“Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.” Angela Ahrendts, SVP, Apple
A truly great boss is hard to find, difficult to part with and impossible to forget.
This is the principle of leadership in a nutshell. So, what makes a successful leader, allowing one to accomplish that?
1. Ask to be judged.
2. Don’t abuse your power.
3. Your team is intelligent and can be trusted.
4. Listen!
5. Stop being an expert on everything.
6. Be constructive.
7. Judge your success by your team’s.
8. Don’t be a narcissist.
9. Have a sense of humor.
10. Don’t be too distant.
Sun Tzu, writing in the 5th century BC in The Art of War said, “What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men is foreknowledge.”
This is an as-yet-unmentioned attribute of a great leader – the ability to predict. No matter how many managerial and people skills the business leader possesses, they will all be jeopardized if he or she cannot anticipate the effects of the plans they put in place, and the actions they take. In this respect, it may be that their age and experience must take precedence over consultation with the “troops” who may little understand the ramifications of what is about to take place.
This is where the genuine leader comes to the fore and truly claims sir title. When all around are scratching their heads and reluctant to make a decision, old-style leadership must come into play. The modern leader may utterly fail in this scenario for lack of guts and an over-familiarity with the team.
As Sun Tzu says, “Some leaders are generous but cannot use their men.hey love their men but cannot command them… These leaders create spoiled children. Their soldiers are useless.”
Leadership may have become a different beast over the years, but it is still, at its heart, about leading.
