As rapid change and uncertainty become the norm, leaders must navigate rapid change while cultivating the essential traits that empower teams to be highly effective.
In today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world, effective leadership is the cornerstone of organizational success.
“The role of a leader is no longer to command and control,
but to create an ecosystem where teams can flourish.”
— General Stanley McChrystal, author of “Team of Teams”
What Is effective leadership?
Effective leadership is about creating an environment where individuals feel empowered to take ownership of their roles while aligning their efforts toward shared goals.
It involves not only providing direction, but also fostering trust, continuous growth and collaboration while remaining agile in response to change through shared consciousness and decentralized decision-making.
Why it is essential for highly-effective teams
As Jocko Willink and Leif Babin emphasize in “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win”:
“There are no bad teams,
only bad leaders.”
Leaders who truly drive results understand that fostering an environment of empowerment and continuous improvement is key.
“True leadership is not about issuing orders,
it’s about creating leaders at every level.”
—David Marquet, author of “Turn the Ship Around!”
Let’s explore the top 10 leadership traits that are essential for building highly effective teams in such a complex environment.
Top 10 traits effective leaders must cultivate
1. Ego management
- Ego management is a cornerstone of effective leadership, as highlighted by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin in Extreme Ownership.
- Integrating humility into ego management leads to emotional intelligence, building trust, strengthening leadership credibility and driving continuous improvement within teams.
- Leaders must set aside their egos, take full responsibility for failures, and focus on solutions rather than assigning blame.
- A powerful example from Jocko Willink’s experience as a Navy SEAL illustrates this principle:
- During a combat operation, Willink’s team mistakenly engaged in a “blue-on-blue” incident—a catastrophic case of friendly fire which resulted in casualties.
- As the commander of the operation, Willink faced intense scrutiny from senior leaders.
- While investigations revealed multiple errors across planning and execution, Willink took full responsibility for the failure.
- He did not blame his team or external circumstances, but instead focused on reviewing and improving standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent such incidents in the future.
- By owning the failure and demonstrating humility, Willink earned the trust of his superiors and set a powerful example for his team.
- His actions fostered accountability across all levels and reinforced a culture where mistakes were acknowledged openly and addressed constructively.
2. Integrity
- Acting with honesty and ethical behavior inspires confidence in leadership.
- Integrity ensures consistency between words and actions, creating a foundation of trust within the team.
“A culture of discipline is not a principle of business;
it is a principle of greatness”
—Jim Collins, author of “Great by Choice”
- A relevant example could be extracted from the book “Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders” by David Marquet:
- He emphasizes that integrity is about telling the truth to oneself and others.
- On his submarine, he encouraged crew members to admit mistakes openly, creating a culture where honesty was valued over perfection.
- For example, when a sailor made an error during an operation, he praised their honesty in reporting it immediately, which allowed the team to address the issue quickly and prevent further complications.
3. Accountability
- Accountability starts with the leader taking responsibility for outcomes—both successes and failures—and modeling this behavior for the team.
- A culture of accountability ensures that everyone takes ownership of their roles, driving better results.
“Leaders must own everything in their world.
There is no one else to blame”
—Jocko Willink, author of “Extreme Ownership”
- This emphasizes that accountability starts at the top and cascades through the team.
4. Empathy
- Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
- By actively listening to team members’ concerns and recognizing their unique perspectives, leaders build trust and cohesion.
- David Marquet’s observation could illustrate how empathy fosters intrinsic motivation:
“You may be able to ‘buy’ a person’s back with a paycheck…
but genius, passion, loyalty, and creativity are volunteered only”
- A relevant example could be extracted from the book “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World“, written by General Stanley McChrystal:
- He highlights empathy as crucial for understanding diverse perspectives within a team.
- During operations in Iraq, he realized that understanding the cultural context of local communities was as important as tactical expertise.
- By fostering empathy within his team, they were able to build stronger relationships with local leaders, improving collaboration and mission success.
5. Adaptability
- Leaders must remain flexible in response to changing circumstances.
- This involves reassessing strategies regularly, embracing new ideas and guiding teams through different stages of development without losing sight of long-term goals.
- General Stanley McChrystal’s distinction between efficiency and effectiveness highlights that adaptability often trumps rigid efficiency in complex scenarios:
“Efficiency is doing things right;
effectiveness is doing the right thing”
- A relevant example could be extracted from the book “Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All”, written by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen:
- It introduces the concept of “productive paranoia” where successful leaders anticipate change and prepare for it.
- For example, it describes how a team adapted their strategies during their expedition to the South Pole, carefully planning for worst-case scenarios while remaining flexible enough to adjust to unexpected challenges.
6. Resilience
- Resilience is about maintaining focus during adversity and viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth.
- Leaders who demonstrate resilience inspire their teams to persevere through challenges.
- As Steven Stowell and Stephanie S. Mead emphasize in their book “The Art of Strategic Leadership”, resilience as a key leadership trait:
- They share examples of leaders who maintain focus during adversity by breaking challenges into manageable steps and maintaining optimism.
