accommodation level at work. The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed changed a lot of ways work used to be defined. The continuous rise in the cost of operations, the need for increased staff engagement or productivity, and the promotion of their health and wellness are some of the reasons to re-strategize and embrace the new normal in certain areas, thereby leveraging technological advancements to encourage agile working. Lately, agile working has made work even more fun with record achievements where leading leaders listen and respond to the pain points of their people by leveraging all applicable resources at their disposal. Flexibility with set targets often benefits and outweighs whatever may be dreaded if adopted with an open mind and laser focus.
Be Proactive – the need for flexibility brings about a degree of proactiveness required to stay on top of things in this VUCA world filled with much uncertainty. Only reacting to new developments in this modern business terrain is not a sustainable strategy. A leading leader needs to foresee or be able to predict what the future holds using technology and historical data to project and take some strategic steps that would position their organization in its rightful place.
Be A Good Team Player – Whether you are the CEO of a big corporation or just a team lead of a unit in a small business, becoming a leading leader entails a mental shift from I to We. Being a leader show that you have foot soldiers executing your ideas, plans, and strategies, which is why their opinions, contributions, input, commitment, and participation matter for your success. It is quite a dangerous act to lead in silos, dishing out instructions without taking any feedback/comments or sharing enough information to ensure smooth execution. A leading leader thrives on constructive feedback and recommendations from their team members by being a great team player.
Call to action.
Having provided several calls to action in form of exercises for some time, I would like to switch things up now by requesting your workplace situations as case studies. Please send your email with the workplace wellness issue requests to [email protected]. Kindly modify your company’s details with the real names of actors kept confidential.
Opaleye, a well-being specialist and corporate wellness strategist, writes from Lagos
