By Scena Webb
November 9, 2017
What is effective leadership? Some people believe that being effective as a leader is knowing your team. Some people believe that being effective as a leader is being in control of most situations. While others believe effective leadership is a buzzword, elusive in practice. I argue that effective leadership is a matter of perspective and uniquely a Leadership Quotient (LQ).
LQ is not a new term but one that makes intuitive sense when thinking about how a person demonstrates leadership. According to work done by Robert Service, “The leadership quotient: Measuring toward improve”, learning to measure what leadership looks like will allow a person to define their leadership quotient. Knowing and understanding LQ allows a leader to increase their leadership skills. Esteemed author, the late Franklin Covey’s team offers a 360° assessment to help people understand their LQ.
For public administrators who have the awesome responsibility to provide leadership across a kaleidoscope of professions, the knowledge and know-how of increasing effective leadership using LQ translates to managing more effectively. Serving the public at a high level of leadership awareness removes the clouds of possible confusion for internal and external customers. Who would not want to gain such clarity?
The key elements from this article are:
- Search for ways to practice clarity in your leadership by stating what you expect for work products and modeling the behavior you expect from the people you lead.
- Understand the elements in your Leadership Quotient and use the strengths of those elements as you lead.
- Engage in a 360° evaluation to gain feedback from your internal and external customers that will help you go back to the first point of clarifying your leadership practice.
Author: Scena works as a Life Coach working with emerging leaders who want to increase their leadership practice.
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