Adapt to Changes

We are leaving in an ever-changing world. It is essential for leader to fully consider all the possible changing elements when making strategies for the team, and adjust or replenish his strategies according to any emergency situations. Unforeseen problems may happen any time during a project. Good leaders are flexible and adaptive when met with such problems and are capable of getting the project done and back on schedule. The important element to achieve it is to have an innovative awareness [7].

Thus, innovative consciousness is also a vital part for a leader. It directly determines whether the leader can bring his team through the crisis in any complicated situations and move towards success. Innovation power is a leadership, and it is especially important that the leader can bring his innovation power to the whole team, and develop an innovative organization.

Build Team Spirit

In every successful team, team benefit always comes before any personal benefit. It is an easy and well known principle, however, is hard to achieve.

A good leader should be good at allocating goals for him and his department according to the priority order of the team goals. He should be brave enough to make decisions for the team benefits, even the decision he made will lead to personal loss, so a spirit of sacrifice is also required. Besides, a leader should actively play a role of “team work coordinator”. He can never only consider highlighting himself or someone’s talent, and ignore the cooperation of the whole team.

People Oriented

As a leader in the 21 century, he should value people more than strategies. “People oriented” should always be one of most important missions of a leader. He needs spare no effort to discover talents and attract the talents that are beneficial and appropriate for the team. John Maxwell [8], a national author and speaker on leadership, says that if a leader cannot devote more than 30% of his working times on selecting capable people, he will never acquire sustainable power and motivation for the whole team.

Of course, “select” doesn’t only limit to direct interview and employment, but also by getting to know more industry friends and building a broader personal social network, so he can efficiently find more and better talents for the team.

Courage and Sincerity

Courage and sincerity are the common qualities of all the outstanding leaders. The courage and brave on a leader can infect his followers, giving them confidence and hope. “A valorous team with confidence and hope can be invincible.”[9]

Sincerity means to be empathetic. People with sincerity can always consider problems from the stand points of others. As a good leader, the most important part of being empathetic is to get, value and show understanding of employee’s thoughts and ideas, making them realize that you do care them. Sincerity also means to face all the problems openly and honestly.

The famous management consultant Mitchell Donald points out that a company should create an atmosphere that taking risks is well encouraged. There is only one fault for a company, which is doing nothing. Good leaders are those willing to take risks, and no matter what the outcome is, he can take his responsibility and admit the mistakes he has made.

Encourage Different Opinions

During the leading process, the leader should encourage brain storming, making everyone listen to others’ opinions, arising constructive conflicts and arguments, and eventually getting a final shared understanding of the whole team.

An opposite opinion is essential for a team, even if it is ridiculous and makes no sense. Those different opinions may tell the team the gap between expectation and actual progress.

According to Yu Yingliu [10], leaders can be divided into two groups: leaders who hire people with impartial thought and reflect the ideas and expectations of the leaders; and leaders who hire people with complementary thoughts, and can give complementary opinions to the team.

However, if a visionary leader hires a practical man who is capable of giving any complementary ideas any time, it is still likely that he won’t tell any. People are afraid of telling opposite opinions that are against leader’s wish since they reckon it as an offence which could result in losing their jobs.

In order to prevent such tendency from spreading, leaders should always carefully and seriously listen to others opposite opinion, identify themselves with the staffs, encourage different thoughts and ideas, and offer proper incentives and rewards.

Conclusion

On the way of becoming a good and qualified leader, one should always keep learning and absorbing new knowledge to increase his competences and talents. Only in doing so, a leader can possess resourceful and resolute decision-making ability, strategic command capability, updated innovation ability and timely capacity for change.

In a word, leadership is a comprehensive art. It not only includes all kinds of management abilities and methods, but also covers foresight and planning, communication and coordination, sincerity and balance. The process of learning good leadership is also a process of learning to learn, learning to life, and learning to be.

Reference

[1] Papa, Nicole. Leadership: What Makes a Good Leadership. 8 Dec. 2011

< https://www.ehow.com/about_6640154_leadership_-good-leader_.html>

[2] Collins, Jim. Build to Last. Harper Collins Press. 1994, NY.

[3] Burgio, Meredith. Elements of Good Leadership. Sep, 2011.

<https://www.ehow.com/info_8046089_elements-good-leadership.html>

[4] Collins, Jim. Good to Great. Harper Business, 2001, NY.

[5] Xiaofang, Tan. Ten Elements That Make Outstanding Leadership. Mar. 2012.

<https://www.cnbm.net.cn/article/ar458125943.html>

[6] Goleman, Daniel. Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books, 1998.

[7] Pearce, C. L. & Conger, J, A. Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

[8] Maxwell, John. The Maxwell Leadership Bible. Thmas Nelson, Mar, 2002.

[9]Yuze, Ming. The Discussion of Leading Glamour. Machine Press, Aug, 2003.

[10]Yuying, Liu. The Fascination of Leadership. People’s Publishing House, Dec, 2004