THE LEADER, UNBOXED

A series of 11 Intentional Behaviors Define You as a Leader!

We often have a boxed view of leadership, seen only through the lenses of authority, position, hierarchy, or title, but true leadership is a series of intentional behaviors that inspire, motivate, and empower others to create new value and achieve a shared vision and goal.

Effective leaders exhibit a range of behaviors that foster trust, collaboration, creativity, growth, and development. This approach emphasizes that anyone can exhibit leadership qualities, regardless of the domain, function, situation, or hierarchy.

I invite you to look at the key aspects of the 11 behaviors that define you being a leader along with the way forward to building upon the same.

AWARE

You know and recognize your strengths, weaknesses, and emotions to lead. With high emotional intelligence, you understand and manage your own emotions and that of others. By engaging in regular self-reflection and seeking feedback, you can enhance your- self, social and situational awareness. This facilitates your being a leader.

ETHICAL

You demonstrate ethics, transparency, and consistency in words and actions. You uphold values to their highest through your conduct and communication. By establishing clear values for self and all around you, leading with transparency, and making tough decisions with due integrity helps your being a respected leader.

DECISIVE

Good leadership includes making timely decisions based on available information, even in a dynamic and uncertain situation. You maintain an emotional-rational balance in being decisive. By developing a structured decision-making process, weighing pros and cons, and involving your team to gather diverse perspectives is supportive of your leadership.

RESILIENT

You navigate challenges, maintain positivity, and lead with hope. You embrace change, innovate, and lead with agility. You are flexible in your approach, adjusting strategies as circumstances change. By learning from failure, reframing challenges as opportunities, cultivating a growth mindset, and fostering experimentation, you add to your leadership.

VISIONARY

You, as an effective leader, articulate a clear and compelling vision that aligns the team’s efforts towards collective goals and aspirations. You can see far ahead into the future and show the same to all. By encouraging team members to contribute in setting the vision and regularly communicating the same fosters a sense of ownership through your leadership.

EMPATHETIC

You empathize with all, manage conflicts with openness, and build strong relationships. You develop and demonstrate the understanding of the internal and external stakeholders. By developing active listening skills, asking empathetic questions, and address conflicts constructively maintaining healthy relationships, you excel as a leader.

EMPOWERING

You empower team members to take ownership, leading to increased motivation and innovation. Acknowledging team members’ contributions fosters a positive and motivated work culture. By delegating responsibilities and encouraging team members to take initiative while providing support and resources, you elevate your leadership.

ACCOUNTABLE

You, as an effective leader, hold yourself and your team accountable for the actions and outcomes. You take ownership of mistakes, learn from failures, and demonstrate accountability. By establishing clear expectations and performance metrics and by doing regular progress reviews and providing constructive feedback, you succeed as a leader.

COLLABORATOR

You foster a collaborative environment where diverse ideas are valued, and teamwork is prioritized. You also step forward and go beyond your own responsibilities in contributing to and creating collaborative spirit among your peers. By creating opportunities for cross-functional collaboration to strengthen co-working relationships, you establish your leadership.

DEVELOPMENTAL

You invest time and resources in learning and development of self and others. You cultivate a growth mindset and encourage risk-taking. You celebrate failures along with successes. By providing opportunities for learning, creating developmental feedback mechanism, and by giving new tasks with empowerment, you fulfil a critical leadership purpose.

COMMUNICATOR

As a leader, you communicate effectively, ensuring clarity and understanding within your team. You articulate a compelling vision, listen actively, and clarify expectations. By practicing transparent and inclusive communication, asking open-ended questions, clarify assumptions and by exhibiting good verbal and written communication, you become an influential leader.

While coaching leaders, I have observed, viewing leadership as a series of behaviors opens up new avenues for personal and professional growth for them. By focusing on the key aspects outlined above, you can cultivate and sharpen effective leadership qualities in yourself that inspire others and create a positive impact within your organization.

Regardless of your formal/informal role, embrace these behaviors, and take actionable steps to lead with intention and integrity. By being cognizant of these behavioral leadership aspects and committing to continuous growth and action, you, as a leader, can inspire and empower others to achieve remarkable results.

Let us remember, leadership is not just a title or position–it’s a series of intentional behaviors that give you an opportunity to make a lasting impact and contribution to our world.

I will conclude by saying, “Behaviors Define Leaders”.

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