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WhatAreTheQualitiesOfLeaders

Genesis: ManagersandLeaders

I see the following qualities in leaders:

1. Makes decisions based on a bedrock of principles
   
   
2. Articulates a vision of the future
   
   
3. Builds a consensus for a course of action

What else?

SteveSmith 2007.09.03

4. Removes obstacles
   
   is a big one in my book. I've been downstream of too many "leaders" who add them. And by "obstacles", I don't mean "constraints". Often a well-placed constraint can simplify things. --DaveSmith 2007.09.03

5. Acts congruently. See also CongruenceOrLackThereOf - JerryWeinberg 2007.09.03

6. Changes actions to achieve the goal rather than follow "the plan." DonGray 2007.09.04

7. Is aware of how others see her. DwaynePhillips 2007.09.05

8. I was asked that last night at a presentation and my answer to both is Honesty. If I don't trust you, would you expect me to let you lead me? SherryHeinze 2007.09.05

9. A riff on Jerry's contribution of congruent--humble, in the sense of lack of self-aggrandizement. At least that is my hot button for leaders. CharlesAdams 2007.09.05
   
   Charles, I don't know how to interpret your contribution.
   
   If a leader is congruent, does that make them free of self-aggrandizement? Your postfix of "-humble" to congruent leads to believe it may not for you.
   
   If a leader is humble, I gather that would make them free of self-aggrandizement. Correct?
   
   I would like to avoid statements that have "not" constructions, such as "lacks self-aggrandizement." I want the list to contain the qualities that leaders own rather than the qualities they shouldn't buy nor rent.
   
   SteveSmith 2007.09.06
   
   

   I believe that humble in the sense of lack of self-aggrandizement is congruent. I use the particular definition of humble to give the flavor of seeing oneself as one is. Of all the defintions of humble, lack of self-aggrandizement is the best fit for me. The word has a bad reputation for a lot of people because humble is read as servile. CharlesAdams 2007.09.06

10. Operates ethically SteveSmith 2007.09.06

11. Creates a space where people can do their best work.
    
    
12. Buffers her/his team from unreasonable management demands.

FionaCharles 6-Sep-2007

0. perhaps, "A leader has willing followers, following for their own reasons, it turns out."

That suggests that as a leader you should choose to develop the qualities that will attract the kind of followers you want.

-- JimBullock, 2007.09.07

Which prompts me to say that we aren't entirely listing the attributes of a leader. Each of us is describing the qualities we value in a good leader. There are bad leaders in the world too: charismatic people who inspire their troops or their nations to all kinds of evil. FionaCharles 7-Sep-2007

I think Hitler and Stalin are archetypes of evil (bad) leaders. Let's review the list in that light.

0. Initially, appeals to followers who are angry and disenfranchised and later to people who see advantages to jumping on the train.
1. Makes decisions based on a bedrock of principals, which centers on blaming a group of people who are responsible for all problems.
2. Articulates an actionable vision of the future. Hitler wrote a book on the subject.
3. Builds a consensus for a course of action. Hitler was a master of propaganda that built a consensus.
4. Removes obstacles. Stalin expertly eliminated anyone who was an obstacle or even a perceived obstacle.
5. Acts congruently. Both Hitler and Stalin were blamers.
6. Changes actions to achieve the goal rather than follow "the plan." Near the end of the WWII, Hitler accelerated the elimination of the Jews. It seems power was the ultimate goal of both of these guys.
7. Is aware of how others see her. Both Hitler and Stalin had spies who monitored how people viewed them.
8. Honesty Gag...
9. Acts Humbly Gag...
10. Operates ethically Gag... I would change this quality to -- Operates morally, which changes its meaning to an absolute definition about right and wrong.
11. Creates a space where people can do their best work. Hitler and Stalin did this well.
12. Buffers her/his team from unreasonable management demands. Not applicable. Hitler and Stalin were the people who made the demands.
13. Fosters sharing and co-operation outside the immediate team. They certainly didn't like to cooperate with their "allies."

SteveSmith 2007.09.07

Now that's very interesting. Nice. - jb.

This one is interesting to me:

"11. Creates a space where people can do their best work. Hitler and Stalin did this well."

Something like: "Creates a space where people aligned with the future vision can do their best work in terms of that vision and the relevant shared ethics."

Arguably both Stalin and Hitler created systems within which people with particular characteristics and values excelled (in their own terms), while people with other characteristics and values did poorly (in those same terms.) Part of what Hitler and Stalin did (reconstructing from both a few first-person accounts, contemporaneous recordings and some of their own writings) was articulate a very particular ethic, strongly aligned with the future vision, actions, and actually "bedrock principles" and the course of action.

Maybe that points to something else an effective leader does - these various things named are part of a consistent, mutually-reinforcing system.

- JimBullock 2007.09.07 (Weren't both of them adept at "leading from the rear" though?)