Column: Positive ways to move and influence people through true leadership

Are you in a leadership position at church, a nonprofit, or business? Are you a successful leader? Would you like to be a more dynamic leader to build a better team? Knowing how to lead a team, not just manage it, is crucial in developing a high-performance organization that can get results.

Many businesses think they have an employee-performance problem, when, in fact, it is a leadership problem. Your leadership ability always determines your effectiveness and your impact on your business or organization.  

Success is within reach of just about everyone; however, without leadership ability your impact is only a small percentage of what it could be with good leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be.

Leadership has a multiplying effect and if leadership is strong, your team’s effectiveness will be high and have a greater positive impact on your business or organization.

Differences between leadership and management

Leading and managing have different outcomes. Leadership is about influencing people to follow your ideas and share your vision, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processes.

A leader can create positive change; managers can maintain direction but often can’t change it. 

To move people in a new direction, you need influence. A good leader will generate new ideas, be the problem solver, attract and retain sharp people, take the risks, and recognize opportunities. Understanding the difference between management and leadership is vital to every organization.

An effective leader is one who:

• identifies goals, develops a plan for getting to those goals, and shares the tools to execute the plan

• thinks about issues from multiple perspectives, and builds trust by listening and asking for feedback

• takes control and sets the tone of the business, and inspires performance, loyalty, and teamwork

• leads by example

• holds everyone accountable, all the time

• shares her knowledge and helps her team develop the skills needed to achieve success

• communicates well

• resolves problems as they surface

• knows how to influence her team

Identifying a real leader

A real leader isn’t identified by her title, but by her influence. The proof of a good leader is found in the followers. If your team identifies with your vision and follows you, you are a leader. A good leader will establish the ethical framework within an organization, providing a view of the future and the ability to obtain it.

Success can be achieved only when there is a unity of effort. A good leader knows that people work their best when they have a vision of what will be successful, and a good leader will give them that vision.

Strong leaders have good character, great relationships, experience, proven successes, and the willingness and the capacity to develop and improve their skills. You cannot become a good leader in one day: It takes experience based on previous work in business or your specific field or industry. A good leader will have a knowledge-base obtained from constantly working with issues, problems, or situations in different areas.  

A great leader shows drive, energy, determination, self-discipline, willpower, and nerve. She sees what she wants and goes after it, attracting followers who work with her to achieve positive goals.

Beverly Patronas is the owner and principal consultant of bp solutions, a business consulting service in Duluth.

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