What is good leadership?

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6 February 2024

Good leadership is more like working like a sheep dog. Building trust has to be one of the foundations rather than pushing for results. When a leader is able to focus on the people side of the business the results follow. A good leader creates a place where healthy debate is encouraged and difficult conversations are had. They create an environment where they are themselves show vulnerability when something has gone wrong, or they are stuck so that others then do the same.

A good leader also creates responsibility and accountability across the whole team. The old- fashioned leadership approach is no longer valid – one focused on authority and knowledge, it is more about creating peer support and accountability. The best approach is when a team will hold each other accountable rather than having a leader call the shots.

A good leader also trusts people to come up with good ideas, encourages this and allows these to be generated. The team often have the best ideas and a good leader will listen and go with some of the ideas. This in itself builds a culture where a team are more likely to go the extra mile for a leader who has given their ideas some thought.

A good leader also empowers people in the team to make decisions, and will have their back if it doesn’t quite work out. This encourages more ideas to be generated as the approach ‘let’s give it a go’.

A culture of getting the blend of being visible and allowing others to grow is a skill for a good leader. A good leader knows the importance of mixing up engaging management styles, employee voice, having a clear plan for everyone to be aligned to and demonstrating integrity.

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