7 Ways Positive Leaders Lead
When many first hear the term "positive
leadership" they assume that I'm just talking about a nice ideal way to
lead that sounds great in theory but doesn't address reality. I assure
you this couldn't be further from the truth. Positive leadership is not
pollyana, impractical or theoretical. Positive leadership is powerful,
real and practical. In this spirit I want to share 7 ways positive
leaders lead:
1. Positive Leaders Provide Love and Accountability - I have found that the greatest leaders are able to lead with the
right amount of both love and accountability. Alan Mulally, the former
CEO of Ford and one of the greatest leaders in history told me, "You
have to love your people. They have to know you care about them. But you
also have to hold them accountable to the values, principles, culture
and standards." Too much love and not enough accountability and your
team will love you but they won't become great because of you. Too much
accountability and not enough love and your team will initially strive
to be great but will eventually disengage and fall short of their
potential greatness.
2. Positive Leaders are Demanding without being Demeaning - Many think that positive leaders are people who smile all the time
and don't care about winning. The truth is positive leaders want to
win. They are very competitive. They challenge people to pursue
excellence. They are demanding. They just aren't demeaning. Instead of
calling people out, they call out the greatness within them.
3. Positive Leaders Unite the Team - Great teams and organizations don't happen by accident. Positive
leaders invest a lot of time, energy and effort to foster connections
among team members and create an environment where individuals unite and
work together to create something amazing.
4. Positive Leaders Connect with the Individual -
To create a united team, positive leaders make the time to communicate
and connect one-on-one to build great relationships that build a great
team. As Doc Rivers told me, "The most important thing I do as a leader
is communicate with each person on my team. I have to know where each
person is in order to lead them where I need them to be."
5. Positive Leaders Create Clarity and Generate Focus - People often think that focus leads to focus but it's actually
clarity that leads to focus. The more clarity an organization, team and
individuals have the more focused they will be. Positive leaders remove
clutter, eliminate confusion, simplify, and create clarity that lets
everyone know what they are supposed to do so they can take focused
action. Everyone knows their job so they can do their job.
6. Positive Leaders Lead with Optimism - When Donna Orender took over as the commission of the WNBA she
inherited an organization that lacked belief and optimism. She believed
in what the WNBA could be and transferred her belief and optimism to her
team and turned around the organization as a result. Leadership is a
transfer of belief and in a world filled with pessimism and negativity
your optimism and belief is a competitive advantage.
7. Positive Leaders Inspire with Vision and Purpose - Through adversity, obstacles and challenges positive leaders
consistently rally their team with a shared vision and a greater
purpose. They point everyone towards the vision of where they are going
while reminding everyone why they are going there.
To read more stories and specific examples of positive leadership and to implement the framework visit PowerofPositiveLeadership.com.
- Jon |
