What Does a Positive Leader Look Like?

The Positive Leadership model of leadership integrates things that people acquire - skills and competencies - and things people develop: values and attributes, with desired results, all of which are capable of being evidenced in situations of pressure.


Positive Leaders:

• aspire to leadership yet maintain humility;

• find mastery in a few areas but value many;

• have a core set of beliefs but embrace the many beliefs of others;

• have clear views and yet are open to the views of others;

• can set a specific direction but have the ability to adapt and adopt;

• have a deep moral structure but hesitate to judge others (as bad or good) too quickly;

• have a wide repertoire of behaviours all of which are authentic;

• speak with their own voice even if representing the position of others;

• embrace paradox with certainty of purpose.

By contrast, failing leaders assume they are the means of success rather than being part of it. The failure results from:

• not using talent and abilities around them;

• directly or indirectly discouraging bad news;

• behaving inconsistently with what they say and with espoused values.

Natural leadership shows up throughout life. People can and do develop into leaders that others will choose to follow. Leadership “competencies” - things that effective leaders do - can be learned. So, true development work must parallel skill or competence acquisition. The result of addressing both is integrity and authenticity.

How do you identify people who are going to make a success of the job?

Looking for the best and the brightest is a good predictor of management, not of leadership success. We should be identifying people who seek development opportunities and grow from them: people who have the ability and desire to learn about self, values and our mental models of the world. Coaching and mentoring have an important role in helping leaders find authenticity.

What Does a Positive Leader Look Like?