Episode #436: The Five Drivers Of Leadership Success

There are many things which lead to successful leadership. You might have hit a purple patch in the market and things are going swimmingly. Five Star Hotels in Japan, prior to the pandemic were doing brilliantly with very high occupancy rates and the General Managers looked like rock stars. Covid hit and closed the border, locked everyone up at home and desperation was the order of the day for the hospitality and tourism industries. Or you might have inherited a bunch of well trained stars, thanks to your immediate predecessor. We all hope for good business conditions and a good crew. Hope however isn’t much of a strategy.

When it is down to us, what do we need to do? For leaders there are some key areas where we need to concentrate our time, energy and strength. There are Five Drivers of Leadership Success which help us to be effective leaders. Let’s go through them.

1. Self Direction

Leaders are self directed, have a vision and set clear goals. They are self sufficient. They know what they are accountable for and keep pushing hard to produce results. They are values led and create the required culture in the organisation which helps their team to be winners. We need an ego to believe we know better than everyone else what we need to do. We may in fact not be infallible and prove to be wrong in our initiatives. That is okay, as long as we are flexible enough to change our course and adapt quickly to the realities we uncover. A rigid, inflexible, massive ego on the other hand means we will be urging everyone to sprint faster off the cliff, bringing the organisation down. That “sufficient ego” line is a tricky little dude to calculate, but we must do it.

2. People Skills

Today’s business environment is too complex for the “hero” leader to be successful. Once upon a time the leader could do it all, but not today. The ability to form the right team, get the right people on the right bus and in the right seats is critical. The team need to know they are working in a psychologically safe environment and that their leader is there to help them develop in their careers. Without great communication skills and correct values, then trust can’t be built. Without trust there is no team. Climbing over the bodies to grasp the brass ring for yourself doesn’t work anymore. There is a lot of nonsense talked about the servant leader, but fundamentally, investigate what is in your heart? Is it all about you or is it about your team. If it is all about you and your glorious career, you will get the team engagement you deserve but won’t like.

3. Process Skills

The machines and people must perform correctly. However, if the system or process is poorly designed or poorly administered, it will cause people to fail. Is the poor performer really a poor performer or have we gotten the job fit wrong for that person. For example, expecting a big picture person to be super detailed focused is asking for trouble and vice versa. We must never forget that people support a world they help to create. We need to involve our people in improving the systems and processes. I am a Driver Personality style, which means fast paced, quick decision making and not much tolerance for time wasting. However, when it comes to the analytics of the business, I move more across to the Analytical Personality style dimension. I was hopeless at maths at school but as the leader this means seeking three decimal places and having an eye for detail. We have to be great at analysing a certain set of numbers and we have to make sure the numbers are correct and current, in order to make the best use of them.

4. Communication

Leaders must be great communicators, but that doesn't mean they should do all the talking. The ability to listen at the highest levels is required – listening for what is not being said. Being able to ask great questions is another leader capability which saves a lot of time and reduces friction. The leader knows what they already know, but by involving other’s opinions and asking questions they can learn what they don’t know. Being clear and concise in communication is a high level skill. Making sure the message is filtering down correctly throughout the organisation is also a critical element of being a leader.

5. Accountability

The buck stops with the leader and there are no excuses. Leaders also quickly and emphatically admit their own mistakes and lead by example. Leaders need to coach, guide, support and train the team to achieve the agreed results. The leader provides direction and manages change. The leader has to know the systems for monitoring results are working correctly. They need to know that the right controls are in place and that everyone understands why these are important.

If we work on mastering these Five Drivers then we will be successful as leaders. Is this stuff easy? No, but no one cares. The organization expects us to master these drivers and for us to do our job properly. End of story!