4. Challenge status quo.
Change has always been part of society, but today change is happening at warp speed. Leaders must be agents of discovery and agents of improvement.
Effective leaders must continually encourage people beyond what they think they can do.
5. Insure strategic thinking.
We rarely reach a destination by chance, and so effective leaders are strategy experts. They work with people to craft a path to reach a destination that may not always look exactly like what we thought it would, but gets us closer to achieving our vision.
We must get better with fewer resources, and that will require strategy.
6. Communicate effectively.
In a day where information is at everyone’s fingertips, and the quantity of information is overwhelming for all of us, the most effective leaders will be skilled communicators. They will be able to filter us through the mass of information to the most important information in the context of achieving our vision.
7. Stand firm.
The successful leader will be able to guide a group of people toward a well-defined, easy to understand, worthy vision … in spite of hardships, setbacks and disappointments.
As fast as change is changing, there must be some things that are consistent, that can grab and keep people’s heart and energy long term. Otherwise, we will see no real progress. That means effective leaders can’t get distracted with things that in the end won’t even matter. (Of course, for me, my constant guiding vision is the Gospel.)
That’s my answer of what it takes to be effective in leadership today. How is that different from years past? Is it?
How would you answer the question?
