Esteemed CEO Mark Lamberti says being a great leader comes down to these five pillars.
As an accomplished CEO, chairman, and trustee, Mark Lamberti knows a thing or two about leadership, helming three ultra-successful South Africa-based multinational public companies before retiring to a non-executive life in education, business, and philanthropy.
While leaders are often thrust into their positions without a fundamental understanding of how to be effective, Mark Lamberti believes that being a leader is about more than the title you hold, and successful leaders must be grounded within themselves and their principles.
“The path to leadership is an exciting but sometimes difficult journey of getting to know who we are,” he writes. “The best leaders have a good sense of self. They know when to build on their strengths and they know when to compensate for their weaknesses. Importantly they do so authentically, without pretense or facade, with reference to their carefully defined principles and values.”
To Lamberti, these principles and values shape who we are as leaders, making it essential to live by the five pillars of effective leadership: vision, competence, judgment, consistency, and courage.
Vision:
A good leader must have an unwavering vision of the long-term objective to steer their path of leadership. A clear vision keeps you on track and inspires your team, improving the organization’s effectiveness by keeping all eyes strictly on your goals and avoiding naysayers and unnecessary deterrents.
“Although they will listen to others’ opinions and very often modify their approach as a result, the good leader holds an unwavering vision of what they would like to achieve,” Lamberti explains. “This clear sense of direction or purpose prevents the good leader from being diverted or de-motivated by obstacles along the way.”
Competence:
To be a good leader, you must have levels of competence, experience, and authority in your field, to garner the respect and attention of followers. Because all leadership contexts are in flux, the leader must always be driven to remain relevant through life-long learning that ensures wide-reaching knowledge of their field.
Lamberti believes that subject matter expertise and deep experience are essential for any leadership role. “Competence shapes the leader’s standards, delegation and urgency,” he writes. “When one understands how to do something one generally knows how well it should be done, who can do it and how long it will take.”
Judgement:
Every leader is continually called on to make decisions. Some will have little impact, others might change the course and performance of the business. These bigger decisions, which are frequently related to the choice of strategy or key people, require fine judgment. As a leader, every decision is a reflection of your judgment that can be critical to your reputation and one bad decision can potentially sink your whole ship.
“While people may initially be inspired to follow a leader with a grand vision, they will only remain followers if the leader makes reliable decisions in working towards the vision,” explains Lamberti. “We all make our own assessments of people and we are critical of leaders who make strategic errors or surround themselves with weak individuals or a less than competent team,” he continues.
Consistency:
A leader who behaves sporadically does not inspire confidence in their team and can even lead to disillusionment. Therefore, a good leader must meet every challenge in a manner that is consistent and reliable. A consistent leader is often one with an assured character, who is authentic in how they act and react. These are the leaders that transform their teams for the better.
“Consistent, authentic leaders inspire us, they motivate us, and by example they encourage us to be the best we can be, Mark Lamberti writes. “In contrast, working with inconsistent or false leaders is not a particularly energizing experience as we never know what to expect or what they expect.”
Courage:
For a leader to maintain their vision in the face of adversity and criticism, they must possess unwavering courage. A leader with courage leads from the front, swiftly navigating through tumultuous challenges, and not shying away from tough decisions.
“This of course means that we set the example and we show others the way. But it also means that in those moments when others are looking to us for direction on a difficult choice, that we exhibit the courage to do the right thing rather than the easy or expedient thing,” Lamberti explains.
Being A Leader:
“One is not a leader because of a title or a position on an organization chart. One is only a legitimate leader if one has proactive, willing, followers.” As an accomplished CEO with an over 40-year background in business leadership, Mark Lamberti believes that vision, competence, judgment, consistency, and courage are the attributes necessary to inspire proactive, willing, followers.
Learn more about Mark Lamberti here: https://www.markjlamberti.com/
