Do You Know the Best Practices for Effective Leadership?
According to research from Harvard Business Review, only 8% of leaders are considered very effective at both strategy and execution. Surprisingly, to lead well, it is less about technical know-how and more about some proven best practices for effective leadership and high performing teams. Effective leadership is really not rocket science, but it DOES take a powerful blend of mindsets and skills that are infrequently encountered naturally in one person.
5 Best Practices for Effective Leadership
Effective leaders create the circumstances that enable their people to perform at their peak and accomplish shared goals together in the unique context of their changing market realities, strategic game plan, cultural expectations, and capabilities.
Here’s a list of five practices of the best leaders based upon data from our leadership simulation assessments and action learning leadership development programs. They are related to clarity of thought and expression, a sense of what motivates and makes people tick, and a willingness to ask good questions of the right people and to truly listen to their answers. How do your leadership development programs stack up?
Effective leaders assess their organizational culture, articulate the corporate values and team norms that matter most, and define the way business will be done on a day-to-day basis. Defining and communicating your ideal organizational culture comes first. Then you must not only model it, you need to hire people who fit your desired culture, reinforce the right behaviors, and put processes and practices in place that ensure organizational alignment and consistency.
You will know you are on the right path when your team is healthy enough, accountable enough, and aligned enough to consistently deliver high quality results.
To support organizational change of any kind, employees need to understand the rationale behind the change, know what their role will be in accomplishing the change, and feel confidence that management can affect the change in a way that puts everyone on a winning path. The goal is organizational effectiveness. Once that is understood, the majority will work toward the better future.
You will know you are on the right path when your team feels actively involved in the desired changes that are under their control and believe that the changes are worthwhile.
The best leaders get consistent feedback, seek differing opinions, help to solve problems, and ask good questions. They listen carefully to answers from those they respect and are willing to change their own thinking from what they learn. Effective leaders are curious, eager to grow, and encourage challenging discussions to help make the best decisions.
You will know you are on the right path when your team trusts you to lead the team to future success.
You will know you are on the right path when your team operates with a strong orientation toward results.
The goal is not to do more things in the time allotted but to do the most important things and, when time has run out, adapt the strategy to what can be accomplished within the available time frame.
You will know you are on the right path when your team can effectively balance the urgent and important.
The Bottom Line
We believe that it is the responsibility of every leader to create the circumstances for success for their team. If you want to help lift your team’s performance to the next level, follow these proven leadership best practices.
To get some research-backed leadership tools for success, download 12 Research-Backed Leadership Tools.
Explore real world results for clients like you striving to create higher performance