The most important thing a Leader inside you must nurture

What makes an effective leader? This question is a focus of my research as an

organizational scientist, executive coach, and leadership development consultant.

Looking for answers, I recently completed the first round of a study of 195 leaders in 15

countries over 30 global organizations. Participants were asked to choose the 15 most

important leadership competencies from a list of 74. I’ve grouped the top ones into five

major themes that suggest a set of priorities for leaders and leadership development

programs. While some may not surprise you, they’re all difficult to master, in part

because improving them requires acting against our nature.

Demonstrates strong ethics and provides a sense of safety.

This theme combines two of the three most highly rated attributes: “high ethical and

moral standards” (67% selected it as one of the most important) and “communicating

clear expectations” (56%).

Taken together, these attributes are all about creating a safe and trusting environment. A

leader with high ethical standards conveys a commitment to fairness, instilling

confidence that both they and their employees will honor the rules of the game.

Similarly, when leaders clearly communicate their expectations, they avoid blindsiding

people and ensure that everyone is on the same page. In a safe environment employees

can relax, invoking the brain’s higher capacity for social engagement, innovation,

creativity, and ambition.

Neuroscience corroborates this point. When the amygdala registers a threat to our safety,

arteries harden and thicken to handle an increased blood flow to our limbs in preparation

for a fight-or-flight response. In this state, we lose access to the social engagement

system of the limbic brain and the executive function of the prefrontal cortex, inhibiting

creativity and the drive for excellence. From a neuroscience perspective, making sure

that people feel safe on a deep level should be job #1 for leaders.

But how? This competency is all about behaving in a way that is consistent with your

values. If you find yourself making decisions that feel at odds with your principles or

justifying actions in spite of a nagging sense of discomfort, you probably need to

reconnect with your core values. I facilitate a simple exercise with my clients called

“Deep Fast Forwarding” to help with this. Envision your funeral and what people say

about you in a eulogy. Is it what you want to hear? This exercise will give you a clearer

sense of what’s important to you, which will then help guide daily decision making.

To increase feelings of safety, work on communicating with the specific intent of making

people feel safe. One way to accomplish this is to acknowledge and neutralize feared

results or consequences from the outset. I call this “clearing the air.” For example, you

might approach a conversation about a project gone wrong by saying, “I’m not trying to

blame you. I just want to understand what happened.”