- For instance, they highlight how resilient leaders use setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth rather than sources of discouragement.
7. Courage
- Courage involves making bold decisions despite uncertainty, risk or being under pressure.
- It also means standing by your principles even when faced with opposition or setbacks.
“Relax, look around, make a call”
—Jocko Willink, author of “Extreme Ownership”
- A relevant example could be extracted from the book “Turn the Ship Around!” by David Marquet:
- He demonstrated courage when he relinquished control as captain and empowered his crew to make decisions independently.
- This bold move went against traditional naval practices but ultimately transformed his submarine into one of the highest-performing units in the fleet.
8. Collaboration through effective communication
- Collaboration encourages teamwork by promoting open communication and leveraging diverse perspectives within the group.
- This leads to innovative solutions and stronger relationships among team members.
- General Stanley McChrystal’s concept of interconnectedness — “To defeat a network, we had become a network”— could highlight how collaboration thrives when teams operate as interdependent units rather than isolated silos.
- A relevant example could be extracted from his book where emphasized that effective communication is essential for collaboration across diverse teams:
- He implemented daily video calls with all units to ensure transparency and alignment across geographically dispersed teams.
- This open communication fostered trust and improved coordination during complex operations.
9. Strategic vision
- A clear strategic vision aligns individual efforts with organizational goals.
- Leaders must communicate this vision effectively so that every team member understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture.
- As Steven Stowell and Stephanie S. Mead emphasize in The Art of Strategic Leadership, visionary leaders articulate clear objectives that inspire their teams while staying adaptable to evolving circumstances.
10. Empowerment
- Empowerment means granting autonomy to team members while providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed.
“Don’t move information to authority;
move authority to the information”
—David Marquet, author of “Turn the Ship Around!”
- For example, David Marquet empowered his crew by giving them control over decisions traditionally reserved for officers:
- Instead of issuing orders, he encouraged sailors to state their intentions (“I intend to…”) before taking action.
- This approach built competence, confidence and ownership across all ranks.
Corporate real-life example — A Scrum Master’s leadership journey
Maya is a Scrum Master in a software product development team at a tech company navigating tight deadlines and shifting priorities in a competitive market.
By applying these 10 traits, she transformed her team into a high-performing unit capable of thriving in complexity:
1. Ego management:
- During a Sprint Review, she noticed that a key feature failed to meet stakeholder expectations due to misaligned priorities during earlier discussions.
- Instead of deflecting responsibility or blaming the team, Maya took ownership of the situation.
- She acknowledged that she could have facilitated better communication between the Product Owner and the Developers during Product Backlog Refinement to clarify priorities and ensure alignment.
- By admitting her role in the oversight, Maya demonstrated humility and reinforced trust within the team.
- This act of ego management set an example for the team, encouraging open dialogue and accountability.
- It also created a safe environment for team members to acknowledge their own mistakes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
2. Integrity:
- She upheld transparency by sharing honest updates about delays or changes in priorities with stakeholders.
3. Accountability:
- She took accountability of the Scrum Team’s effectiveness, making sure the team and the organization were improving their way of working.
4. Empathy:
- During Product Backlog Refinement sessions, Maya suggested used Empathy Mapping technique to identify customer pain points, such as unclear onboarding instructions.
- She facilitated the session to refine the User Stories with Acceptance Criteria focused on solving these issues.
5. Adaptability:
- She mentored the team to embrace feedback loops from stakeholders during Sprint Reviews.
- She mentored the Product Owner to analyze their feedback and adjust the Product Backlog to meet newly identified opportunities.
6. Resilience:
- When faced with unexpected technical issues during deployment, Maya motivated her team by focusing on incremental progress rather than setbacks.
7. Courage:
- During a Sprint Retrospective, Maya encouraged her team to openly discuss why certain tasks were not completed due to unclear requirements.
- She facilitated a difficult conversation that led to an improved Product Backlog Refinement practice moving forward.
8. Collaboration through effective communication:
- Maya reinforced Scrum’s pillars of empiricism—transparency, inspection, and adaptation—by ensuring every Sprint Review included open discussions about progress (transparency), stakeholder feedback (inspection) and actionable adjustments for future sprints (adaptation).
- She facilitated also cross-functional workshops involving designers, developers, and marketing teams to brainstorm solutions for improving user onboarding experiences.
- The collaborative effort led to measurable improvements in customer retention metrics.
9. Strategic vision:
- She established alignment between the Product Goal and Sprint Goals by mentoring the Product Owner to consistently communicate how each Sprint contributed toward achieving the long-term objective.
10. Empowerment:
- She encouraged the Developers to self-manage during Sprint Planning sessions by deciding how much work they could commit to, based on their past performance, expected availability and other important factors.
Conclusion
In a VUCA world, the effectiveness of a team is determined by the strength of its leadership.
These traits enable leaders to strengthen their leadership capability, to turn challenges into opportunities and foster an environment where teams not only survive but thrive.
As you reflect on your leadership journey, ask yourself:
Which of these traits will you prioritize to build a highly-effective team that excels in today’s environment?
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