4 Behaviors Account for 89% of Leadership Effectiveness
Mckinsey research* suggests 4 leadership behaviors make the difference between strong and weak leadership.
Top 20 Leadership Behaviors:
- Be supportive.
- Champion desired change.
- Clarify objectives, rewards, and consequences.
- Communicate prolifically and enthusiastically.
- Develop others.
- Develop and share a collective mission.
- Differentiate among followers.
- Facilitate group collaboration.
- Foster mutual respect.
- Give praise.
- Keep groups organized and on task.
- Make quality decisions.
- Motivate and bring out the best in others.
- Offer a critical perspective.
- Operate with a strong results orientation.
- Recover positively from failure.
- Remain composed and confident in uncertainty.
- Role model organizational values.
- Seek different perspectives.
- Solve problems effectively.
Successful leaders engage in all 20 leadership behaviors, but four make the biggest difference in effectiveness.
4 Behaviors Account for 89% of Leadership Effectiveness:
#1. Be supportive.
- Show authentic interest.
- Build trust.
- Help team members overcome challenges.
#2. Seek different perspectives.
- Monitor trends and patterns.
- Invite ideas that could improve performance.
- Differentiate between important and unimportant issues.
#3. Operate with strong results orientation.
- Follow through.
- Emphasize efficiency.
- Prioritize work that matters most.
#4. Solve problems effectively.
- Gather and analyze information.
- Make decisions.
- Handle disputes.
You can’t neglect any of the 20 leadership behaviors listed above. However, McKinsey’s research suggests that you would serve your organizations well if you get really good at the four that account for 89% of leadership effectiveness.
Which of the top four do you find most challenging? Why?
How might leaders demonstrate competence in the four behaviors listed above?
*Decoding Leadership: What Really Matters? Mckinsey surveyed 189,000 people from 81 organizations. This post offers a brief overview of their research.
Absolutely!! Great summary of thinking on this.
For me, the words, “Manager as Facilitator” rings out, since that process itself can link neatly and efficiently to the four keys. Having the supervisor / manager facilitate active discussion and involvement seems very straightforward.
The round wheels are already in the wagon and gaining shared perspective on what needs improvement or where alignment is not good seems pretty easy, through a solid conversation about issues and opportunities.
Dan,
These are all “easy” to make happen. I believe the challenge is to act intentionally in these areas. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of day-to-day business, especially in a manufacturing / high-energy environment. If we will keep these ideas in front of us on a daily basis, they will soon become habit, and will be the lenses through which we see the world.
Thanks for the great article! Have a great week.
Jay
I find this list quite vague in terms of behaviours. ” Solve Problems Effectively”, “Make quality decisions” feel very subjective, but I’m detracting from the win: The 80:20 rule rocks! Sharp focus. Thank you Dan.
Find leaders who demonstrate a few of them very well and learn from their behaviors.
Darrin
Everything sounds very logic to me, and I like it, but if the company, or the business, are not of your own, and you are a manager for someone that doesn’t exactly have the same values, for someone for whom the goal is pretty much only money. Some one who is not interested in rewarding the efforts, someone who when it’s time to see important or unimportant issues is just, money focused. What if you can’t actually share real values with your team as for them, the company moneys are not a value? Is this article made only for owners or even for every manager?
You just described poor leadership. Good leaders know how to motivate people. In low power distance countries like the US intrinsic motivation is more important and valued than extrinsic motivation (like money).