What defines a good leader? Look for these six qualities

WHAT DEFINES A GOOD LEADER? LOOK FOR THESE SIX QUALITIES

Modern business challenges can require new approaches. Leadership will need to evolve in order to continue to guide organisations in tomorrow's world of work. But what are the characteristics of a good modern leader in the workplace - and how can organisations develop them? 

Many studies draw parallels between effective leadership and solid organisational performance. But whether they’re a junior manager or a senior executive, the qualities that leaders need are changing.
 
Nearly 1,500 HR professionals ranked leadership development as the number one priority for 2025, with managers feeling 'overwhelemed' by the expansion of their responsibilities. In today’s unpredictable world, you must combine traditional leadership skills with new abilities. So, what does an effective modern leader look like?
 

1. Remember what makes a good leader

Before looking at the new skills future leaders may need, it is worth reflecting on what a leader actually is.
 
What are the qualities of a good leader? It’s not what you may think.
 
Being in charge of colleagues does not necessarily make you a ‘leader’. Former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg explains: “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”
 
Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield believes that good leadership is: “Not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it. Especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter.”
 
There may be varying opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of leaders. But overall, most people believe that great leaders motivate their team members to perform their best and achieve common goals.
 
What traits do you need to achieve this in the modern workplace?
 

2. Use blended leadership styles for a VUCA world 

Stacey Philpot from Deloitte Consulting maintains that the core skills needed historically in leadership roles have remained unchanged.
 
“These skills allow someone to become a leader faster than their peers. This is even true in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment,” she says.
 
The core skills for leading in a VUCA environment include:
 
  • Pattern recognition
  • Motivation
  • Agility
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Ability to understand, control and express emotions
 
This represents psychological assessments of 23,000 senior leaders globally over the past 25 years.
 
Consider introducing servant leadership:
 
Leaders need new styles of leadership to deal with changing cultures. Being comfortable with not having the answer and owning failure can create an environment of trust and openness.
 
Collectively, these behaviours form ‘servant leadership’. The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) defines servant leadership as emphasising behaviours and values such as:
 
  • Active listening
  • Empathy
  • Leading by example
 
These are instead of opting for a more authoritative, ‘command-and-control’ leadership style. Leaders create the conditions for team members to excel by displaying vulnerability. But given the stigma around servant leadership, how can organisations encourage it?
 
How to combat stigma surrounding servant leadership:
 
Alsu Polyakova, HR Leader for GE Healthcare, says reducing stigma around servant leadership will take a specific strategy. Most importantly frequent performance appraisals for leaders.
 
“We give leaders lots of opportunities for self-reflection, so they understand how they behave,” she says. GE Healthcare’s most successful leaders help to encourage behavioural change, Polyakova says. The company measures success by how well employees rate leaders on achieving GE Healthcare’s ‘cultural pillars’. These pillars include inspiring trust and empowering employees.
 

3. Create a culture of trust in the workplace

Gaining workers’ trust is more important than ever. One way to build trust is for leaders to take action on issues such as climate change. 71 percent of employees consider their CEOs’ social awareness as critically important, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer.
 
Social awareness may yield rich rewards. The Edelman poll shows that workers who trust their employers are far more engaged and remain more loyal than their more sceptical peers.
 
Leadership styles are clearly changing. The most effective leaders will need to tailor their styles to suit different scenarios, says Professor Sattar Bawany. “Leaders need a broad repertoire of management styles and the wisdom to know when each style should be used,” he says. “In crisis scenarios like cybersecurity breaches, for example, leadership should be authoritarian because the scenario is unstructured.”
 

4. Adapt your leadership style for different generations

Managers must also balance leadership styles to suit different generations. Modern workplaces will soon house up to five generations under one roof. Therefore, there will be many people with differing preferences on leadership style.
 
As of 2023, millennials are the biggest group in the UK workforce, at 35 percent. Modern leaders must mix old and new leadership styles that meet the needs of younger generations. Doing so will future proof organisations. However, new leadership approaches cannot come at the expense of alienating older workers.
 

5. Commit to lifelong learning

With the workplace evolving so rapidly, leaders cannot rely on past experience alone to get by. Ben Farmer, Head of HR at Amazon UK agrees: “Experience is not always synonymous with wisdom and judgement. And naivety doesn’t always engender novel thinking and openness to change.”
 
Organisations should look for leaders who understand the future as well as those with experience. “Success comes from the ability to combine understanding of exciting, new trends with the experience required to put that knowledge into action,” says Farmer.
 
But what is the right balance? There is no one-size-fits-all approach when balancing experience with adaptability. Achieving the right balance will mostly depend on the organisation and the sector it operates in.
 

