Over the last several months, leaders have guided their organizations and teams through goal setting and developmental plan exercises. All too often, one crucial strategy is missing—your personal development plans. The reality is most leaders want to improve but can barely find the time to manage all that they are already doing.
Over the last several years, I’ve had the chance to coach many leaders in a variety of roles. Often, I receive the questions – what are the traits of leaders who deliver excellence, and what are some practical and action-oriented tips for developing these traits? Drawing from deep insights from LEAD NOW! Leadership Development Model, here are six qualities of leaders who deliver excellence.
DECISION MAKING
One of the toughest and yet most critical skills that a leader can possess is the ability to make wise decisions. Your goal is to make as many sound and solid decisions as possible. Your decisions will affect your career, your associates’ livelihood, the future of your organization, relationships with customers and vendors, and much, much more.
TIP:
Recognize your track record in decision making. There are likely areas or subjects for which you make better decisions than others. What are those areas? Also, we often have a preferred decision-making style. What is your preferred style? Learn from your tendencies and challenge yourself to change up your approach accordingly.
DELEGATING
Successful delegating requires you to make a conscious choice to give up some of your workload. Delegating allows you to develop your people. Done well, delegating will result in a win-win for you and each of your people. In the process, you will dramatically augment your ability to do much more than you ever thought possible.
TIP:
When you delegate, look at obstacles – in advance – that can be problematic for the employee who will receive your delegated task. Knowing this will help you determine the amount of guidance he or she may need. It will also help you match the right assignment to the right person as you balance development and performance. And remember to tell your people why the task matters—learning why gives people essential information about the nature and importance of the job.
DEPENDABILITY
The leaders regarded as dependable are also the ones who understand “execution.” These leaders are admired and have reputations for being counted on, for getting things done. They are the ones who, when assigned any task, will come through, and their boss, team, and peers know they will.
TIP:
Others may have a different view of your dependability than you do. Test your perception by soliciting specific feedback from your associates on their view of your dependability and responsibility. Reflect on the expectations you set, the expectations that others have of you, and the consistency by which you proactively manage and achieve them.
FOCUSING ON RESULTS
Today’s leaders have minimal time to perform never-ending requests from key stakeholders and their boss and team’s demands. They must juggle limitless priorities and increasingly complex quantities of work at a lower cost, meeting tighter schedules and coinciding with higher quality standards. This balancing act is a daily adventure to get the right things done well.
TIP:
Foster a culture of continuous improvement where everyone takes the initiative to consciously look for ways to enhance processes, systems, and transactions. Demonstrate how everyone wins by increasing quality and decreasing costs. Acknowledge and champion those who provide better, faster, or more budget-friendly solutions, especially when you haven’t had to ask them to do it.
PERSONAL INTEGRITY
The single most important attribute that a leader can have is to be trusted by others. If this trust is gone, then all else is moot. Trust must be earned and reinforced over time–with consistent and competent actions, words and intentions. Know your values and have the moral courage to live true to them.
TIP:
Be careful when making promises, either direct or indirect ones. People remember these and will hold you to them. Only make promises if you genuinely plan (and are able) to keep them. Keep track of any promises and commitments (implied or direct) that you make. Monitor them. Your follow-through will directly influence others’ trust in your future commitments.
PROBLEM-SOLVING
As a leader, one of your primary objectives is to identify and address obstacles and roadblocks that impede your team’s ability to accomplish their goals and reach their targets. Resolving these challenges requires ingenuity and creative problem solving so that the work your team is responsible for continues within the allotted schedule and budget. Fixing problems is likely one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of a leader’s job description.
TIP:
As you encounter a problem, identify the source and background of the challenge. What led to the problem, and how severe and urgent is this issue? Who is impacted? Identify possible solutions and identify an action that will move things forward, even if it is a small step. Action combined with constant reflection is a wonderful way to tackle and resolve problems.
Fully invest in yourself and use these six traits to develop a plan for you to deliver excellence consistently. This fantastic journey involves clear decision-making, building consistent and measurable processes, continuous improvement, and behaving with integrity. The most successful leaders focus on delivering excellence, and these tips will help you achieve just that!
