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 'If we are to transform the future...we must rethink education' Audrey Azoulay

'IF WE ARE TO TRANSFORM THE FUTURE...WE MUST RETHINK EDUCATION’ - AUDREY AZOULAY

If we are to transform the future we must rethink education

24th January marks the fourth International Day of Education.

The theme for 2022 is ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’, highlighting the transformations necessary to realise ‘everyone's fundamental right to education’ and the role that learning will play in building a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful future.

Education should be a primary concern for organisations eager to thrive in the new world of work.

A skills-supply mismatch is being magnified by the rapid pace of innovation. As technology permeates an increasing number of roles, there is a widespread need to re-educate and upskill teams to tackle talent shortages.

With average life expectancy rising, the workforce of tomorrow is predicted to be in employment for longer than ever before. Opportunities for continuous learning and development will play a crucial role in keeping staff engaged, productive and receptive to change.

The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the education of young people around the world. The sudden shift to remote learning has exacerbated opportunity and aspiration gaps. Urgent action is necessary to mitigate fears of a ‘lost generation’.

With all eyes on education, Jen Schneider, Solutions Director of Early Careers at Hays Talent Solutions, reflects on the collaborative role educators and organisations must play in preparing the next generation for the world of work.

What are some of the most frequent skills gaps you see amongst those new to the employment market?

The growing skills gap is a critical business concern for all organisations, regardless of industry or location. Concerned by the endless data detailing the extent of shortages or talent-supply mismatches, I speak to employers every day about bolstering their talent pipeline.

Skills gaps do exist amongst new entrants to the employment market, and companies must be actively implementing comprehensive learning and development programmes to ease the transition. We often hear from Graduates, Apprentices and School Leavers who state that they felt ‘lost’ during this time and would have benefited from a clearer understanding of the skills needed prior to starting a role.

This is because the knowledge and capabilities we develop throughout our time in early years education are not necessarily those that will bring us success in our careers.

In my experience, entry-level talent often have a long-list of defined ‘hard skills’. Our education helps us to develop the competencies needed to perform certain tasks, such as mathematics or foreign languages. While these are extremely valuable, the most prevalent gaps often lie in the development of ‘soft skills’, such as critical thinking, problem solving and management skills.

Arguably, these skills are more difficult to teach as they don’t conform to a standardised ‘grading’ system. But for those entering the job market, they are far more beneficial. Highly transferable and vital to success in most professions, a focus on soft skills could contribute towards plugging the skills gap.

What can companies do to enable the next generation of workers to thrive in the world of work?

We need to tackle the assumption that entry-level hires will subconsciously know how to navigate an organisation or the skills they will need to succeed. Indeed, research suggests that a disconnect exists between the skills that employers state as essential and those that ‘Gen Z’ are keen to develop.

The Hays Salary Survey 2021 indicated that the most sought-after soft skills from an employer perspective included communication and interpersonal skills (55%), the ability to adopt change (53%) and problem solving (45%).

In comparison, ‘Gen Z’ were eager to hone their people management (40%), critical thinking (35%) and judgement and decision making (34%) abilities.

Organisations need to close this gap, creating a clear development plan for entry-level talent that brings together the skills needed for success and the passions of ‘Gen Z’. Determining the direction of learning can also help to connect the dots between education and employment much quicker, improving speed-to-productivity.

Organisations also need to consider how they deliver their development plans. Training is often ‘front-loaded’ to equip new starts with the skills they need to perform their role. However, we are all only human and our ability to absorb information is limited. Additionally, if the information provided is not used regularly, it can be easily forgotten.

In response, organisations should look to embed training across the first few months – and even years – of employment, which can help to forge a culture and mindset of continuous learning and development. It also ensures that the content is provided at a time when it has the most impact.

Of course, skills development is a vital foundation for any successful career. But organisations must also not lose sight of the bigger picture.

Your first job is an enormous milestone in your career journey. The skills you develop in this role will shape future opportunities. However, equally important are the largely immeasurable elements of work, such as connecting with colleagues and feeling a sense of belonging. Organisations who craft a strong company culture are those best placed to enable the next generation of workers to thrive.

What role does Hays play in developing the ‘next generation’?

It may have become a victim of semantic satiation, but the next generation really are the future. At Hays, we are passionate about developing and supporting those entering the employment market for the first time.

We recognise that the transition from education to employment is a pivotal moment, so we actively work with our clients to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible, from the perspective of both the employer and employee.

However, this commitment to development must begin much earlier than the point at which individuals join the workforce. Research conducted by the BBC found that by the age of 7, children are already facing limits on their future aspirations for work. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the crisis, with data suggesting that the current cohort of students risk losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings as a result of school closures and economic shocks.

In response, we are working in partnership with schools and clients to create ‘Hays Inspire’. The programme will provide pupils with an informative and realistic insight into possible career pathways, with advice from leading employers regarding the skills needed to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow.

By harnessing the expertise of our Hays Education business and our Early Careers solutions, we are positioned to offer support to the next generation as they try to navigate the world of work, while simultaneously empowering our clients to future-proof their talent pipeline.

How can we all become better life-long learners?

Organisations must create and champion a culture of learning.

I spoke earlier about the need to embed training across the first few years of employment, which plays a vital role in setting the tone for development. If employees understand that continuous learning is a prerequisite for success, they will be more receptive to upskilling and reskilling throughout their career.

Leaders must consider how they can effectively integrate training. Fortunately, the pandemic has forced us all to ‘think digital’. A number of providers now offer a fully online experience, including Hays Thrive. Bespoke onboarding and training courses can equip your workforce with the skills needed to adapt to the changing world of work.

Realise your ambitions

International Day of Education shines a much-needed spotlight on the role that learning and development will play in sustainably plugging talent shortages and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow. However, the pandemic has intensified long-standing skills, resource and equity gaps and there is an urgent need for educators and organisations to work together to dismantle these barriers.

For more information on how we can help you to attract, train and support the next generation, contact our expert Early Careers team today.

 

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