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 Hays Talent Solutions ranked as a leader and major contender for its RPO services by Everest Group

HAYS TALENT SOLUTIONS RANKED AS A LEADER AND MAJOR CONTENDER FOR ITS RPO SERVICES BY EVEREST GROUP

- Ranked Leader (EMEA) and Major Contender (global) for RPO services for 2022
- Recognised for its traction in Total Talent Acquisition  

Hays Talent Solutions today announced its leading position in the annual PEAK Matrix for RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) services for 2022 by the Everest Group.

The Everest Group PEAK matrix assesses the relative market success and overall capability of service providers. All service providers are evaluated against their market impact, value delivered, vision and capabilities, innovation and investment and their delivery footprint. Thirty-six organisations were ranked globally in this year’s matrix, and twenty-three in EMEA, from aspirants to top leaders. Hays Talent Solutions is ranked among the top six organisations in EMEA, as well as being a major contender for its global RPO services.

Everest Group attributed Hays Talent Solutions’ rankings to its strong technology ecosystem of proprietary tools and partnerships, as well as its integrated talent acquisition platform. Everest Group also noted Hays Talent Solutions’ significant CWM and VMS capabilities which, coupled with its wide coverage, have helped it to achieve initial traction in the TTA space.

Matthew Dickason, Managing Director of Hays Talent Solutions, emphasises the teamwork behind the company’s success: “It’s a great achievement to be recognised as major contender and leader in this year’s RPO PEAK Matrix. We work tirelessly to provide our clients with exemplary service and continuously strengthen our partnerships. Our success is testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams across the globe and their relentless personification of our values to prepare for the future and enable change for all our clients. Always going beyond the expected, now and in the future. We look forward to continuing to build on our partnerships, and help support our clients’ success.”

Aniruddha Kulkarni, Practice Director at Everest Group comments on this year’s ranking; "Hays Talent Solutions has created a compelling value proposition for clients through its pedigree in sourcing for high skill professional roles, focus on Total Talent Acquisition (TTA), and its integrated technology platform. Its proven expertise of serving clients of all sizes and across major industries across the UK and continental Europe has helped it position as a Major Contender on Everest Group's Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2022 - Global as well as a Leader on Everest Group's Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2022 - EMEA."

About Hays Talent Solutions

Hays Talent Solutions creates and delivers workforce solutions that helps people succeed and enables organisations to thrive. With a comprehensive suite of services and a wealth of expertise in providing human capital advice, permanent and contingent solutions to leading organisations around the world, Hays Talent Solutions delivers insight driven services that provide clients with a competitive advantage in accessing and securing talent to deliver to their business objectives.

To discuss how we could help your organisation thrive, get in touch and speak to one of our experts.

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