An effective leader is someone who brings a mix of technical skills, strategic thinking, and knowledge to the table. They have the ability to manage and influence the behavior of others in the team. This is why leaders play a key role in any organization.
Leaders fuel organizational development by effectively transforming workplaces:
Be agile and adapt to changes
A leader’s focus should always be on reinventing the organization’s processes and strategies. A leader, like the captain of a ship, should be agile and flexible – someone who can change course if it is required to weather any storms. They should be proactive and always have an eye on the future course. In business, as in life, change is the only constant. An organization would be lagging behind if it doesn’t move ahead of the times, or at least with the times.
A leader takes on these changes and challenges head-on. But the real test of an impactful leader lies in how they communicate and support their team to implement and manage change. Change is a part of organizational development and a positive indicator of growth in any organization.
Sustainability of practices
Leaders have the unique opportunity of molding an organization’s long-term vision. They design impactful strategies, practices, and interventions that move the organization forward. An impactful leader ensures that these changes remain sustainable over time. This can be achieved by ensuring that the changes prescribed align with the organization’s vision and not the short-term goals of an individual or team. Quick fixes might plug a leak but in the long run, they only slow down growth.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is based on and supports impactful leadership and strong team relationships. Employees want to work for leaders and teams who can motivate them. This can be achieved by putting people first, valuing their contributions, and maintaining high levels of integrity. Employees like to know that they are the reason behind the company’s success and growth. This is why employee engagement starts from the day of on-boarding and is constant throughout their employment.
Leaders should focus on training new staff on the organization’s values and reinforce their culture. A new employee who comes from another company needs to be realigned to suit the culture and focus of their new organization. An impactful leader has a strong role to play in the cultural realignment of new employees.
Leaders should make optimal use of the strength and potential of their team members and motivate them through recognition programs, develop them for future roles, design, and provide learning opportunities to support their aspirations that are in line with the organization’s larger goals. Consistent feedback and effective communication mechanisms play a pivotal role in engaging, developing, and retaining talent.
Talent Development
Continuous learning will be part of the regular workday in a culture that breeds a growth mindset. An impactful leader designs their team and organization’s culture to focus on learning and provides various opportunities for self-development and growth. A leader creates an environment where people love to work.
Design talent development programs that work. Start with need analysis and design an internal/external training program, conduct hackathons, and provide projects that invigorate members of your team and keep them ahead of the learning curve. Internal training is most effective when trainers speak from real, project-based scenarios and bring in the knowledge and expertise of Technical Architects and Technical Leads to help execute it.
An impactful leader should create an atmosphere of clear and easy communication by building great communication habits and robust feedback culture. Maintaining a regular follow-up leads to continuous talent development and keeps your team engaged and interested. High potential development and succession planning are tools to help build an intelligent and impactful resource pool within the organization.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence or EI is a powerful tool in the hands of a good leader. EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and the emotions of the people around you. If you aspire to be an impactful leader, EI is an element that you need to consider.
EI helps leaders successfully coach teams, manage stress, deliver feedback, and collaborate with others. Leaders set the tone for organizations and EI ensures that the tone is always positive. Successful leadership requires you to lead yourself, your team, and the organization overall. It is a prerequisite for any impactful leader to have a handle on their own emotions. Leaders can use EI to ensure they don’t react inappropriately. It creates an atmosphere of sharing where employees feel confident about sharing their ideas and suggestions and are not afraid about their leader’s response.
A lack of emotional intelligence can also lead to an inability to address situations fraught with emotions. Any modern-day leader is only effective and impactful when they have high levels of emotional intelligence.