6. Be conscious of culture

Organisational culture is an important factor. Risk-averse firms may prefer experience over novel thinking. Leaders may be fearful of a backlash from stakeholders should novel thinking fail. To lower risk, companies should seek leaders who use both scientific evidence and intuition when making decisions.
 
Ultimately, there’s no single blueprint for an effective modern leader. Each organisation must tailor their approach to leadership development. There must be a focus on organisational culture, industry nuances and employee mix.
 
But above all, leaders should recognise that today’s reality may be old news tomorrow.
 
 

For more expert advice, take a look at the following articles: 

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null A leading talent strategy for the Life Sciences sector: Your six-step guide

A leading talent strategy for the Life Sciences sector: Your six-step guide

The life sciences sector is facing a talent emergency. 

Fragile supply chains, complex patent processes and rising production and distribution costs are putting pressure on an industry that has already undergone seismic changes - instigated by no less than a global pandemic.

Unrelenting waves of digital transformation are changing the skillsets needed to be successful in the industry. And robust investments in research and development means that roles are emerging and evolving, requiring organisation to find talented data scientists, digital health specialists and experts in drug safety.
 
What’s more, an ageing population expect increasingly personalised medicines and custom care, creating the perfect storm for a sector already under pressure - and short on skills.
 
But the provision of goods and services that keep populations healthy cannot come to a halt.
 
In partnership with market leading analysts, the Everest Group, Hays has created a series of industry-specific reports that examine current hiring practices, assess the most severe skills gaps, and identify the steps you need to take in order to futureproof your organisation.
 
 
In the blog below, we offer a brief snapshot of our latest report, focusing on the life sciences sector. Download your free copy to access all six-steps for your workforce strategy, plus exclusive data and commentary from the Everest Group.
 

Step #1: Plug your talent gaps with a skills-first strategy

Organisations in mature markets such as the US and Australia have already seen success from skills-based hiring, with enhanced talent pools enabling more innovative drug development methods, including cell therapy.
 
But it will require a widespread change in both process and mindset, with many recruitment practices built on a foundation of formalised education and proven experience. However, given the expected churn rate of roles in the next five years (44% for pharmacists, 24% for business development professionals and a staggering 42% for data entry clerks), relying on traditional talent networks will see organisations coming up short.
 
For organisations eager to implement a skills-based approach, your next steps must include:
 
  • Defining your long-term ambitions and comparing this against current workforce competencies to identify the skills vital for future growth.
  • Developing tailored and targeted recruitment strategies to attract the talent that will be critical to long-term success.
  • Designing customised training and development programmes tailored to address specific skills deficiencies and market requirements.
 
Read more about skills-based hiring in this recent blog from Harry Gooding, Director of Skills, Hays UK.
 

Step #2: Appeal to candidates with a high-value proposition 

An effective Employee Value Proposition (EVP) serves as a powerful tool in talent acquisition.
 
And in the battle of the ‘brand’, the life sciences sector is at a clear advantage, driven by a shared purpose to improve the quality of health and wellbeing.
 
The report highlights the ‘impactful’ story associated with contributing to the development, production and distribution of lifesaving supplies and equipment. Many organisations are enhancing this with a sustained commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), or tailoring their proposition to specific skills, such as technology, to attract in-demand IT professionals.
 
The key steps to creating a compelling value proposition include:
 
  • Conducting surveys, focus groups and interviews to gain both qualitative and quantitative insights into candidates’ career aspirations and expectations. Don’t assume you’re all on the same page.
  • Build – and then communicate – clear pathways for career development. Creating the opportunity is just the first step. How you tell the story to candidates can become your advantage.
  • Ensure you’ve got a consistent, ‘always on’ feedback loop in place to enable employees to provide feedback or share concerns. Missing the mark could mean losing business-critical skills.
 
Find out more about the importance of the Employee Value Proposition, as well as top tips for levelling up your Contractor Value Proposition.
 

Step #3: Take a 'total' approach to your talent management

The life sciences landscape is characterised by rapid evolution and evolving consumer expectations. Your approach to talent acquisition and management must make similar strides, breaking down traditional silos to ensure all of the available resources – from talent to tech - are optimised.
 
Organisations looking to implement a Total Talent Management (TTM) strategy should consider:
 
  • Rebalancing the workforce mix to optimise the use of contingent talent, as well as enhancing the agility of their talent function.
  • Encouraging collaboration between Human Resource, Talent Acquisition, IT and senior leadership teams – each group will be essential in the journey towards TTM.
  • Creating an ecosystem of integrated technology to achieve total talent visibility.
 

Shaping a workforce strategy for the Life Sciences sector

The life sciences sector is undergoing marked advancements, as biotechnology, personalised medicine and digital health reshape the skills needed by organisations.
 
You need a talent strategy that can keep pace. Take the first step today and download your free copy of the latest report.
 

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