At Insight Experience, we’re fortunate to work with leaders at all levels, in companies large and small, and we get lots of great and thoughtful questions from them. Here’s a list of the ones we hear most often:
1). Is there such a thing as a born leader, or can leadership be learned?
Leaders must be learners. Every great leader has developed their skills and learned from their experience. True, you may be born with traits that are assets, but there’s no guaranteed set of intelligence or personality markers that automatically create a great leader.
2) How do I know if I’m effective as a leader?
Is your organization achieving its goals? Is it developing into one that is stronger today than it was yesterday? Does your team give you feedback (both positive and negative)? If you’re answering no to any of these questions, it’s time to take a look at your approach.
3) At what level in an organization do individuals become leaders?
A leader sets direction, engages a team, and manages resources to reach a goal. This can be done for an ad hoc project team of three or for an organization of 40,000. It’s not dependent on spans of control or budget authority.
4) Do bad leaders know they’re ineffective?
Being self-aware is a vital characteristic of a good leader. That’s because it enables you to engage followers, listen to others, and respond well to feedback. Bad leaders may have lots of other characteristics they need —great passion and drive, for instance—but they’re often unaware of their impact on others. So, no. Sadly, they don’t know they’re not living up to expectations.
5) How can I define my own leadership voice?
It’s simple: Care deeply about what you want to accomplish. Much has been written about the power of purpose and how it’s the catalyst and propulsion of leadership. Once you have a clear sense of what you want to achieve and why, you’ll find that your “voice” will follow.
6) How can I help my team become better leaders?
Start where employees are—not where you want them to be. Then give them constructive and reinforcing feedback as specifically and as often as possible.
7) Can an introvert be a leader?
Absolutely. Leadership builds on vision and direction, and both introverts and extroverts have the skills to frame goals and engage the team.
8) How can I develop my leadership skills?
Adults largely learn through experience, which includes experimentation and feedback. The challenge on the job is that the results and feedback cycles are often far removed from when leadership action is taken. That’s where business simulations can be a powerful tool. A simulated environment telescopes time and helps you see and learn from feedback you receive.
9) How can I tell if I’m making progress in developing my skills?
Good business results or progress to your objective is one macro measure, but to get feedback on your personal progress, ask your team. Be transparent about what you’re working on and solicit feedback at regular intervals.
10) Is business leadership getting tougher?
Yes. Leadership today requires integration of more information, increasing cycles of faster decisions, and more visibility than ever before. However, the universal elements of leadership are timeless: setting direction, engaging the team, and marshaling resources are skills that have served leaders for millennia.
And they are skills well worth developing wherever you are on your leadership journey.
