The ideal leader: what he should be, qualities and features

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The ideal leader in nature does not exist in principle. One good person, an experienced professional who is well versed in his field, may not even know how to structure the work so that the efficiency is maximum. Another leader, who is excellent in most respects, is not able to listen to criticism from employees, and therefore is simply not able to look at the problem from different angles. And there are an infinite number of such examples. However, this does not mean that one should not strive for the ideal. Consider the most sought-after features and qualities of an ideal leader.

Adequacy

This is the first and most important point. The chief, first of all, must adequately look at the world around him, his subordinates, and the features of the task before him. A person may not understand the issue, may not be able to manage people, but if he is adequate, all the necessary skills will come very quickly. Although this is not an ideal leader, he will eventually learn and come closer to this proud title than a completely inadequate boss.

Examples of complete inconsistency with their position in the modernsociety can find a lot. Usually these are the children of influential parents who have not worked for a day and other similar individuals who are used to getting everything at once simply because they were born successfully. These can destroy any project in the shortest possible time.

Professionalism and experience

The second important indicator of what an ideal leader should be is his experience, professionalism and acquired skills. The boss, who previously worked in the same area in which his company now exists, is able to make the only right decisions and accurately represent the volume and direction of the required work. All this allows you to achieve excellent results very quickly and get high performance indicators of the organization.

Insight

The ideal leader should be able to look into the very essence of things, processes, people and problems. Many people with insight make the right decisions instinctively, without realizing why they did it the way they did. Unfortunately, such a skill is usually innate, but it can be developed, it is enough to be able to compare different elements into a single chain and make long-term forecasts based on data that is not the most obvious. A shrewd boss will be able to select the best employees, even if it doesn't show on their resumes. He will be able to anticipate possible problems and solve them in advance, and will see the best option for further development even in a situation where it seems like everyone else says otherwise.

Criticism

In the book Perfectleader”Itzhak Adizes says that when two people agree on everything, it means that one of them is not needed. This is an absolutely correct remark. A normal boss should not only accept criticism of his own decisions without aggression, but also be able to hear all opponents. Truth is born in a dispute, as Socrates said, and most importantly, a dispute helps to hear a different point of view, which is invaluable for making the right decision.

Discipline and responsibility

The ideal leader should be responsible and disciplined, if only to set an example for his own subordinates. It is difficult to get employees to follow the corporate style if the boss himself regularly violates it. It is almost impossible to get to work on time or leave it strictly after the end of the working day, if the most important person in the enterprise allows himself to be regularly late for several hours or leaves immediately after lunch. Of course, there are always good reasons, like an important meeting, negotiations with prospective clients, and the like, but it rarely happens every day.

Difficult decisions

The ideal leader simply must be able to make difficult decisions. Moreover, even in situations where there is no unambiguously correct answer and you need to do at least something. As stated in the book of the same Adizes, in the vast majority of cases, inaction leads to much more unfortunate consequences thanwrong action. There are exceptions to any rule, and we can say that there are situations when it is better to just wait, but waiting in this case can also be regarded as an action. And so a real boss should always be ready not only to make such decisions, but also to bear responsibility for them, without shifting it onto the heads of subordinates who simply follow orders.

Cadres decide everything

The boss must be able to select employees so that they can perform absolutely all functions and fully realize the potential of the company. If a manager starts to do something other than general management, signing documents, negotiating with major clients, and making life-changing decisions for the organization, then one or more employees are selected incorrectly. In the most ideal situation, bosses are needed only in force majeure situations. And that's true both ways.

If people work and do their jobs well, even if they don't do it quite like the boss would, don't touch them. Ultimately, as experience is gained, the optimal solution and the most effective solution to the problem will be found independently. And when you try to force a subordinate to do something differently than he understands, you can simply derail the entire more or less well-functioning mechanism of work, and instead of higher indicators, get the completely opposite result.

Conclusion

SummingAs a result, we can say that the ideal leader must meet too many criteria at the same time. If there are such people, then their number is very small, and you can’t get enough of them for all firms, organizations and enterprises. So, a conditionally good boss will be the one who meets at least half of the indicators, including adequacy in the first place, without this important criterion, even the most excellent leader is unlikely to be able to effectively develop the organization and achieve good results.