What Makes You an Effective Leader?

Strong Ethics & Safety

These leadership skills definitely came out on top, with 67% answering “high ethical and moral standards” and 56% “communicating clear expectations”. If you really dive into these, it’s obvious that a high value is placed on a leader that manages to create a safe and trusting work environment.

This is a mutually beneficial situation as neuroscience studies have proven that a safe and relaxed work environment increases creativity, ambition, and innovation. So how does one practice this skill? Well, there is an exercise called Deep Fast Forwarding that leaders can use when it comes to decision-making.

If you ever find yourself having to make some tough choices, fast-forward to your funeral and imagine what it is that people would say about you and the call you made. This will assist in making the right one. Also, regularly clear the air if the rumor mill has been hard at work and team members are sitting with some concerns, unanswered questions or fears.

Self-organization

This latches on to a sense of independence. Do not micromanage or try to do everything yourself. Team members need to feel like a valued part of the team and like you trust them enough to take care of things. You can still give instructions and guidance, but empower your team to ultimately get things done.

Not only does this kind of empowerment result in job satisfaction, but it also makes your team more proactive and productive. Relinquishing some control and allowing team members to self-organize can be one of the biggest challenges a leader faces. One way of mitigating this is to actually voice some of your own fears and concerns about outcomes if you give up certain control.

Efficient Learning

To move forward, you need to be innovative. Innovation doesn’t happen by clinging to the old. Whether being able to admit that our way of thinking or doing something might be wrong or simply being open to trying new things – these all encourage a work environment of learning. Did you know that high levels of stress literally cause tunnel vision? And that might’ve been very helpful while making a bee-line to the cave with a dinosaur yapping at your heels.

But in today’s high-paced and stressful business world, tunnel vision can be detrimental to an organization. That makes learning absolutely crucial to any institution, and good leadership is displayed by a leader leading by example. A leader that’s open to new ideas, opinions and learning new things will encourage their team to do the same.

Nurtures Growth

Team members that start to feel like they're stagnating in their position become demotivated. A company that’s willing to invest in its team’s growth will reap the rewards of a team willing to invest in the company. Ways you can aid and nurture the growth of team members are by giving training, creating bursaries for further studies, promoting from within etc.

Connection & Belonging

Humans have a strong tribal sense and want to connect with others. That’s why it’s no surprise to find leadership skills such as “create a feeling of succeeding and failing together as a pack” or “communicate often and openly” during the studies' feedback sessions. This can also impact productivity and well-being greatly.

This aspect is also very important in terms of safety. In fact, studies have shown that once a work environment is perceived as safe, team members also need to feel cared for in order to unleash their full potential from a neuroscience standpoint. A few basic practices to create this feeling of connection within an organization include:

• Calling each other by name.
• Smiling at each other.
• Paying attention when others are speaking to you.