Effective Leadership within the Workplace

If you’ve ever worked with an ineffective leader, you know that poor leadership always comes at a cost, especially working in public offices.

An ineffective leader can be demotivating and demoralizing, which can put a damper on productivity and the ability to reach goals. Not to mention it creates an uncomfortable workplace environment, and nobody wants that.

This, in turn, can adversely impact your team.  While few people would argue the importance of effective leadership, it can seem like an elusive idea. What really is effective leadership? What are the most important leadership qualities? And can anyone learn how to become an effective leader, and if so, how? This article will dive into the questions of how to be an effective leader in the public sector.

Are effective leaders born or created?

Let’s start off by answering some of the commonly asked questions about whether or not it makes sense to invest one’s energy to become a more efficient leader. After all, if leaders are born with inherent qualities that can’t be developed, why waste your time fighting a losing battle?

Fortunately, most of the reading material on the subject suggests that leaders are made. This means that while there are aspects of leadership that can in fact come more naturally to some people than others, a majority of leadership qualities can be developed. In other words, anyone can learn how to be a better leader. It requires commitment, but it can be done.

What makes an effective leader?

There isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach to effective leadership. From experience, I believe that leading through one’s unique strengths often yields better results rather than trying to emulate the style of other leaders. The most effective leaders consistently focus on the strengths of their fellow team members. This can help each team member feel empowered to do their best work and contribute to achieving the team’s goals. In turn, focusing on strengths usually leads to higher employee engagement and well-being, and gains in the organization’s bottom line.

Forming well-rounded teams

Effective leaders recognize they can’t excel in every position. In order to overcome this challenge, good leaders surround themselves with people who have complementary strengths, qualities, and skill sets. This results in high-performing teams.

Understand their team member’s needs

Effective leaders in the public sector need to understand and honour four basic needs of their team membes: trust, stability, compassion, and hope. People are motivated to work with leaders who are dependable, and who genuinely care about them and provide a solid and reliable foundation, inspiring hope for the future.

How to be an effective leader

Self-awareness

One of the most important things you can do to be an effective leader is to be more aware of your strengths, weaknesses, values, behaviours, and the impact you have on other people. Self-reflection is a good place to start becoming a more self-aware leader, but that’s not quite enough. Actively seeking feedback from your team and colleagues is also an important element of self-awareness.

Demonstrate honesty and integrity

Being trustworthy is an important quality to have in a good leader. It’s crucial that you maintain the highest levels of integrity and remain honest in your interactions with your team. Can you think of leaders you personally find easy to trust? What makes them trustworthy? What can you learn from them?

Leadership isn’t just a magical quality, anyone can become a more effective leader by developing more important skills. This process requires hard work, but it’s definitely well worth the effort.