Leaders from different backgrounds and experiences exhibit common admired leadership behaviors that emerge as patterns across admired leaders. By focusing on practical, applied questions like 'What do admired leaders do that sets them apart?', valuable leadership insights can be gleaned. Rather than solely following a psychological view of leadership, emphasizing specific actions, routines, and habits that define leadership excellence can lead to more impactful leadership development across various contexts.
Leadership as Behavior, Not Psychology
Contrary to the traditional psychological approaches to leadership development that emphasize self-awareness and adapting to individual differences, a behavior-focused view shifts the focus to observable actions and routines. By exploring what successful leaders do consistently, the behavior-driven approach aims to enhance leadership effectiveness by cultivating practical skills and routines instead of solely relying on personality traits or individual differences.
Elevating Performance Through Priorities
Effective leaders prioritize short-term focus over long-term objectives to elevate performance. Calibrating and recalibrating individual and team priorities to align with immediate goals and high-impact areas is crucial. By encouraging individuals to identify and channel their focus toward top priorities, leaders can drive performance and achieve desired outcomes more efficiently.
Third-Party Praise
Encouraging third-party praise where individuals share positive feedback about others with a third party adds sincerity and impact to recognition efforts. Third-party compliments help create a culture of authentic appreciation and recognition, fostering a supportive environment. This approach builds stronger relationships and boosts morale by amplifying recognition beyond direct interactions, enhancing the overall feedback and appreciation dynamics.
Self-Awareness and Self-Perception in Leadership
Leaders are evaluated based on their self-awareness, particularly in understanding their strengths and weaknesses. The ability to articulate both positive and negative aspects indicates a high level of self-awareness. Effective leaders focus on bridging the gap between their self-perception and how others perceive them, revealing insights into their leadership capabilities.
The Importance of Being a Fan in Leadership
Inspiration and motivation are key in leadership, where motivating others compels action, and inspiring them ignites a desire for excellence. Successful leaders act as 'fans' for their team members, consistently supporting and encouraging their success. By embodying the role of a dedicated supporter, leaders can significantly influence and motivate their team.
Navigating Crisis and Actionable Responses in Leadership
In times of crisis, leaders are defined by their responses rather than the incident itself. Transparency, quick action with integrity and competence, sincere remedies, and adherence to core values are crucial in crisis management. A leader's credibility hinges on a timely and authentic response, demonstrating leadership qualities that foster trust and resilience in challenging situations.
The founder and co-head of the Leadership Practice at CRA and the Admired Leadership Institute, Randall Stutman is an incredible executive coach with an impressive roster of clients. You’ll walk away from this episode with some tools to put into practice to make you a better leader, partner and parent as Randall discusses the behavioral versus psychological view of leadership, what really drives results, and the uncommon routines of the world’s best leaders.
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