The Ingredients of Leadership: Direction, Protection and Order

Great leadership is a force that inspires and energises people to achieve the greatest success through reaching common goals in a connected and cohesive way. Great leadership positively transforms organisations. The essential ingredients of what constitutes this force are simple and clear. Leaders provide three things … direction, protection and order.

DIRECTION

To be a leader we have to have followers. To gain followers, they need to know where they are headed. To achieve this, leaders must establish and communicate a clear and inspiring vision, or purpose, articulated in a way that matters, in a way that will make people want to share it and follow it. They must have a well-defined sense of what the future will look like, developing an unshakeable confidence in this vision prior to its execution. It’s important to welcome contributions towards the strategy for accomplishing the end goal, engaging teams, ensuring everyone feels a personal connection to the vision.

Through playing an active role in the implementation of a compelling vision a leader will demonstrate their passion and instill trust in their team.

Responsibility lies firmly at the feet of leaders to efficiently motivate and guide people towards excellent outcomes; doing this with clarity, joy and minimal disruption will get the best results. Set clear milestones, help determine whether the team is on the right track and whether sufficient progress is being made, and invest time in creating optimal conditions for cohesive teamwork between people.

PROTECTION

Humans perform well when they feel safe and protected in a trusting environment where they truly know the people in their community. It is a duty of leadership to put in place measures to protect themselves, their people and their organisation not only to provide a safe working environment, but also to promote the encouragement of ethical interactions amongst team members. A good leader develops policies that safeguard job security and employees’ health, both physical and mental. They advocate and exercise fairness across the board and intervene when conflicts arise. Good leaders can think on their feet, are proactive at stepping in with solutions, once they have fully understood the issue at hand. They listen, analyse and make sound judgments in the absence of fear or favour. A great leader works hard to cultivate a culture of respect and continuous feedback in their team. A team who buys into a leader’s approach will work harder to accomplish goals, be more productive and engaged which in turn gives a leader more time to focus on the bigger picture.

ORDER

A core component of a leader’s role is creating, defining and implementing clear structures and processes that enable everyone around them to know what to do next. In this way, a leader can set up their team for success encouraging freedom to move of their own volition, agility in their thinking and everyone to be connected to one another’s work and contribution. A leader can delegate to their team tasks that are in service of creating depth in knowledge and personal growth. They provide clarity and ensure their team are equipped with the resources they need to fulfill their best potential and that they understand the deliverables and deadlines for projects.
Leaders must make themselves available for feedback and queries. They need to communicate clear deadlines and generate motivation to meet them. They must provide timely praise, reward commendable achievements, address departments or individuals who are under performing and encourage team members to share their thoughts on projects.

Leadership is a heavyweight task, and every day is a learning day. Incorporating these 3 essential ingredients will maximise your chances of achieving transformational success.

Tania Watson is the founder of Creative Coaching and an executive coach, organisational consultant and leadership specialist. Creative Coaching is a successful company dedicated to the development of senior leaders in organisations through one to one coaching, intact team development and group facilitation. If you or someone from your organisation would like to have a no obligation conversation about how Creative Coaching may be able to help, please email Tania directly at tania@twcreativecoaching.com.