Ingredients of an Ideal Boss: Leadership Competencies

Leaders that work effectively with high standards care about creating a safe and trusting environment, where they convey a commitment to fairness, ensure that both they and their subordinates would act according to the procedures and that everyone is on the same page, and also clearly communicate their expectations toward others. It also needs to be noted that no leader can do anything by themselves, so it is important for leaders to distribute the power that they have and rely on the decision-making of others as well. To distribute their power effectively, leaders need to provide their subordinates with the tools to make high-quality decisions and the right guidance. Chris Toth, CEO of Varian, told HBR that a leader’s role is not to be the one who makes the decision or to be the smartest person in the room. In fact, he thinks that it can be dangerous if the decision-making always goes to the leader. Instead, leaders must create a culture of compassion and empowerment that is accepting of diverse perspectives.

Leaders must also encourage learning towards their subordinates by giving the flexibility to others to change their opinion over the time, being open to new ideas, and providing an environment that supports the process of trial and error. To do all of these actions, leaders first need to be open to learning and changing course themselves and acknowledge their own mistakes. Not only do leaders need to be supportive and encouraging towards learning, but they also have to motivate their subordinates in growing their career. When leaders show a commitment to their subordinates’ growth, they would feel the need to reciprocate because they feel appreciated, which leads to better retention and company growth overall. Thus, when a safe, supportive, and open-minded environment is successfully built by a leader, subordinates would feel comfortable and feel connected toward their co-workers and organization’s purpose and goals. Research by HBR suggests that a sense of connection could impact someone’s productivity and emotional well-being, and that those who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to be engaged and loyal and to promote their workplace or organization. A sense of connection will eventually lead people to see how their unique individual talents and effort create a meaningful outcome in the team and organization, which enable their sense of belonging towards the organization and improve both their and the organization’s performance.

As mentioned before, the competencies that are needed by leaders may look very simple, but are actually hard to be mastered because it pushes them to act against their nature as a human.

In reality, there are still many leaders who are unable to execute their role properly. One of the most recent cases that came to light was the allegation of unfair treatment that is done by a startup towards their interns. Recently, an education media startup has been getting backlash after testimonies and allegations of them underpaying and mistreating their interns went viral on social media, in which the leader of the startup later on acknowledged the allegations and apologized for his wrongdoings. There are many other cases that happen in reality, both that are known by the public and are still obscured, where leaders show the behaviors that are the opposite of a strong and effective leader’s behaviors and competencies. That being the case, it is time for leaders to let go of the behaviors that do not reflect strong leadership and mistreat their subordinates because it is damaging not just for them, but also for the organization as well. It is important for leaders to work on themselves, so they could exhibit strong leader competencies.