Oct 5, 2021
What is Good Leadership? Felix Duyilemi
What is good leadership?
Have you worked with certain leaders before and you loved to stay with them forever if given the chance?
Have you met certain leaders also, and they left you with negative feelings, maybe the way they made you feel or talk to their employees?
Leaders are common, good leadership is uncommon.
What are the elements that make for good leadership? I imbedded them in the acronym L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P
Related article: Mastery 21st Century Leadership Skills
L: Lead
Good leadership is about leading. If you can get a group of people to move from point A to point B in the spirit of teamwork, harmony, and order, you are providing the example of good leadership.
A good leader must master the art and science of leading. And leading entails clarity of vision, focus, positive mental attitude, enthusiasm, and thinking strategically.
A good leader must constantly lead. When he stops leading, he stops being a leader…
E. Engagement
A good leader must learn to engage with his followers. We must not see him as a man a speaking from mount Sinai. He has to come to the level of the team. Engage them. Ask for their feedback. Learn about what is going on in their lives and family.
Some leaders, because they want to project the image that they are the leaders, walk around with an air of superiority and everybody must cringe at their presence. Their followers are afraid to look into their faces, and they must bow when they appear!
Good leadership is about engaging followers to become the best they can become.
A. Attention
A good leader must pay attention to details. He must know what is going on in the organization he leads. He must be aware. Nothing is so sad than having a leader in an organization who is clueless about the issues in his organization.
As an outstanding leader, your ears must be on the ground.
D. Dedication
A good leader must be dedicated to the vision. He must go the extra mile. It’s his dedication that fuels the energy of his followers to become committed. If the leader is half-committed, he has no moral justification to ask for a full commitment from his followers.
Followers will follow a committed leader.
E: Empathy
John C. Maxwell was credited with the quote, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. ” A leader cannot touch the heads of his followers without first touching their hearts.
Empathy is not just sympathy, it’s learning to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Some poor leaders are just particular about meeting goals with no concerns about their people. Good leadership entails setting aside programs if the occasion demands and focus on people.
Cheerful people build influential organizations. If you put your people first, they will put your organization first.
R: Read
If you can’t READ, don’t venture to LEAD. You have heard it said, “READERS ARE LEADERS.” Good leadership is about good readership. The more a leader learns, the more he knows, the more he knows, the more he grows.
You can’t lead better than your capacity and capability. You can’t lead your followers beyond yourself.
S: Sincerity
A good leader must be honest about his mistakes. Nobody expects a leader to be perfect, but he must be humble enough to admit his mistakes.
Followers are comfortable with a leader who is sincere about his feelings and weaknesses.
Don’t aim to become a perfect leader, aim to be a sincere leader.
H: Humility
Leadership is a privilege. You are privileged to lead. Why? Because some people you lead are better than you. Realizing that you are not the best, but only privileged to lead will give you a sense of humility.
An arrogant leader will self-destruct. Lead with humility and you will never lack following.
I: Intentionality
A good leader must be intentional about leadership. Growth in your organization will not happen by accident. Plan it. A good leader must be intentional about his appearance, his self-development, his leadership style, and where he intends to lead the organization.
P: Planning
Yes, I know there is a time for spontaneity, but planning is one element of good leadership that is so key. Planning will enable a leader to think before he leaps, gathers enough information, and gives his followers enough time.
A good leader should have a short-time plan, a medium-time plan, and a long-time plan. Good planning will lead to excellent performance. If you are not planning to succeed, you are planning to fail.
Which of these elements of good leadership resonates with you? Is there anyone of them will you like to improve upon? Please leave your feedback in the comment box.
You may also be interested in: How to Improve Your LEADERSHIP In One Easy Lesson
About the Author
Felix A. Duyilemi is a Greatness and Leadership Coach who specializes in helping people create extraordinary results by becoming aware of their infinite potential. He is the creator of 1000X Results Coaching Program, a Coaching Program designed to skyrocket your results.
Felix A. Duyilemi has written over 15 books and giving more than 5000 talks on subjects ranging from Success Ideation, Mindset, Leadership and Potential Maximization. His latest book is “How to Monetize Your Brain.”
When he’s not learning, or coaching or speaking, he’s at home enjoying the company of his amazing family!
Reach him at [email protected]
This was very enlightening. Thank you mentor.