An Ideal Leader in the 21st Century

Introduction

The Oxford Dictionary defines a leader as a person who leads or commands a group, organization or country. Leadership is therefore, the art of influencing others to act in pursuit to the achievement of worthwhile set goals.

Every person is a leader in one way or the other. Some are leaders in their households, in their communities, in their workplaces, in their religious affiliations, in their social groupings, in their sports groupings, in their political affiliations and in several other forums. Leadership is a skill that we all need to have at all times.

The 21st Century calls for some definite qualities that every leader needs to exhibit. Times have changed and every leader need to horn their leadership skills to the changing times. In this write up let us examine the ten critical qualities that leaders in the 21st Century need to exhibit.

Ideal Leaders are Visionary

An ideal leader is someone that is visionary. A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way[1]. A vision defines the envisaged future punctuated by ambition and the prevailing resources and opportunity. The presence of lack of any kind of resources inhibits most leaders from being visionary. The lack of resources can rub off ambition and rob the confidence for leaders to pursue worthwhile goals to the benefit of the team or the organization. It is critical however, for leaders to clearly define and pursue their vision in the wake of prevailing lack and leverage on available resources and opportunity at all times.

It is not enough for a leader to be visionary if the vision cannot be clearly communicated to the rest of the team members to rally support and unify effort to the realization of the vision. It is not enough for the leader to be visionary and yet be clueless on how to utilize the existing endowment of resources to realize the vision. It is not enough for a leader to be visionary and yet fail to lead by example to inspire the rest of the followers to the achievement of the vision.

Visionary leaders realize that clarity of the vision to all the followers is very critical to garnering a unified effort and voice to the achievement of the vision. Lead by example, as a leader set a good example to all the followers at all times.

Ideal Leaders are Change Champions

In the times we are living now, change is much faster than ever before. The sad reality however, is that nobody can stop change. Nobody has the ability to stop change, you can delay it but you cannot stop it.

Change before you have to[2]. If you choose not to change, change will in itself change you. Change occurs in all spheres of our life. It occurs at individual, group or organization levels. Great leaders manage change effectively. I prefer defining change management as a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organizations from current state to a desired state to fulfill or implement a vision and strategy.

It is imperative for every leader to get acquainted to the change management process from inception to institutionalizing change to ensure that the change efforts pay off. Change resistance inhibits achievement of the set vision. Leaders must realize that change needs to be managed effectively at all times. In the wake of numerous rights at the workplace and human rights, change efforts need to be horned effectively at all times for meaningful change to be registered.

Ideal Leaders have Mental & Physical Strength

Mental strength refers to the ability of an individual to effectively deal with challenges, pressures and stressors to present their best performance regardless of the circumstances. Emotional Intelligence is born out of profound mental strength which means you are aware of your emotions and thoughts and work with them to choose your actions appropriately.

Great leaders have high Emotional Intelligence. They are fully aware of their emotions and they are able to manage them to the fulfillment of the set goals. Great leaders are able to manage their emotions effectively to their followers to avoid generating unfounded fear and alienation from them.

Further, great leaders have physical strength. To effectively execute the day to day tasks as a leader, one has to be physically strong. Physical strength comes from good diet and regular physical exercises.

It is imperative therefore, for great leaders to have mental and physical strength at all times. Research indicate that leaders with mental and physical strength are in control and effectively lead their followers to the achievement of their vision.

Ideal Leaders Have High Self Confidence

Self Confidence is a critical attribute of a great leader. Self Confidence is defined as a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgement. Low self-confidence can be a very bad quality of a leader. A leader with low self-confidence is indecisive, has low mental strength, fears followers, is easily swayed from one line of purpose to the other, tolerates gossip, cannot build a strong team, is not in control and cannot communicate effectively just to mention a few.

On the other hand, leaders with high self-confidence are knowledgeable, accept constructive criticism, have high mental strength, have clear vision, communicate effectively, build strong teams, are in control, inspire followers, are driven by ambition and purpose and embrace teamwork.

