3 Winning Characteristics of Leadership That Can Positively Impact Your Organization

Throughout history, there have been great leaders renowned for both their charisma and humility, such as Martin Luther King.

Or their bravery- daring to go where others fear to follow- The famous frontiersman, Daniel Boone’s name springs to mind.

The business world reflects this- the truly successful companies and individuals among us have certain qualities that we try to emulate. Sometimes we manage it; other times we fall just short.

As a head or CEO of an organization, leaders shape the culture, the future direction of their firm, and the impact their employees.

The following are three aspiring characteristics that every leader should aim to assimilate to positively impact their organization.

1. Leadership with Humility

In today’s world, humility rarely gets a mention. It is only a whisper in the world of glitz, glamor, and flashing cameras. In a crowded room, its voice is seldom audible.

If you were to describe a business leader of today, humility is the last adjective you probably would use. However, research shows that this quality is a powerful predictor of effective leadership.

In Jim Collins’ 2001 Good to Great study, Collins and his research team evaluated the performance of 1,500 fortune 500 companies.

During this 30 year research, Collins focused on organizations that performed near the market average for at least 15 years before a transition point, after which they outperformed the market average.

Collins and his research team were curious about what factors were involved in organizations’ increased performance. They identified two factors: humility and a steely determination to do the right thing despite the pain.

How does humility play a role in the competitive world of business?

Humility is associated with an open style of leadership, listening to subordinates, getting feedback and a well-rounded appreciation of strengths and flaws. Plus the ability to admit that they (leaders) get things wrong, well at least some of the time!

Executive Coach Debbie Rynda for Aziz Corporate encourages leaders to display vulnerability and humility. She says those that do attract the best employees willing to go the extra mile.

2. Courageousness in Business

Bill George writing for Forbes.com has worked with 200 CEOs both in his role as a consultant, and as a member of the research faculty at Harvard Business School. George says the defining characteristic of today’s best corporate leaders is the boldness of their decisions. Their ability to make decisions that would mean sleepless nights for most of us- creates potential revolutionary change in their markets; inspires their teams, exciting their customers; as well as positioning their firms as leaders of societal change.

Take a look at the curriculum of any well-known business school. You will be hard pressed to find a class titled “Courage 101”. Courage is not an inherent intellectual ability. Courage comes from the heart and less from the head. It is a characteristic acquired through making daring decisions throughout one’s personal or business life.

For CEOs that have yet to acquire this trait, fear remains an impassible obstacle. They are too focused on hitting a metric and so shy away from making decisions that receive disapproving glances from peers or critics.

One CEO that hurdled over the obstacle of fear is Indra Nooyi. Nooyi was named the CEO of PepsiCo in 2006. At the time, she noticed trends were shifting– especially in the millennial market. This generation was choosing a healthier alternative to food and drinks high in sugar content. Nooyi decided to act immediately proposing “Performance with Purpose” expanding PepsiCo’s portfolio to include additional nutritious products.

Rather than ignoring changes in the market, Nooyi the leader of PepsiCo decided to act; resulting in the growth and continued success of her company today.

3. Innovativeness in Business 

For an organization to develop a purring innovative engine or culture takes time, an acceptance that the route to success will have many potholes along the way, and a systematic approach to make it happen.

Current research by IBM’s Institute for Business Value called ‘More than magic: How the most Successful Organizations Innovate’; surveyed 1,000 C-Level Executives from 17 industries worldwide. They found the top 9% most innovative and successful firm’s had common characteristics.

The research reported that the leading 9% of the most innovative and prosperous companies- in terms of both their operational efficacy and revenue growth- employ a similar strategy to develop an innovational culture.

Among the characteristics are:

• Promoting Innovation Leadership– As Vivek Siva, writing for Hackerhealth.com notes, company CEO’s do not need to be innovators themselves. However, to implement a culture of innovation, organizations need to employ leaders that promote and drive innovation, encouraging employees to contribute to a firm’s success. Examples of these roles include Taco Bell’s Chief Food Innovation Officer.
• Customer Experience Driven- Offering an experience that customer’s value is the hallmark of great companies. Organizations taking a more holistic view of the full customer journey, as well as new experiences that products or services offer, leads to disruption. Two great examples of innovative firms are Buzzfeed and Shyp. Buzzfeed started as a publisher and today is a social and entertainment platform. While, Shyp disrupted the delivery industry, providing a more uninterrupted experience for small companies.
• Tech Savviness- At the core of innovative companies’ success is offering technological platforms that meet customer needs quicker and the creation of new capabilities. Vivek Siva (cited above) recommends that organization’s need to form collaborative relationships between their IT department and other departments to get the most benefit.  

For a business to thrive in this ultra-competitive and aggressive corporate world, it usually takes a combination of qualities. Traits such as humility are not commonly associated with leaders today but are proven to be predictors of effective leadership. In a variety of industries, it is the leader that makes bold decisions that enables ongoing growth and productivity for their organization. Finally, implementing an innovative culture that provides the launch pad for great ideas increases the chances of transforming an industry or market.

By: Jonathan Gordon