With rapid changes in the marketplace, technology, and an increasingly global marketplace, the traditional top-down autocratic leadership style is less relevant to modern organizations.
According to Forbes.com modern leadership is increasingly about social influence.
Social influence
This is where one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a certain task. A leader achieves this by modifying an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, or behavior to achieve the required goal.
This is a highly sought-after attribute for all businesses. A leader must exercise their power over a group of people using different methods with the aim of maximizing their efforts towards the achievement of a particular goal.
Maximizing The Effort of Others
Maximizing the efforts of others is an important part of the Leadership process. A Clever Leader engages the skills and effort of others – they do not try to do everything themselves.
Leadership is similar to a conductor who leads an orchestra. They don’t play all the instruments – they direct from the front and let the individual make the music. MakeMeClever.com
There are many different approaches to effective leadership, this is because the individuals, tasks, resources, timelines, and situations are always different. To maximize the effectiveness of any team, a leader must be able to adapt their approach to the situation.
Situational Leadership
This is where a leader adapts their style and approach to each situation to best meet the needs of their team.
“There is no one size fits all leadership style.” Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey.
Leaders need to understand and respect the members of their teams and understand their individual needs to be able to bring out the best in them.
Collaboration
If a leader has proven knowledge and expertise in the relevant area then it is much easier for them to gain the creditability they need to inspire and motivate their teams – but expertise is not always necessary. A leader cannot always be an ‘expert’ in all areas of their business. Clever leaders need to be flexible, ethical, and culturally aware to be credible, and must collaborate with their individual team members to be as effective as possible.
More Cleverness
Social Influence (External link)
Situational leadership (External link)
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Main Image by Magic Creative from Pixabay
Conductor: Image by artesitalia from Pixabay