To be a successful leader, you must have people who will follow you. This article explores this relationship in depth.
Leaders can only be leaders as long as they are credible. Once they start to conform to predictable patterns of behaviour, they become like the rest of us and lose the magic that makes us want to follow them. Below are 7 ways that leaders can enhance their credibility and make their magic shine.
1. Self-Knowledge. It is hard to imagine Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin spending much time thinking about their personal strengths and weaknesses, or worrying about their limitations. Humility was not exactly a strong suit in these 20th century dictators. But for genuine leaders who are followed willingly, self-knowledge is a key aspect of what makes us credible. From self-knowledge comes humility and from humility comes the maturity to put others' needs ahead of your own.
2. A Sense of Humour. A sense of humour is a valuable point of contact with the people you're following. It stops you becoming grand and pompous and helps put things into context. As Nikki du Preez, founder of the war charity Bosnia Now, says: "A good leader knows that if you feel at ease when the team laughs at you and your foibles, you can get them to do anything."
3. A Sense of Mystery. There is something about genuine leaders that defies analysis. It's like taking a Stradivarius violin apart to find out how it works and then discovering that you've lost the unique quality that made it special. The Taoist writer, Lao Tzu, added to the mystery by describing the best rules of ancient China as: "cautious like crossing a frozen stream in winter; alert like fearing danger on all sides; reserved, like one visiting; yielding like ice about to melt; genuine like a piece of uncarved wood; open and broad like a valley; merged and undifferentiated, like muddy water."
4. Honesty. In a survey conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, 87% of people said that "honesty" was the quality they most wanted to see in their leaders. Exemplary leaders create a climate of candour in which there is no fear of speaking honestly about the things that matter.
5. Character. William James described "character" as the particular mental or moral attitude that makes one feel most deeply and intensely active and alive. It's a voice inside that says: "This is the real me." When leaders live their own character fully, they inspire others and create genuine loyalty in return.
6. Courage. One of the defining qualities of leadership is courage. Most of us flinch in the face of overwhelming odds. We take the easy way out. We get disheartened. We join the majority. We run away. Not so leaders. When leaders stand firm, they show courage for the rest of us. Warren Bennis says that the greatest leaders are those with a Nobel complex: they expect that, whatever field they enter, they'll win a Nobel prize. It consists of an unwarranted degree of optimism, a tremendous level of confidence, a sense that things will work out, and the true meaning of courage: grace under pressure.
7. Service. The concept of the servant leader is of the leader who turns the pyramid of leadership upside down. Instead of sitting on the pinnacle at the top, he or she turns the whole pyramid upside down and is supporting the weight of the team on their shoulders. Servant leaders are invariably invisible. They stay in the background and let others take the credit. They don't need applause or power because their power comes from within. Yet they are willing to do anything for their team or community. As Louis Tice puts it, this is "leading without stripes."
If you strive to apply these 7 qualities to your leadership style, you will enhance your own credibility and create a bond of loyalty in your followers that will enable you to move mountains.
The 7 Ways To Create Leader Credibility
