Qualities ofExceptional Leaders

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CONGRATULATIONS!You’ve just been promoted and are now a new leader. Now the real work begins. You want your employees to do great work and find ways to bring out the best they have to o�er. You want your team to respect and not fear you—to feel at any time they can turn to you for advice and guidance. How can you achieve all this and still do your own day-to-day work?

qualities you should strive forwhen leading great work. These qualities will not

only help you, but will also inspire andencourage great results.

8Here are

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234790

Exceptional Leaders are:Honest

Fair

Encouraging

Inspiring

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Great Communicators

Transparent

Great Recognizers

Great Mentors

1. BE A GREAT COMMUNICATOR

Honest

Fair

Encouraging

Inspiring

Communication is essential in any relationship. Make sure you establish clear paths of communication with your employees and make time for regular check-ins. Part of communication is being approachable. Create an environmentwhere employees feel comfortable asking youquestions and asking for help when needed.

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Here are three questions to keep in mind as you communicate any project to your team:

What is it I’m really asking my employees to do?

Why am I asking my employees to do this?

What am I really expecting my employees to do?

As you clearly express to your employees the answers to these questions, they’ll better understand what they are being asked to do.

http://blog.octanner.com/leadership/the-classic-over-squeeze-its-not-just-about-tacoshttp://blog.octanner.com/leadership/dont-be-a-miscommunication-manager-pitfalls-to-avoid

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2. BE TRANSPARENT

Being upfront and open with the work that your employees are assigned to—and your expectations of the outcomes—is important in establishing a trustworthy relationship. Communicate often and openly to stop rumors or uncertainty. If you’re behind on your goals and changes need to be made, let them know. If the company needs to make budget cuts, let them know. Help your employees feel confident with the work they’re doing by keeping them in the loop.

Lead out in establishing a culture that recognizes great work. As you appreciate your employee’s e�orts, you’ll see them rise to the next occasion. In fact, a recent study found that of all the things companies do—raises, promotions, benefits, on-site gyms, and more—recognition significantly rose to the top as the number one thing that “caused” people to do great work.

3. BE A GREAT RECOGNIZER

“I really appreciate sincere appreciation and

recognition. I am paid to do a job – I agreed to the

job for my salary. Salary doesn’t drive my motivation.

I appreciate it and like it, but it doesn’t make me

perform any better.”

—2014 Cicero Research Study participant

http://blog.octanner.com/appreciation-2/new-research-reveals-what-causes-people-to-produce-great-work

Here are five tips to remember to ensure your recognition is meaningful:

1 Be timely. Recognize as close to the moment as possible.

2 Be specific. Call out exactly what they did and keep the recognition in context.

3 Recognize in the appropriate volume/scale.

4 Focus on being authentic rather than automatic.

5 Make sure it’s tied to the employee’s perception of value.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2013/01/13/5-ways-leaders-rock-employee-recognition/

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Let’s face it, you’ve been put into a leadership position because you’re good at what you do. Take this opportunity to share your insights and show your employees new ways to approach their work. Hold training meetings and lunch roundtables, giving everyone the opportunity to share best practices and learn from each other. Create an overall atmosphere of encouragement, collaboration, and communication.

4. BE A GREAT MENTOR

Lead out in establishing a culture that recognizes great work. As you appreciate your employee’s e�orts, you’ll see them rise to the next occasion. In fact, a recent study found that of all the things companies do—raises, promotions, benefits, on-site gyms, and more—recognition significantly rose to the top as the number one thing that “caused” people to do great work.

Honesty is right up there with transparency when it comes to critical leadership qualities. Help employees see that they will benefit from being honest in the work place.Everyone makes mistakes, but if you create anenvironment where employees feel safe to admittheir mistakes, everyone benefits.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-atmosphere-honesty-workplace-10098.html

5. BE UPFRONT AND HONEST

6. PRACTICE FAIRNESS

Show your employees you value the work they do by treating them fairly. If one of your employees excels at something and would be better suited for a project than a more senior member of the team, help them work together. As you encourage fairness across the board, your employees will have greater respect for you.

...AND DONT PLAY FAVORITESPlaying favorites will get you nowhere. It will leaveyour team members frustrated and upset that theyare not getting the same opportunities. Promoteequality by encouraging and advocating youremployees whether they are your favorite or not.

Let’s face it, you’ve been put into a leadership position because you’re good at what you do. Take this opportunity to share your insights and show your employees new ways to approach their work. Hold training meetings and lunch roundtables, giving everyone the opportunity to share best practices and learn from each other. Create an overall atmosphere of encouragement, collaboration, and communication.

Setting goals for improvement will help your team grow and learn more. Make it a standard to learn new things and give others opportunities to share their talents through trainings and seminars. A spirit of collaboration will encourage your employees to teach one another and develop new talents. And of course, creating an atmosphere of innovation and growth benefits everyone.

7. ENCOURAGEGROWTH

“As a company grows, it must change, and those

changes are only possible when employees take

on new challenges, expand their capabilities,

cultivate new behaviors, and entertain new ideas.

In other words, companies grow when the people

inside them grow first.”

—Geo�rey James

http://www.inc.com/geo�rey-james/why-employees-personal-growth-matters.html

Inspire your employees to achieve great things. Take the necessary time to get to know each person on your team and find out what they’re passionate about, what they love to do and not do. Use this knowledge to help your employees excel and become involved in projects where they’ll want to do their best work.

8. BE INSPIRATIONAL

In Dr. Kevin and Dr. Jackie Freiberg’s book, Do Something Now they discuss “seven things the most successful leaders frequently say” to inspire great work among their employees.

THEY INCLUDE

1 “Here’s our plan.”

2 “What do you need?”

3 “Tell me more.”

4 “Way to live our values.”

http://blog.octanner.com/appreciation-2/change-your-words-change-your-world

5 “You can count on me.”

6 “We can do better.”

7 “Let’s celebrate!”

All and all, embrace these eight qualities and you will

become an exceptional leader—a leader who takes their

team to new heights and greatness. In essence: you’ll

become the leader your employees love to love.

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5 “You can count on me.”

6 “We can do better.”

7 “Let’s celebrate!”

O.C. TANNER AND THE O.C. TANNER INSTITUTEO.C. Tanner, number 40 on the 2015 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, helps organizations inspire and appreciate great work. Thousands of clients globally use the company’s cloud-based technology, tools, and awards to provide meaningful recognition for their employees. The O.C. Tanner Institute regularly commissions research and provides a global forum for exchanging ideas about recognition, engagement, leadership, culture, human values, and sound business principles.