The Art of Leadership

It seems that the focus on leadership is greater than it ever has been. With the recent and ongoing pandemic, the task of a leader needs to be more than task focused and, in order to produce effective business results, must be people focused. Whilst this isn’t a new concept, it is one that may have been neglected in some companies.

The challenge for a leader is to:-

• Understand what the outcome of the work is and clearly communicate it to the team.

• Provide a focus to the team and its members. Provide a link between the purpose of the business with the focus of the team and the individual roles within it.

• Understand the risks associated with the work and communicate them effectively. Collectively find ways to eliminate or mitigate them for the safety of all.

• Appreciate who is able (trained and competent) to carry out specific roles to complete the work

• Effectively delegate duties to the team members so that they all feel valued

• Ensure that all team members are allocated enough work, but not over stressed.

• Build a sense of belonging and team so that each member of the team appreciates that their work complements the other work and helps achieve the end objective.

• Recognise when team members are ready to be challenged and stretched, and when they need to reside within their comfort zone.

• Be cognisant of the impact of the work on their team members.

• Be flexible to change in accordance with the observations of the impact on the staff.

• Communicate results, learning points and share recognition.

• Encourage input for improvements and reporting of incidents and near misses.

• Share the lessons from incidents and near misses within the team and across other teams in the organisation.

• Regularly review the performance of the team and of themselves as the leader.

To do these things effectively, the leader must be:

• Empathetic

• Vulnerable

• A good listener

• Approachable

• A clear thinker

• A great communicator

Leadership is about creating trust, providing a purpose and building a sense of belonging in the team. Whatever the work is, in any industry or sector, these are fundamental in developing a productive and effective team.