Four questions to ask yourself if you’re a leader
Whether you’re reading the Harvard Business Review, Science of People, or Fastcompany, the word on everyone’s lips seems to be conscientious leadership. I’m sure that over your career, you’ve met people who have inspired you in ways you’d never anticipated. A good leader isn’t always a person in a position of power or responsibility. They’re someone who inspires others. They bring people together. They have the ability to transform a working environment for the better.
And while experts have all kinds of things to say about what makes a good leader, they’re mostly variations on the four questions below. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does provide a quick self-check for leadership.
Even if you’re not in charge of anyone right now, preparing yourself with these questions may serve you in the future.
Here are the four questions every leader should ask themselves if they want to leave a net positive in their organization and the lives of their team.
1. Am I self-aware?
Self-awareness is a tricky, fickle thing. Neuroscience shows that the human brain has an automatic function. Each of us is programmed to believe that we’ve stumbled into the correct path, that somehow — through sheer chance and good fortune — the values we have are the right ones. Combine that with the fact that most of us are constantly rationalizing away our decisions in a way that puts them in the best possible light and it leaves a lot of room to wonder. Can we be objectively self-aware? Even if you disregard the science, you can’t know what you don’t know about yourself, right?
Well, according to author Mark C. Crowley, business advisors at Stanford and professors at Harvard are in agreement that self-awareness is the most important trait that a leader should possess. This is not just about knowing how you behave towards others, it’s about objectively assessing what you’re lacking and what aspects of your history or personality might cause problems within the context of leading others.
That level of self-awareness is an engine for self-improvement. If you’re able to be honest with yourself on that level, then you’re emotionally intelligent enough to look for solutions and techniques to grow as a person. People who are continuously improving themselves are much more likely to inspire others and become conscientious leaders.
2. Do I focus on visible contributions or valuable ones?
There’s nothing wrong with a little impression management. But if that’s all you’re doing, there’s a good chance you’re not inspiring your team. You’re showing them that what’s valued is what makes the most noise. The people around you might even feel like they need to compete against you to be more visible.
Worse, they might develop the mentality that so long as they aren’t the least visible, they’re doing fine. Introverts who might be adding a lot of value will suffer in this kind of work environment.
An attention hog is no leader.
A leader should be supporting the activities and growth of everyone on their team. You can be the one who identifies valuable contributions that others in the organization might not notice and you can shine a light on them. Make sure that those responsible get their time in the limelight.
Recommended by LinkedIn
3. Am I nurturing my team’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivations?
In simple terms, intrinsic motivations are about self-satisfaction and feeling valued at work. Extrinsic motivation is about monetary rewards and benefits for value delivered. Do you consider the latter a replacement for the former? How are you showing your people that you value them?
While, of course, maintaining a good balance of the two kinds of motivations is important, you have to be sure that intrinsic motivation is identified and nurtured.
Is someone coming to you for decisions that they can be making themselves? Don’t just encourage them to make the decisions on their own. Express to them that you trust them, that you’re confident that they’ll make the right call. Then, when they succeed, praise their successes to the others on the team and be specific about what they did. When they fail, tell them that’s part of the deal and that they’ll grow resilient as they learn from their mistakes.
There are many ways to make people feel valued. If you’re feeling stumped, set up an anonymous suggestion box and ask the team to express what would make them feel more valued at work.
4. Can my leadership style endure the ocean?
This one’s just a way of remembering the acronym OCEAN. It stands for:
According to thought leaders Robert McCrae and Paul Costa, those are the big five dimensions of personality. While research has shown that personality tests are mostly bogus, with people able to fake any personality type intuitively, the Big Five model listed above seems to be the only one enduring scientific rigor.
If you know how to deal with people within the extremes of each of those five personality traits and also motivate them, chances are that you’re an exceptional leader.
Did we cover everything?
What do you think about these four questions? Have we left out anything glaring? Drop us your thoughts in the comments and let’s learn something new together! Sharing is caring…
Master degree in International Project Management - English & Japanese. I am actively looking for an employment in Japan including my passions. Give me a chance to demonstrate how I can contribute to the organisation!
2yVery interesting, especially questions 1 and 3. On question 4 (OCEAN), I will look for papers on the subject. There is something valuable to learn here! Also, "The human brain has an automatic function. Each of us is programmed to believe that (...) the values we have are the right ones" and that is exactly why confronting to people and to interculturality is so important in my opinion.