What Every Leader Needs

The Ten Universal and Indisputable Competencies of Leadership Effectiveness

Adam C. Bandelli Ph.D.

• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781636301365
• eBook ISBN: 9781636301389
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

What Every Leader Needs

The Ten Universal and Indisputable Competencies of Leadership Effectiveness

What does it take to be a leader? What separates the great leaders from the average ones? How do leaders thrive and have the best impact on their people? In What Every Leader Needs, Dr. Adam C. Bandelli outlines the ten leadership skills that are critical to your success. Using personal stories and case studies from twenty years of experience as an organizational psychologist and leadership advisory management consultant, Dr. Bandelli explains why each competency is must have in your leadership repertoire. No matter where you are in your leadership journey, learning and practicing these skills will dramatically affect the way that you lead. Beyond discussing the ten key leadership competencies, this book will challenge you to put the skills into action. Each chapter lays out a blueprint for how you can improve as a leader.

From Fortune 100 CEOs down to small business owners, this book is for the leader in you. It will help you to develop and polish the essential leadership competencies necessary to get you to the top and keep you there. No matter what your unique leadership style is, What Every Leader Needs, will serve as a guide that you can keep coming back to as you develop and grow. Investing in who you are as a leader will dramatically impact your effectiveness and influence with others. Leadership matters now more than ever before. The leaders of today will help shape society tomorrow. This book will help you get there – it will bring you greater confidence, satisfaction, and fulfillment in how you lead.

Bringing It All Together

Leaders are not born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal.

—Vince Lombardi

Leadership is a journey, not a destination. Although we all are born with talents, skills, and capabilities, leadership development takes time. You have to be willing to put in the hard work and effort if you want to grow as a leader. Some of the best leaders make it a habit to continuously learn. They understand that there are always new things they can add to their leadership toolkit. At the same time, they are curious and look for ways to consistently stay on their game. I look for these traits and personality factors when I work with my clients. The leader who has an appetite to grow is the leader who gets the best out of their personal development.

We live in a world of ever-evolving change and uncertainty. The challenges that leaders face today have never been seen before. That’s why effective leadership matters now more than ever. As a leader, you’re called to serve. You are called to set an example for others. You are called to motivate and inspire your people. When you’re a leader, people watch what you say and do. Your actions speak louder than your words. There are rewards and consequences for what you do. Your actions can build people up or tear them down. The right action, taken at the right point in time, can thrust an organization forward. On the other hand, one wrong decision can have a lasting negative effect on your people.

Vision is about developing a clear sense of mission and purpose that provides direction to others. Leaders who clearly translate and communicate vision, goals, and priorities in a simple and succinct manner get buy-in and commitment from their people. They create alignment by communicating what’s most important. When they model and reinforce the vision, employees understand how their responsibilities tie into the bigger picture. Visionary leaders are strong strategic thinkers. They are bright and analytical. They can quickly assimilate and synthesize complex processes and information. They see future trends and patterns that will impact their business. When leaders set the vision, they help people understand why the company’s desired outcomes are so important.

Passion is about demonstrating a positive and optimistic sense of energy and enthusiasm for people to follow. Passionate leaders operate with a never-ending desire to be the best in their area of expertise. They are fully engaged in their work. They talk beyond today and anticipate new possibilities for their people, teams, and organizations. They rally people behind a core mission and purpose. Passionate leaders are also action-oriented and decisive. They take a hands-on approach to their work. They keep people motivated and focused on the right priorities. They manage resistance and fear of change at all levels with openness, clarity, and objectivity. They are optimistic and hopeful. This encourages people to do the same. Passionate leaders are highly self-motivated. They actively encourage and reinforce the right mindset to drive success.

Commitment is about persevering with confidence and composure under difficult and high-stress situations. Committed leaders have the fortitude to stay the course and make tough decisions for the benefits of the enterprise. They create viable feedback loops with key stakeholders to anticipate needs and track performance. They focus the necessary resources on priorities that will improve current processes and procedures. Committed leaders are comfortable with ambiguity. They foster clarity of purpose and prioritization during times of change and uncertainty. They persist in overcoming obstacles from all sources—from the organization, from their team, from customers, and from senior leadership.

Vigilant leaders demonstrate personal accountability and ownership for decisions, results, and consequences. They establish role clarity and accountabilities regarding deliverables, time lines, and key milestones. They use structure, process, and clear expectations to keep people focused on the right priorities. They prioritize effectively so that the best use of talent, time, and resources can be allocated to the right issues. They instill a sense of urgency. They tackle problems head on and take decisive action to drive results. Vigilance is about challenging yourself and others to improve processes for greater long-term impact. When leaders are vigilant, they consistently exceed expectations and goals. They deliver results that raise the bar on performance. They do not allow competing demands to take away from their goals.

Consistency is about leading with character, courage, and integrity at all times. Consistent leaders remain calm under pressure and deliver on their commitments. They communicate good and bad news in a straightforward and honest way. They demonstrate the courage of their convictions. They know when to listen and when to press a point. They understand and embrace the burdens as well as the benefits of leadership. Consistent leaders pragmatically deal with situations in an emotionally mature and even-handed manner. They are motivated by more than personal gain and advancement. They promote the greater good of the organization. They respect and value core attributes of the company’s culture while proactively seeking to enhance it. They inspire trust through both words and actions.

Endurance is about having stamina, resilience, and tenacity to achieve one’s goals. Leaders who possess endurance remain persistent under adversity and setbacks. They effectively delegate responsibilities to team members in order to maximize efforts toward goal attainment. They know how to play at the right level. They empower others to make and own decisions within their areas of responsibility. When leaders have endurance, they thrive under pressure. They have effective strategies and resources for managing pressure and stress. They can readily shift attention between strategic and tactical issues. They get to the root causes of problems and find solutions to continually generate productive results. They create cultures where people are decisive about what needs to be done rather than waiting to be told what to do.

Compassionate leaders have an impact on people through communication, social awareness, and relational intelligence. They build trust by using their emotional intelligence to understand the emotions and well-being of others. They empathize with the experiences of others and do not overly rely on their personal experience. Compassionate leaders have the ability to connect with others and build long-term sustainable relationships. They take time to establish rapport with new colleagues. They understand people and value individual differences. They value diversity. They use their influence for good. They possess a deep understanding and the ability to anticipate the needs of others through listening and observation. Compassionate leaders also know what people are good at and put them in situations where they will succeed. They understand their employees’ strengths and weaknesses and actively coach and mentor people to develop their capabilities.

Inspirational leaders motivate, encourage, and influence others to drive results. They give people something to believe in and establish a rallying cry for the organization. They inspire followership. They attract, retain, and engage a diverse and talented workforce. They empower employees by providing them with the freedom and autonomy to make appropriate decisions. They earn people’s trust by delivering on promises and reducing barriers and restrictions to information exchange. They challenge...

Table of contents

• Vision
• Passion
• Commitment
• Vigilance
• Consistency
• Endurance
• Compassion
• Inspiration
• Innovation
• Wisdom
• Bringing It All Together