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So what is leadershipcharacter, and how do webuild it? The dictionarydefinition of character is“the mental and moralqualities distinctive to anindividual.” Notice that thedefinition didn’t talk abouttechnical skills. It insteadfocuses on the ethicalqualities that can provideguidance and a sense ofdirection when thingsdon’t look so promising.Whether heading a team, adepartment, a company, or,on a larger scale, a country,leaders share some keyattributes. The principaltraits of leadership—integrity, shared vision,emotional intelligence,positive outlook, authen-ticity, confidence, forwardfocus, and listening ability—converge at thecore as character.

Integrity. Integrity isthe single most importanttrait for building character.It’s the tone at the top thatis paramount in an organi-zation. In the 2016 Edel-man Trust Barometerglobal survey, whichincluded 33,000 respon-dents around the world,only 27% of leaders wereseen as behaving in openand transparent ways. Inthe 2013 report of the samepopulation, 82% of work-ers around the worldreported that they didn’ttrust their bosses to tell the truth. In “An Explor -atory Study of EmployeeSilence: Issues thatEmployees Don’t Commu-nicate Upward and Why,” a study by the Institute forPublic Relations, 85% ofemployees admitted towithholding from theirbosses concerns aboutcritical issues. The data isdisturbing. In order tostrengthen trust andencourage loyalty from

LEADERSHIP

LEAD WITH CHARACTERThe qualities of a leader go well beyond technical competenceto eight key tenets of character. BY JYOTI PANDEY

IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, the word“leadership” is often used very loosely.A good manager or team lead isn’tnecessarily a born leader, and there isa fine line between executive presenceand leadership. Executive presencerelates to an individual’s command,presence, confidence, subject-matter

expertise, and technical competency. An excep-tional leader, on the other hand, is someone whoinspires others to be their best, has great charac-ter, and helps build the same in everyone else. Aleader isn’t driven by job title but by companygoals and vision. As Donald H. McGannon, whowas president of both the Westinghouse Broad-casting Corporation and the National UrbanLeague, said, “Leadership is action, not position.”

their teams, leaders needto lead with integrity andwork toward an atmos-phere of transparency.

Shared vision.Manag-ing people is an art. Ifthere’s no buy-in to thevision, the team won’t beinspired. The vision shouldbe such that it helpsstrengthen the team. Whilepleasing everyone isn’tpossible, an objective thathas been considered care-fully for the benefit of themajority is easier to develop.

Emotional intelligence.Nothing compares to keenemotional intelligence. Itsimportance can’t beoveremphasized in leadinga team. People face manybiases, regardless of theirgender or race. That mostlyhappens due to our socialconditioning. Emotionalintelligence helps usappreciate the unique abil-ities and differences thatpeople have and connectwith them more easily.That ultimately helps makeorganizations more inclu-sive and diverse. Leadersneed to foster an environ-ment of cultural sensitivityand global outlook to makechange happen.

In its research with arandom sample of 3,871executives selected from adatabase of more than20,000 executives world-wide, consulting firmHay/McBer identified sixdistinct leadership styles,each springing from differ-ent components of emo-tional intelligence. Theirfindings indicated thateach style seems to have adirect and unique impacton the overall businessenvironment, which inturn can affect the bottomline in a positive way.

For example, Pepsifound that executives with

high emotional intelli-gence, or EQ, generated10% more productivity,had 87% less turnover,brought $3.75 million morevalue to the company, andincreased ROI by 1,000%.L’Oréal found that sales-people with a high EQ sold$2.5 million more thanothers. And when Sheratondecided to incorporate anEQ initiative, its marketshare grew by 24%.

Positive outlook. Dur-ing tough times, a leader’spositive outlook helpsrebuild dissipating confi-dence. You may have seenthis in a professional sport-ing event. When it seemsthat a team may lose, thecoach steps in to help boostplayers’ confidence andencourages the team tokeep up the fight. That pos-itivity is contagious, andthe coach’s role is instru-mental in keeping theenergy alive. A consistentlypositive, optimistic, andencouraging culture canteach people that there’s abetter way to be in theworld.

Authenticity. Amongthe leadership styles that abusiness professional canchoose to employ, anauthentic approach holdsconsiderable power. As partof the modern manage-ment science, authenticleadership has found highlevels of acceptance sincethe publication of BillGeorge’s 2003 book,Authentic Leadership. A keytenet in George’s model isthat company leaders arefocused on long-termshareholder value, not justin beating quarterly esti-mates. That helps to fostera nurturing environmentand to build long-lastingcommitment and loyalty.

Confidence.We all havefears. People often fear

rejection more than theyfear failure. Fear of failure isin some ways quite a posi-tive thing. Fear can motivatepeople to take strategic stepsto fix what might break. Ithelps us look inward. Thatsaid, fear of rejection canmake us lose control of ourvision. Leaders don’t fearrejection. To become a goodleader, learn to feel confi-dent in your abilities, anddon’t judge yourself throughsomeone else’s lens. Thereis power in originality andauthenticity.

Forward focus. Influ-ential leaders are opti-mistic about the future,and, though it may soundcounterintuitive to some,leaders speak in the pres-ent or future tense. SpaceXand Tesla founder ElonMusk is famous for dis-cussing his company visionin the future tense. Leadersrarely wallow in the past.Language stuck in the pastdemonstrates inflexibilityand an inability to refocusand adjust on a case-by-case basis.

Listening ability. Acommon complaint aboutexecutive leadership is thefailure to listen to others’voices. Leadership is atwo-way street. In order tolead effectively, one mustlisten, communicate, per-suade, and collaborate. AsGeneral Motors Chairmanand CEO Mary Barra said,“Ideas do not have a hier-archy. Good ideas can comefrom anywhere.” We allhave the power to influ-ence and lead. SF

Jyoti Pandey is the seniormanagement consultant in globalcompliance and strategy solutionsat Integrity Leadership Partners,LLC, and a member of IMA’s Indi-anapolis Chapter. You can reachher at jsaum09@gmail.com.

LEADERSHIP

18 / STRATEGIC FINANCE / May 2016

IMA LEADERSHIPACADEMYThe IMA® LeadershipAcademy provides leadershipopportunities for all members.From leadership assessmentto leadership courses offeredin person as well as throughWebEx to participationopportunities in mentoring, beit reverse or traditional, theIMA Leadership Academy canhelp you meet your leadershipgoals and improve yourleadership skills. For moreinformation, please visit theLeadership Academy websiteat www.imanet.org/programs_events/ima_leadership_academy.

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