High Character Leadership
Lots of leaders are articulate, polished and know the right words to say. But when push comes to shove, is every leader going to do the right thing and practice what they preach? Sometimes it's tough to know for sure until a leader is put into a real-life situation that tests their stated convictions, but here are three signs that a leader is likely to pass that test with flying colors.
Sign #1: They Hold Everyone Accountable To Their Values
In the Leadership IQ study, Why Company Values Are Falling Short, we discovered that only 33% of people believe that their direct manager always holds people accountable to the company values. And nearly a third of people believe that highly skilled employees can always or frequently get away with not living the company values.
If employees see that the company values are optional, that those values don't really impact their performance reviews, and that certain chosen employees can get away with not living the values, you'll have a culture ripe for favoritism, office politics and toxicity.
It's not always easy to enforce corporate values, especially when the person violating those values is a highly skilled or hard-to-replace employee. That's why it actually takes quite a bit of character to stand up for the values no matter who is breaking them.
Sign #2: They Can Handle Feedback Constructively
In the study, The State Of Leadership Development, we learned that if leaders respond constructively when employees share their work problems, those employees are 12 times more likely to recommend the company as a great employer. But here's the issue: Only 26% of employees say that their leader always responds constructively when they share their work problems.
Think about how many problems, big or small, an employee could face on a daily basis. From time management to conflicts, from hybrid working to impossible deadlines, there's no shortage of problems facing today's employees. But if a leader listens to those concerns without shooting the messenger, getting defensive or denying reality, employee engagement skyrockets.
However, like with living corporate values, this is a skill that requires upstanding character. Most leaders wouldn't admit to getting defensive or shooting the messenger, yet it happens every day.
Sign #3: They Fix Employees' Frustrations
According to the recent study, Frustrations At Work, the frustrations that employees face are so severe that around 60% say those frustrations make them want to look for other jobs. And around 80% of people say that if those frustrations were removed, they'd be happier and more productive in their jobs.
This doesn't sound much like a character issue until you learn that only 16% of employees say their leader always removes the roadblocks to their success. Why is this so hard? The challenge with employee frustrations and roadblocks is that sometimes the biggest frustrations are caused by leaders. In the study on frustrations, people shared their specific frustrations, like:
- Supervisor not enforcing company policy to employees who are cutting corners
- My boss wants our department to fix all the broken processes instead of pushing back on the department that owns the process
- Manager not following through on priorities
- Boss micromanaging and bending rules to appease his favorites
When the leader is the source of employee frustrations, it's going to take character to hear, accept and fix those frustrations.
