4 Traits of the Modern Leader

Not surprisingly in the current climate there are a lot of posts about leadership on LinkedIn at the moment.

Many outline the ‘normal’ traits and behaviours of a leader, things like vision, integrity, empathy, nous, decisiveness. We can all trot them out and they are important traits, don’t get me wrong.

But today I thought I’d throw a few others into the pot which I believe illustrate how leadership has evolved. That’s not to say that these haven’t previously existed, but rather that they are perhaps more prevalent and accepted.

1. Self-awareness and a passion for self-improvement

  • You use a coach or mentor to challenge you and help you grow
  • You are a reflector. You put time aside at the end of each week to ask what went well, what you could have done better, what you’ve learned and the impact that will have on your future behaviour
  • You ask for feedback from your team
  • You read and network, not too proud to take on others’ ideas or advice.

2. Faith in people

  • You like people!
  • You hire to your values
  • You believe that most people want to do a good job and you give them the training and support to help them do just that.
  • You trust people to take ownership and get out of the way so they can
  • You remove anyone that is a negative impact on the team

3. Values based culture

  • You understand your own values and how you want to operate day to day
  • You stay true to your values even in a crisis
  • Your values underpin every decision – ‘How does this fit with what I stand for?’
  • You hire to your values and choose to work with clients who treat you and your team with respect

4. Self-care

  • You plan for life not just for business. eg you understand that if you want great relationships with your kids you can’t put that off until the business is built
  • You build consistent systems and train your team to use them giving you faith that they’ll deliver in your absence and the freedom to be totally ‘present’ when with family or friends.
  • You’re aware that downtime and exercise are essential for your physical and mental well-being.
  • You appreciate the dangers of burnout and how important your health is, not just to you, but for your business and the people you employ.
  • You have a support network of people you trust, who will listen to you and give you sound advice

I’d love to know what you think and if you agree with me.  And if you do, how these four behaviours/ traits show up in your day to day role as a leader.

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Author

Marianne Page

Marianne is the author of three books, and is currently working on her fourth, whilst regularly writing her blog, we hope you enjoy it :-)

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