“How Should Your Leaders Behave?” by Kevin Sharer

Thu 24 Oct 2013 Set the Standard for Great Leadership One proven way to develop effective leaders is to focus on the behaviors you expect them to display. (1) Spell out these activities personally with your top team ; NOT through consultants, facilitators, or how-to books ! (2) In these conversations, discuss what a leader in your organization should do . For example, act as a role model or motivate others—and describe each behavior with enough specificity to inform selection, training, and evaluation. Be precise, real, and action-oriented. (3) By describing these qualities as BEHAVIOURS (rather than as character traits) you’ll underscore two messages: (a) It isn’t worth much to have an attribute that you don’t display ! (b) And if you fall short of what the best leaders do, you can still close that gap ! All behaviours can be learned . Emphasizing behavior over traits also opens the door to style differences, as long as leaders maintain the standards you’ve set. Adapted from “How Should Your Leaders Behave?” by Kevin Sharer