Are You A Strong Or A Hard Leader?
The difference between leading and managing
In C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, “The Great Lion” Aslan is a symbol of courageous leadership. As fierce and strong as he is, so gently and lovingly he leads the children through their perilous journeys in the magical world of Narnia.
Being strong and being hard is not the same thing. Something that is hard breaks easily when under pressure. Something strong bends and flexes, following the changing forces around it, while keeping it’s original essence. Like Aslan, a strong leader is flexible while a hard leader is rigid and unwilling to change.
A hard leader follows rules blindly, making no exceptions, and easily says no to enforce his power. A hard leader demands loyalty. A strong leader, however, earns it. Strong leaders are flexible and approachable, making exceptions to the rules where it is called for, focused on empowering his people.
Where a hard leader demands compliance, a strong leader allows his people to follow him by choice.
How do you notice a strong leader?
As an employer or recruiter, how do you recognize a soft, but strong leader? What do you look for and how do you evaluate the soft skills that can not be written on a CV?
1. A strong leader is an influencer, not the influenced
You don’t have to be the CEO in order to be a leader or an influencer. An influencer is someone people look up to voluntarily. A role model.
To evaluate the level of influence an individual has, present them with a current issue within your organization or team, leaving out some critical piece of information, and give them an opportunity to advise you on the best solution to follow.
An influencer will only respond once they are fully clear on the problem and will confidently suggest a practical solution that is simple, yet effective. Their answers will usually be short and concise and will convince you without having to spend hours explaining why it is a good idea.
It will be obvious.
If they can influence you, they will be able to influence other people too.
2. A strong leader has strong boundaries
Like river walls contain the water flowing within it, boundaries contain our values in the workplace. Sacrificing our boundaries ultimately leads to a flood, destroying everything around us rather than nurturing and feeding as intended.
Weak boundaries, weak values. Strong boundaries, strong values.
To evaluate the boundaries of a potential candidate, ask them what their expectations are about the working conditions, and then offer them something less and see how they respond.
3. A strong leader allows rather than controls
A strong leader doesn’t micro manage as they trust their team and empowers them to deliver. They present a goal to the team and then allow them to succeed or fail, without influencing how the work gets done. Rather than focusing on how, they focus on why and ensures adequate resources are available. This allows the team to come up with creative solutions.
Determining the difference between a leader who allows and a micro-manager, brief them on a small project and ask them to draw, rather than talk about, the solution.
An allowing leader will focus on the goal and the why around the project. They will clarify the boundaries and they will ensure that there is a clear feedback loop back from the delivery team, with clear requirements around communication. How the team delivers will be a black box.
A micro manager, on the other hand, will tend to focus on the how and include detail in areas out of his control.
4. A strong leader is an effective communicator
A strong leader listens more than speak, but when they speak, they are very clear on their message and is able to present it in the least possible amount of words. They articulate their message clearly without repeating themselves, and they ask a lot of questions.
To evaluate someone’s communication skills, present them with an issue or question and carefully notice their body language while you are speaking. Notice whether they are fully engaged, trying to understand the problem, or trying to formulate an answer as you speak. See how many questions they ask and whether they clarify assumptions. Finally, listen to how many words they use to give a satisfactory answer to the issue.
5. A strong leader has good judgement
This is probably one of the hardest things to articulate in words, as it really depends on each situation, but a strong leader will be able to demonstrate good judgement at all times.
To evaluate judgement skills, present the employee with a situation in your current workplace where you recently had to make a judgement call and ask them for their advice. Listen for questions or other indications that they are seeking to understand.
See whether the employee only focuses on one person’s perspective, or whether they also take other people’s opinions into consideration, including external factors.
Good judgement can only be made once a fair and complete evaluation of all sides of the issue has been obtained.
Conclusion
Strong leaders are people who listen more than what they speak. They communicate fairly and has good judgement and they empower their teams rather than telling them what to do.
Originally published at peopledevelopmentmagazine.com on June 3, 2016.
