Presented By
Getty Images

I’ve posted a lot about effective leaders. Looking back, what patterns do we see?

Know The Power Of Feelings

Leaders who just focus on results don’t do nearly as well as those that also pay attention to relationships.

Via Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect:

Paying attention to employee feelings matters.

What’s the difference between exemplary and good employees? They care.

Via Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don’t Act) Responsibly:

What strategies really improve organizations? Research involving 400 people across 130 companies came up with a simple answer:

You must change individual behavior by addressing employee feelings.

Via Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard:

(More on being a well-rounded leader here.)

…But Be Tough In A Crisis

The one time people definitely want a take-charge, decisive dictator is during a crisis.

Via Bold Endeavors: Lessons from Polar and Space Exploration:

(More on balancing toughness with warmth here.)

Know What Makes Employees Stay And Leave

Employees are made happy by achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement.

They are most often made dissatisfied by policies, supervisors and work conditions.

Via HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing People:

(More on building great teams here.)

Judge People By What They’re Good At

If you want people who are competent at everything you’ll end up with a team of mediocrities.

Better to get the best person in a discipline and support them with others who can compensate for their weak spots.

Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

(More from the best management thinker ever here.)

Hubris Is Your Greatest Weakness

Don’t get full of yourself. That’s the downfall of nearly all great leaders.

In my interview with Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda, author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, I asked him about the biggest mistake leaders make:

(More on resisting common leadership errors here.)

Culture Is What You Do, Not What You Say

Cultures are formed by the behavior that is rewarded in a company, not pretty words.

So if the top salesperson gets treated like a king — despite how abusively he treats people — congratulations, that’s your culture, no matter what’s on slide 47 of the PowerPoint deck.

Via How Will You Measure Your Life?:

(More on building a rock solid company culture here.)

Know The Difference Between Leaders And Managers

The goal of management is consistency and order.

The goal of leadership is to motivate and create necessary change.

Management is about processes. Leadership is about people’s feelings.

Via John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do

(More on moving from great manager to great leader here.)

Know Thyself

What can you learn from an Army Ranger about leadership? Knowing your limitations is key to being a great leader:

(More on how effective leaders spend their time here.)

Convey Authority And Warmth

People expect leaders to carry themselves a certain way. What’s the secret? Convey authority and warmth.

Via The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help–or Hurt–How You Lead:

(More on how to appear like a leader here.)

Inspire By Showing People The Importance Of Their Jobs

How do you inspire people? Show them why their jobs are important.

Noah Goldstein, co-author of Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, reviews a study:

What magic do both the speeches of Martin Luther King and the marketing of Apple have that move us to believe and act?

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, has an interesting theory:

(And when all else fails, yes, nagging works.)

Sum Up

Ten things you can do to be like the best:

  1. Know The Power Of Feelings
  2. …But Be Tough In A Crisis
  3. Know What Makes Employees Stay And Leave
  4. Judge People By What They’re Good At
  5. Hubris Is Your Greatest Weakness
  6. Culture Is What You Do, Not What You Say
  7. Managers Are About Processes, Leaders Are About People
  8. Know Thyself
  9. Convey Authority And Warmth
  10. Inspire By Showing People The Importance Of Their Jobs

Join 45K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

Related posts:

How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails

6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You Want

Which professions have the most psychopaths? The fewest?

This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

You May Also Like
EDIT POST