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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HOW TO IMPROVE STAFF RETENTION: IDENTIFY AND SUPPORT VALUABLE EMPLOYEES

There’s a line in Kenny Rogers’ song ‘The Gambler’, where he imparts some sound advice:
 
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em”.
 
He was sharing a poker metaphor for life, but the line resonates for staff retention strategies.
 
You must learn to recognise when to retain the right people and know when to lose those who are not right for your business. Both retaining and letting go of team members can be difficult, so how do you work out who to keep?
 

Why is staff retention so important?

Nurturing staff retention promotes the health, success, and stability of any organisation.

The resources that go into hiring and training new staff can be significant. As such, a high staff turnover can be harmful to your business goals.

To secure long-term success, organisations should define development and retention strategies. Implementing these strategies will ensure staff remain engaged and driven.

Focus on the long-term potential of your staff members

Deciding which employees stay and which to ease out of your business is not simple. You’ll need comprehensive performance data and an accurate, objective assessment of potential.

On a very basic level, you should take the following steps:

  • Determine who the current star performers are and what qualities unite them.
  • Identify these qualities in more junior members of your team.
  • Facilitate professional development opportunities for these prospective star performers. Invest time and resources into their development.

 

Encourage promotions and development across teams

For organisations eager to boost their retention rates, promoting mobility in numerous directions can fend off attrition. This strategy is on the condition that companies make it easier to find new opportunities within their metaphorical walls.

Identify low performance early

Throughout the development process you may discover an employee that is underperforming and lacks the necessary potential. These individuals are more of a liability than they are an asset to you. Consider it your duty to delicately phase them out of the business.

Boost employee morale by praising your best people

You may feel that letting your employees know how valuable they are to your business is a risky move. Praise could encourage employees or a star member of the team to seek employment elsewhere and maximise their worth.

Some managers shy away from dishing out such praise to minimise this risk. However, by never recognising exceptional work you could be creating an unpleasant work environment.

Recognition programs could increase your employee retention rate

There’s a way to show your appreciation for your staff without overinflating their egos. By letting staff know that you appreciate their efforts, you can encourage loyalty.

According to Knight Frank, a positive company culture is the lifeblood of any thriving company. By encouraging loyalty and good morale, you stand a much better chance of retaining your staff.

Remember that no one is indispensable

It’s almost impossible for a successful business to function with zero labour turnover. It certainly isn’t desirable for your business either. Without a steady income of fresh ideas, perspectives and competitive intelligence your organisation will likely become complacent and stagnate.

Acknowledge that even engaged employees will move on eventually

On average, employees stay at a company for about five years. Expect and prepare for some of your team members to move on after a while. After all, voluntary turnover is nothing personal. Some employees just require a different challenge or to follow a new career path.

You should never leave yourself so exposed that if one high performer leaves, overall performance declines and the team crumbles. Your robust succession plan should help you to ensure that your employees are engaged enough to cope with losing a star performer.

What does true staff retention mean?

Good staff retention doesn’t necessarily mean high retention; you’ve got to take each business on a case-by-case basis. Good staff retention is in fact all about determining who the top performers are and holding on to them and them only.

Staff retention is not simply based on offering flexible working for home options, or health insurance benefits. We must continually support and review staff performance beyond the onboarding process. By keeping clear sight of how our team are performing, we can recognise who to hold, and when to fold.

Learn more about staff retention strategies

There are many measures you can take towards retaining your best staff. There is no single sourcing strategy that can retain tomorrow’s agile workforce, so you need to be able to act quickly. Fast-moving, flexible teams can identify, adjust and respond to change. Once you have a plan for the unexpected, you can benefit from a functioning workforce.

Looking to future proof your organisation? Find more information on retention here:

 

AUTHOR

Marc Burrage

Regional Managing Director, Hays (Asia) 

Marc has broad industry and functional expertise, with a proven track record of continued success, having led and grown businesses in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. 

Prior to working in the recruitment industry, Marc held various sales and marketing management positions in the automotive industry. He has extensive business transformation and change management experience, and is adept at building, developing and leading cross-functional teams. 

Marc was a board member for the Leadership Institute of New Zealand and studied strategy at Ashridge International Business School.