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The 8 Things Successful/Effective Leaders Must HAVE

July 30, 2014 » Successful/Effective Leadership

Now you’re about to read the third and final blog in this series so you can fill in the missing piece of the puzzle. You already know what successful/effective leaders must BE and what successful/effective leaders must DO (or, if you haven’t already read these two posts, have a look now before you move on to discover what leaders must HAVE).

Relevancy and Lasting Influence

As we stated in our previous posts, successful/effective leaders know that to be relevant, they must consistently achieve results, and to last, they must effectively develop collaborative, collegial relationships.

These incredible leaders realize that to accomplish the first goal, they must BE self-aware, authentic, emotionally intelligent change agents, decision makers, team builders and mentors who “make things happen” by continually testing the limits of themselves and the people, groups and organizations they lead.

To accomplish the second goal, they realize there are a number of things they must DO including exhibit a high level of integrity, continually communicate the organization’s vision and values, lead by example, collaborate, persuade rather than command, gain respect, trust and loyalty, develop future leaders, and constantly adapt to change.

Long story short, these leaders are winners.

And There’s More…

In order to be both successful and effective, today’s leaders must possess several personal, professional and leadership attributes, competencies and skills that allow them to consistently achieve their results while simultaneously establishing collaborative, collegial relationships.

Here is my list of what I believe leaders must HAVE, representing key criteria that I’ve observed over the past 35 years working with corporate and professional leaders in North America, Europe and Asia.

What Leaders Must HAVE

  1. Intelligence, relevant business and professional knowledge, experience and skills. And these must be coupled with the motivation, commitment, confidence, high level of energy and passion to BE and DO what is necessary to lead both successfully and effectively.
  2. Mental toughness and persistence. When the going gets tough, they have the self-confidence, ability and coping skills to keep moving forward positively in stressful, uncertain situations where risk-reward ratios are highest. These leaders recognize they can’t control the chaos but can control their own emotions, behavior, words and actions. They thrive under pressure because they view setbacks as a challenge, not a threat; focus on what needs to be done and commit to making it happen. Tough times don’t last, but leaders with mental toughness and persistence do.
  3. Support of those they lead and follow. They achieve this by relating to these individuals in a way that is inclusive and collegial. They spend the necessary time and energy to get to know those they lead and follow both personally and professionally.
  4. Self-control. They’re able to control disruptive emotions and impulses during interactions. They tolerate difficult people and situations by “not taking things personally” and always recognize and respect the rights, opinions and practices of others.
  5. Situational control.
    They know how to adapt their relationship or results-oriented relating style appropriately to the demands of the situation, and employ a mutual problem orientation – a “doing it with” focus; and positively influence the outcome of business and professional interactions.
  6. Communication skills to articulate their ideas clearly, concisely and simply. And they have the relating skills to develop rapport, mutuality and win/win solutions in difficult situations where the points of view, interests or preferred solutions are different or in conflict.
  7. Confidence and skill to deal with difficult people. They have the ability to recognize patterns of difficult behavior and employ an appropriate approach.
  8. A sense of humor. This is an absolute must that gets leaders through the days when down is up and up is down and they start to feel as if they’re the only sane ones around.

I believe that leaders who HAVE these traits truly are special – they’re winners who stand on a pedestal above all other leaders because they’ve successfully made the journey. They’ve developed the attributes, competencies and skills that successful/effective leaders must have in order to achieve Results with Relationship. They’re relevant leaders who last because they consistently achieve results in an effective way, with not at the expense of the relationships of the people they lead.

Successful/Effective leaders last by achieving Results with Relationship. Don MacRae Click To Tweet

And they’re hard to come by.

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. Lewis Carroll Click To Tweet

So just how hard is it to find such leaders? Let’s put it this way: during 35 years of teaching corporate business and professional leaders around the world, I haven’t met many who have “had it all”. Most were at various stages in the process of “becoming” incredible leaders. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” The trip is a lot faster and more productive if you know where you’re going and have a clear set of directions. My hope is that your destination is to become a successful/effective leader and that this blog series provides an outline of what you must BE, DO and HAVE to achieve Results with Relationship. To be relevant and to last.

How do you and your leaders measure up so far?
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Look out for our next blog series that will explain the ways that Situational Communication® provides a leadership and communication strategy that helps leaders think differently in order to consistently achieve successful results and develop effective relationships.

Dr. Don MacRae is the author and passionate leader of Situational Communication® and the CEO of Lachlan Enterprises Incorporated (The Lachlan Group).

Do you know the primary reason leaders and potential leaders fail today? It’s not because of what they do but rather how they do it – in other words, their people skills. Find out “How To” improve both your success and communication effectiveness by taking advantage of the FREE version of the Situational Communication® website/webinar.


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