Effective Leaders

With the local politics revving up as well as other issues in and around the community including Healthcare, let’s talk about effective leadership and what it requires. The courier had an article in yesterday mentioning the effectiveness of our current NAFC school superintendent and it sounds like he has many of the characteristics mentioned. How many of our other local leaders would get similar responses?

Communication: This is the single most important characteristic of leadership and probably the single biggest disappointment in our current president. Everyone can talk, but not everyone communicates. In medicine, communication is probably the single largest cause of malpractice issues. There are many less competent physicians who communicate well and rarely have any malpractice issues whereas highly competent physicians get sued all the time and many times because of communication issues.

Adaptability: Charles Darwin said, “It’s not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent, that survive; it’s the one most responsive to change.” Effective leaders must allow change to occur and better yet, many will actually be the catalyst. Maintaining the status-quo usually creates a roadblock to progress. Leader should challenge both the process and the current thinking biases. Leaders must recognize the time for paradigm shifts. Leaders must be adaptable to change. Effective leaders will lead rather than manage.

Accountability: Effective leaders remain accountable not only to Boards or stockholders, but accountable to the employees and customers. They should encourage challenges with open dialogue and two-way communication. Manipulation and limiting the free flow of all available information does not provide adequate accountability and breeds mistrust. Having well-defined goals that are measurable and objective are key to accountability. The goals should be adequate to really define the health of the organization. When they are not met, there needs to be consequences. If goals are measurable, it removes many of the emotions associated with the consequences.

Considerate: Leaders should primarily be “others-oriented”. They should always consider every task and comment carefully on the effect it will have on the organization as well as the individual. They should be willing to take the heat but always be positive in the responses. Leaders should not use their position to gain perks and should readily give credit for the successes to those who worked for it. Good leaders give the credit to others for successes and take the heat for failures

Having a plan and being Optimistic: Leaders should be the epitome of demonstrating a positive attitude in every public venue when dealing with employees. They should take every opportunity to respond in a positive manner as well as initiating words of encouragement. It is the responsibility of the leader to instill a sense of direction for the organization. It is meaningless to be a leader if you have no clue of where you are going. They must provide a clear vision for the future. Leaders should never discourage visionary ideas from employees and be willing to look at all ideas with enthusiasm and realism. The attitude of how ideas are accepted from the leader sets the tone of the organization. One of the worst faults a leader can do is become obsessed with the “legacy” they want at the organization. This type of thinking stifles creativity for fear of failure with the leader and a fear of rocking the boat.

Collaboration: Leaders need to enhance and encourage collective intelligence and teamwork. Leaders should provide adequate resources that allows for and encourages ongoing learning and advancement in each job. Leaders need to eliminate any perception of “sacred cows” and break down any perceived walls within the organization. Organizations have a tremendous amount of collective knowledge that should be made readily available. The authoritarian style of leadership often has a negative impact in many of these other areas.

Trustworthiness: Leaders must earn the trust of their employees and colleagues. They accomplish this by being fair, by doing what they say they’ll do, and by allowing for challenges and disagreement without fear of repercussions. They must create an environment that encourages each employee to feel comfortable and safe. A leader that is trusted creates an environment of commitment and loyalty. A leader that has lost the trust of the workers creates an environment of suspicion and fear and can destroy an organization. Once lost, a leader rarely is able to earn it back. It hangs over the leader and the organization like a ‘black cloud”.