Leadership | Inner attitude of leaders
Attitude, please! What distinguishes real leaders.
From Sabine Walter, Head of netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
The figures of the latest Gallup Engagement Index are as sobering as ever: about 85% of all employees have little or no emotional attachment to their company. This is reflected, among other things, in "working to rule" or even internal resignation. One reason for this lack of emotional attachment is managers who do not live up to their role.
Aspects of effective leaders
What makes effective leaders?
In the management literature, various criteria are defined that make up successful managers. Competencies that are mentioned again and again, are: Leading by example, strategic and visionary thinking, communication skills, social skills, assertiveness, goal and result orientation.
In our daily work we experience again and again that Theory and practice often diverge very widely. What does that mean? Many companies, especially the fast-growing ones, often fill vacant management positions with people who are experts in their field or who deliver particularly good figures. In the everyday life of many companies, the ability to lead people is equated with the ability to generate a lot of turnover or to do certain tasks particularly well.
As a result, we repeatedly see leaders who have no real interest in people and who are not comfortable with bearing responsibility. They therefore lead through fear and pressure. The consequences of such a leadership culture are not only "working to rule" and internal resignation of the employees. The consequences are also high sickness costs, poor quality, dwindling productivity, no creativity, lack of innovation. The consequences are actual dismissal, loss of know-how and high costs to fill new positions and train new employees.
Attitude in management
That is why we need a new attitude.
An attitude that is reflected by the Diligence in the selection and development of leaders distinguishes. An attitude that the Making leadership culture development a top priority. An attitude that has a respectful and appreciative interaction with people, which is practised from the top management level onwards.
Real leaders have the ability, Form real teams and create a sense of "we".. They put the success of the team at the centre of their thoughts and actions and have an eye for the strengths and talents of their employees. True leaders live a open and honest communication, give Space to experiment and go Constructive with errors at. Effective leaders have made it their core task to develop employees and to see trust as the basis of their actions - trust in themselves and trust in others.
"Dealing constructively with mistakes".
Companies that have this attitude and carefully select and develop their leaders do not need expensive employer branding. These companies will have young and experienced talent beating down their doors. These companies will be among the organisations with which employees identify and perform to their full potential.
Leadership development
