In the last post, we reviewed seven leadership lessons from the book "The Practice of Leadership." Each chapter in the book offers practical advice from top experts in areas of leadership research and practice. Let's continue with some additional lessons about less common aspects of effective leadership:
How to Lead During Tough Times.
Mitchell Lee Marks, an expert in helping leaders and organizations through mergers and acquisitions, suggests that leading during difficult times requires empathy to help followers to realize that times are difficult and that recovery may take some time. He also suggests that leaders need to be fully engaged, to help members support the new directions or processes, and that leaders need to be inspirational to keep motivation and energy in the workforce.
How to Lead at the Strategic Level.
In order to lead at the strategic level, leaders should use a shared vision to energize followers - a vision created collaboratively with followers. David Waldman suggests that it is imperative that leaders focus on social responsibility and consider multiple stakeholders, demonstrate integrity, and be straightforward in sharing information with the organization's stakeholders.
How Effective Boards Lead.
Jay Conger suggests a number of practical studies to help corporate boards lead. A more detailed version is presented in his recent book, "The New Boardroom Realities." Conger suggests that board members need to see themselves as playing a leadership role. A board should also have a majority of independent directors, and the board should analyze issues and problems independently (don't rely only on information provided by the CEO, for example).
How to Lead During Crisis
Crisis expert, Ian Mitroff, says to lead successfully in a crisis-ridden world, a leader should be proactive and imagine worst-case scenarios, prepare the organization for such cases, and actually prepare for crises and practice crisis leadership strategies. For example, in the wake of school shootings, many schools and universities are practicing emergency lockdowns.
How to Lead Diverse Organizations
Thinking broadly about culture, beyond simply gender and racial diversity, leaders need to provide a unifying vision and promote a theme of acceptance. Leaders should champion diversity, be flexible and adaptable, insightful and inclusive, and set challenging goals and positive expectations for all followers. Experts Lynn Offermann and Kenneth Matos suggest the use of mentoring to promote better understanding of persons from diverse backgrounds.
How to Lead Across Cultures
Expert Mary Teagarden suggests that leaders need to develop their "cultural intelligence" by requiring executives to get significant experience in international assignments, through cultural training, good leader selection strategies and incorporating cultural competence in performance feedback.
As you can see, leading in today's world is not easy, but there are certain best practices identified by top experts that help organizational leaders to be more successful
