How to Spot a Good Leader

As you have probably worked out by now I am a member of the University of Surrey Leadership Academy. The part of the Academy in which I do my research is an Action Learning Set.

In this Action Learning Set a group of leaders and leadership coaches and trainers work together to develop ways that we can help to improve the overall standard of leadership in the British workplace.

At our last meeting we spent some time working on the distinguishing features that mark out a good leader from an ordinary manager. Following up on some work done by the Bath Group we looked at three main areas:

Authority

Good leaders definitely have a presence, perhaps you might call it an aura, that gives them authority. When they speak people listen, when they call for action, people act, when they enter a room they receive attention. This is not because they shout and rage, it happens quite naturally.

The interesting question is: “are some people born with this authority, or can it be developed through leadership coaching and training?” In most cases authority seems to come from our past. It develops from our experiences, education and training. It is the ability to bring our learning from past experiences to the current situation that gives us authority in any situation.

Therefore it is usually possible to develop authority within given situations.

Impact

Outstanding leaders definitely make an impact, not just in their own teams and environment but in any environment. This is why good leaders can transfer easily from one type of organisation to another. Currently Martin Broughton is Chairman of Liverpool football club – he was previously chairman of British Airways and British American Tobacco.

What is impact? It could be described as the ability to get other people to achieve the results that the organisation requires. Or it could be the ability to make an immediate difference in any situation. Indisputably real impact is the ability to change the course of events.

How you develop the ability to make an impact will be the subject of further articles, but the ability to give and receive feedback is one important factor.

One way or another there will always be certainty when an individual makes an impact – it will be visible.

Presence

When a leader walks into a room everyone notices and gives them respect. Super models have presence, so do presidents of large organisations. What these people do is ‘occupy the leadership space.’ Others look to them to make the first move.

Presence is dependent on the ability to create rapport and build relationships with other people. Not just the normal ability to create relationships with a few people but with everyone we meet. Research shows that the average person is good at building rapport with about 35% of the people they meet. Good leaders, with good presence can build rapport with a much wider spectrum of the people they meet.

We will be discussing each of these features of good leadership in more detail in the next few articles.