The question of what makes a great leader is a difficult one to answer. With so many leadership books and experts out there, providing a plethora of ideas on how best to inspire a team, it can be difficult to know which approach to pursue. Is leadership really a skill or a talent? Or – my personal viewpoint – is it just about placing value in people, recognising talent, and providing a goal in which people can believe?
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Great leaders recognise that the team together are better than they are alone.
Nurturing the talent of individuals, understanding their passions and aspirations and combining them with those of others within the group creates a successful, high performing and happy team. In my experience, those leaders that place themselves at the helm and assume they know best rarely succeed. It frequently leads to fragmented, inconsistent and uncoordinated behaviour, and consequently lower performance.
A clear recognition that your combined team can deliver far more than anything you could ever achieve on your own – and giving them the space in which to deliver it – provides the right environment to unlock potential, and the ability to deliver on a far greater scale than working in a restrictive or siloed environment. As Steve Jobs put it, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Genuine flexibility
In our personal lives, we support those people that most support us, and the same applies at work. To get the very best out of your team it’s vital that you treat them as people as well as employees, and are willing to support their lives at home. The reality is that everyone is juggling life, pitching work commitments against personal commitments.
Setting an example that finds time to attend those events that are important to you, while ensuring work is completed outside of normal working hours when you can, encourages others to do the same. This approach has (in our experience) got the very best from people. Give a little, and rather than take a mile we have found they give back a mile instead. We have framed our business around the values we hold the closest: family first, hard work, creativity and commitment – we’re so proud of the results it has reaped.
Talk to people
Being open, honest and authentic are all qualities that make a great leader. These things are so important, but they aren’t just for your LinkedIn profile. Be there when people need to talk. Make time for people. Tell them when things aren’t going so well, and you need the extra effort. Tell people when things are going well too, and everyone can share the success. Make difficult decisions when you must, but be prepared to talk it through and provide clear direction for the team. By having an open and honest culture, you stand to earn the team’s trust. That trust is a powerful thing; once earned it creates drive, commitment and results.
Love what you do
Enthusiasm is infectious. If you’re excited about the future, passionate about what you’re building and can see the opportunity, then other people will be too. If people can get behind a mutually beneficial goal, can see the potential and believe in the outcome – then they will do everything they can to help you get there. Living by KPIs and objectives is sometimes necessary – but they must be meaningful. Explain what is behind your KPIs, what is the value, what happens if you don’t achieve it? It shouldn’t just be a number, a percentage, or a RAG status – any means of measuring success must hold relevance and meaning, so bring those objectives to life for your team.
As marketers, we need a blend of skills to deliver clever, well-executed and measurable strategies and campaigns. By recruiting a team of diverse individuals, providing clear direction, ensuring they all feel valued and injecting a strong dose of drive and enthusiasm, as a whole we stand to deliver marketing with real impact.