Great leaders tell their followers, you can do what I cannot do, I can do what you cannot do, together we can do great things[3]

Ideal Leaders Have High Integrity

Integrity is the most important quality of a great leader. It refers to the quality of being honest and having moral principles. Leaders with high integrity act in accordance with their words. They practice what they say and they own their mistakes, as opposed to hiding them and blaming their team or making excuses.

Every great leader pursues moral uprightness. Followers trust leaders with high integrity more than those with low integrity. Trust is a very critical catalyst in leadership. Where there is little trust from the followers, leaders are unable to effectively execute tasks to the achievement of the set goals.

Integrity defines the values of a leader and it is undeniably the most important attribute that generates the ability for leaders to influence others to act to the achievement of the set goals.

Ideal Leaders are Strategy Champions

Strategy is defined as a plan of actions designed to achieve a long-term or overall goals. In the dynamic world we live in, a leader can hardly achieve the set goals and vision without clearly defined plan of actions. Strategy drives the prioritized efforts in pursuit to the achievement of the set goals and vision.

Great leaders play a pivotal role in all the three levels of strategic planning namely strategy formulation, strategy execution and strategy review. Great leaders are Strategy Champions. They own the strategy and they see to it that it delivers to the purpose in pursuit to the achievement of the set goals and vision.

Ideal Leaders are Decisive

A great leader is known by their ability to rise up to make decisions whether popular or unpopular in pursuit to progress and the achievement of worthwhile goals.

Great leaders have the ability to make unpopular decisions and gut calls[4]. It is very difficult to make unpopular decisions as a leader. Most leaders fear alienation from their followers when they make unpopular decisions. Remember, leaders with high integrity have the confidence to make unpopular decisions and own the consequences.

The art of leadership is saying NO, not YES, it is very easy to say YES[5]. It is indeed very easy to say yes and live with the compromise. Decisive leaders are able to say no to particular courses of action with clarity to the followers. It is critical to always provide clarity where possible when you decide to say no.

Great leaders own their decisions and they prevent indecisiveness. Leaders that are decisive enhance productivity from the followers. Followers that are performers prefer leaders that are decisive and on the other hand, followers that are non-performers prefer leaders that are indecisive and those that can easily be swayed.

Ideal Leaders are Knowledgeable

It is very pathetic to come across a leader that is not knowledgeable and is tasked to lead followers that are very knowledgeable. Leaders ought to be very knowledgeable in what they are tasked to deliver. Great leaders are very knowledgeable of their operating environment, their internal processes, their capabilities, their macro-environment, their critical success drivers and their competition just to mention a few.

Leaders that are knowledgeable are confident to pursue the achievement of the purpose. They are able to effectively delegate tasks to their followers and follow-up effectively.

Ideal Leaders Empower Followers

Great leaders empower their followers to act to the purpose. Leaders ought to understand that all the followers have varying endowment of skills and capabilities in the delivery of tasks and assigned roles. It takes great leaders to effectively empower their followers with relevant skills, tools, knowledge and competence to effectively deliver to the successful achievement of the set goals and vision.

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better[6]. It is critical to consider empowerment of followers as critical to getting things done as a leader. Leaders become great not because of their power but because of their ability to empower others[7].

Ideal Leaders are Performance Management Champions

I have never come across one great leader that is not a performance management champion. Great leaders are good at managing the performance of their followers. A great leader follows up and reviewed the performance of the followers regularly to ensure effective execution and progress of assigned tasks.

Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion and under performance-everything else requires leadership[8]. Leadership therefore, is an embodiment that brings order and coordination in the performance of all followers to ensure the achievement of the set goals and vision.

In Conclusion,

An ideal leader is the one that lives to the qualities listed above to inspire the followers to act having been empowered to the achievement of the set worthwhile goals and vision.

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[1] John C Maxwell

[2] Jack Welch

[3] Mother Teresa

[4] Jack Welch

[5] Tony Blair

[6] Jom Rohn

[7] John C Maxwell

[8] Peter Drucker