Human Resource Management International Digest

Great leaders lead great teams

Nicola McHale

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Nicola McHale, (2012),"Great leaders lead great teams", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 20 Iss 4 pp. 3 - 5
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Viewpoint
Great leaders lead great teams
Nicola McHale

ecent studies by Gallup have found that 80 percent of employees have issues with
their immediate manager. Few managers are true leaders. Many are uninspiring and
demotivating they do not win over the hearts and the minds of their people. They
do not put effort into leading, supporting or mentoring their teams.

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I strongly believe that leadership starts with the individual. We are all leaders and
self-leadership is the no. 1 strength a leader needs now.
Nicola McHale is the
founder of Vi International,
London, UK.

Trust and confidence in, and respect for, leaders in large organizations have almost
disappeared over the last few years. There is often a feeling of distrust, fear and uncertainty
running through organizations and teams. Trust is vital in every relationship, especially the
relationship between a leader and his or her direct-report team.
There is no such thing as the perfect leader. There is no blueprint for perfection. A leader
must aim to operate at his or her best. There is no room for failure now.
To re-establish and build trust, respect and confidence, a leader needs to take a long, deep,
hard look at himself or herself. The first critical step is to implement a 360-degree appraisal,
to find out what the team/peers/manager/stakeholders/customers think of his or her
leadership style. So many leaders avoid this for as long as they can.

Great leaders are courageous

Great leaders are courageous; they ask for feedback, they want to know what they can do to
improve their results, they listen to the feedback and they act on it.
Great leaders do not try to be someone else; they are very confident with themselves. True
leadership personality is what we want to see, feel and hear.
Leaders who have gravitas know and use their strengths. They know that when they use their
strengths their ways of thinking are improved, their positive emotions are heightened, they
are energized and their performance is exceptional. That is when their personality shines
through.
There is compelling evidence that demonstrates that a strengths focus delivers huge
business advantages and measurable business returns.
Sigal G. Barsade and Donald E. Gibson state:
Studies have found that leaders who exhibit more positive emotion and behavior are more likely to
be rated as demonstrating transformational leadership behaviors, including inspiring others and
demonstrating more consideration and empathy for followers.
Leaders expressions of positive emotions have been found to arouse positive emotions in others;
followers tend to emulate their leaders positive energy and enthusiasm. Similarly leaders
displays of negative emotion can cause followers to feel and display negative emotions,
undermining morale and motivation (Barsade and Gibson, 2007).

Every great leader I have worked with over the last 20 years has had a very clear core
purpose. They know what their legacy is going to be before they leave it. So it is vital for every
leader to get a clear and succinct core purpose.

DOI 10.1108/09670731211233258

VOL. 20 NO. 4 2012, pp. 3-5, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST

PAGE 3

Leaders with a true leadership personality will know their purpose and they will have a clear
vision and strategy on how to get there. They hold themselves accountable and responsible.
They seek results and feedback.
Critically, great leaders also stop and think about what they are not good at. They are open
about what their gaps are and what they need to develop. They do not waste time trying to
change something that is innate and would stop them using their unique strengths.

How leaders can transform themselves

So what can we change?
Great leaders who transform themselves know themselves inside out. They know that they
can be their own worst competitor, so they know that they need to challenge and change
their thinking. They know they are limiting their thinking and if that is happening they know
they will stop themselves.

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Great leaders are brave enough to look back at their past, especially the key years of their
lives before their twenty-first birthday, and change their association to the root causes of their
limiting behaviors. They are not driven by fear, anger, sadness or guilt.
So often, leaders who are not great, who rule by fear and who wreck businesses and careers,
are fuelled and controlled by their fears. They release this negative emotion on others; they
blame, they manipulate, they set team members against each other, they control because
they fear failure.
You will never be a great leader if this is you. It is time to change your thinking, to change your
behavior and to face up to your past so that you can become a transformational leader.
Leaders who transform the world do not let anything stop them, least of all themselves.
Leaders can identify and release their leadership personality by knowing their:
B

core vision and purpose why they are here;

core values their operating principles;

core beliefs why they do what they do;

unique strengths their core capabilities;

winning behaviors what they do really well;

environment and culture the culture they create in the world they live in at work and at
home; and

limiting factors what could stop them doing something about it.

Finally, great leaders make a transformational impact on their teams and organizations. They
have gravitas and presence and, as a result, they motivate and inspire. They are well known
for their leadership style and people want to be in their team and be a part of their success.
They create their leadership message; what they stand for, what is important to them and
what to expect from them. They know the impact they want to have and they ensure they
operate so they make that impact. It is not luck; it is designed consciously.

The importance of consistency and integrity

Transforming leaders are integral; what they say is what they do. They are consistent; they
are the same whether they are with you on a one-to-one or whether they are speaking to a
large audience. You know where you are with them; they have integrity.
Great leaders make an impact. Impact comes from both the inside and outside of a person.
What a person is wearing and how he or she is behaving give someone valuable information
about the person as a leader.

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Leaders make an impact now and cannot stop it happening, so it is important to know how it
happens what it is and how to change it. Some 90 percent of people form an opinion within
60 seconds about a person they meet; they think they know age, education, salary,
expertise.
Non-verbal communication is critical. Great leaders are aligned; their body language is
congruent with their spoken word. Gravitas comes from exuding confidence from the way
they look, act and sound.
Great leaders have good posture, body language, voice and communication skills. They
connect with people; they are interested in others and not just in themselves. They want to
make a difference outside themselves. They have influence.
If we all take this seriously and take this on for ourselves we can be remembered as amazing
leaders; leaders who really make a difference.
We can change the world we live in. We can change our teams and our families if we become
a transforming leader.

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Reference
Barsade, S.G. and Gibson, D.E. (2007), Why does affect matter in organizations?, Academy of
Management Perspectives, Vol. 21, February, pp. 36-59.

About the author

Nicola McHale has more than 20 years experience of building culturally diverse teams across
the world in large multinationals. She founded Vi International (www.viinternational.com) in
1988 and is the author of Transforming Teams (Ecademy Press, 2011, 14.99). Nicola McHale
can be contacted at: nicola.mchale@viinternational.com

VOL. 20 NO. 4 2012 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST PAGE 5