What Do Great Leaders Have in Common?

ConantLeadership Founder, Doug Conant, originally published this post in 2017. Now, we present this piece, updated with brand new content, as part of our “Golden Anniversary” collection: a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership, revamped to help you meet the current moment, as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership.

In my 50 years of leading world-class global companies, and in my ongoing work coaching leaders across industries and experience levels, I’ve developed a crystal clear point-of-view about the leadership behaviors that actually work.

Over the decades, I’ve also had the honor of learning from fellow leaders and visionaries: through books, personal conversations, and observations of my peers in the global marketplace. It’s been a gift to work with so many inspirational and highly effective leaders. On the other hand, I’ve been exposed to just as many who were out of their depth, or who led by the seat of their pants and lacked the capacity to get the job done in a sustainable way. In many ways, that’s a gift as well; I’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

Great leaders are tough-minded on standards and kind-hearted with people.

I’ve found that the very best leaders approach their work in a way that is tough-minded on standards and kind-hearted with people. They are experts at doing both: skillfully marrying the ‘head’ and the ‘heart.’ Their goal is to simultaneously prioritize people and performance. And they do so in ways that are humble, courageous, and authentic to who they really are.

But what does all of that mean from a practical standpoint? What do great leaders have in common? How can you emulate them to become the most effective leader you can be? In my experience, great leaders have these eight critical things in common (although this is not an exhaustive list). Not surprisingly, you’ll find a balance of practices that are people-focused and practices that are performance-oriented.

1. Great leaders act as the ‘Chief Talent Scout.’ They know the entire effort depends on having the right people on board.

Great leaders, regardless of their official title or area of expertise, recognize the need to start with talent. First and foremost, they are focused on attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining the people necessary to help the enterprise realize its full potential.

As Jim Collins said in his seminal book on leadership, Good to Great, the best leaders approach leadership with a “First Who, Then What,” orientation, meaning you must, “get the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats,” before you decide where the bus is headed. As business and societal unrest continues to increase, this becomes more important. Today, you need an entire culture that is aligned on the talent requirements that will enable the workplace to consistently function at a world-class level, regardless of global volatility.

Great leaders get the right people on board by:

• Cultivating talent with an eye towards character, competence, and team chemistry
• Assessing current and potential employees’ ability to align with the higher purpose of the organization
• Building relationships within and outside the enterprise and consistently maintaining a vital network of potential talent

2. Great leaders know how to inspire trust. And they prioritize building trust first.

Great leaders know that earning confidence from the talent they’ve worked so hard to cultivate is the single most important step to unlocking higher performance in their organizations and teams. In a high-trust environment, people rally around a shared vision, have each other’s backs, and are aligned properly to produce results that meet (and often exceed) expectations.

Great leaders build trust by:

• Honoring all stakeholders
• Declaring themselves and doing what they say they are going to do
• Developing and displaying character and competence
• Upholding high ethical standards
• Modeling the behavior they expect from others
• Acknowledging mistakes and swiftly correcting them
• Consistently performing to an exemplary standard themselves

To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.

3. Great leaders articulate a higher purpose for themselves and the organization.

Today’s employees are motivated by more than just a paycheck (although that matters immensely). They also want to know that their work matters, and that their organization aligns with their own values and purpose. On that same note, effective leaders make their values and purpose known. They understand the power of crafting an aspirational call-to-action that anchors the entire effort, resonates with stakeholders, and delivers both economic and social value.

Great leaders clarify their higher purpose by:

• Reflecting on their own values and beliefs
• Articulating what their work means and why it’s important
• Finding ways to deliver societal value in addition to economic value
• Championing their call-to-action with intention, passion, persistence, and humility
• Making certain the higher purpose always governs the direction of the organization

4. Great leaders create a clear and compelling direction for people to follow. They know the way and show the way.

To achieve their higher purpose and create value for all stakeholders, great leaders must know where they are going, where they are taking others, and how they will all get there. They plan to perform. The most successful leaders have found a way to develop a competitively advantaged, and clearly communicated, direction for moving the agenda forward. Their people know where the organization is headed and what is expected of them. Not only that, but great leaders also resist the urge to lead unilaterally; to create a compelling direction that people will actually follow, they remain collaborative and genuinely open to input.

Great leaders create cohesive direction by:

• Confronting the brutal facts facing them and their organization
• Questioning assumptions and challenging paradigms
• Building an aspirational-yet-achievable plan for moving forward
• Honoring all constituents
• Dispelling ambiguity by ensuring the expectations of the plan are clear to all

5. Great leaders know how to align resources to deliver the desired results.

A cohesive direction and clear purpose are useless if resources aren’t configured properly  to follow and sustain the strategy. Stephen Covey famously said, “Every organization is perfectly aligned to get the results it gets.” It’s an evergreen statement. Competent leaders understand that if things aren’t going to plan, the alignment must be adjusted. They figure out how to develop a system that facilitates the right work being done, by the right people, in the right way.

Great leaders successfully drive alignment by:

• Carefully organizing resources (people, finances, time) to accomplish tasks and reach goals
• Being process-focused and establishing a self-sustaining system that enables everybody to work through the plan with agility
• Continuously confirming that everybody understands their unique roles and responsibilities

6. Great leaders build vitality. They are obsessed with keeping people engaged in the work.

It’s one of my most deeply held leadership beliefs that, to win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace. Research backs me up. Companies with highly engaged employees consistently outperform those with lower engagement.

It’s worth noting that a workplace teeming with vitality and high engagement does not happen by accident. Great leaders are fiercely committed to inspiring their employees. They know that leadership is all about the people, and they put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into building a highly engaged culture.

Great leaders build vitality by:

• Finding ways to give people the energy to do their absolute best work
• Motivating people to be engaged in the process of delivering top-tier results
• Celebrating achievements and acknowledging shortcomings
• Challenging all to do better through swift and constructive feedback
• Creating an environment where high performers feel unmistakably valued

Done is better than perfect.

7. Great leaders consistently execute with excellence. You can count on them to follow through and get the job done.

To translate trust, purpose, direction, and vitality into tangible execution, the most forward-thinking leaders understand that “done is better than perfect,” a quote from Anne Mollegen Smith that hits the nail on the head. A good plan well-executed beats a perfect plan poorly-executed every time.

Good intentions and inspiring words won’t amount to much if there is limited capacity to execute on the agreed upon plan.  There must be follow-through. Results must be tracked and measured. Obstacles must be overcome. This may not be the most glamorous part of leadership to discuss, but responding to inevitable pressures is what separates world-class leaders from the rest. In the real world, where the stakes are high and competitions is fierce, strong execution is mandatory.

Great leaders execute with excellence by:

• Implementing plans with extremely disciplined task and time management
• Acting decisively whenever necessary
• Measuring progress and finding ways to adapt as needed
• Harmoniously balancing discipline and flexibility to ensure goals are met.

8. Great leaders produce extraordinary results.

The sharpest leaders go above and beyond. They know that a plan can be executed to the letter and still not produce the desired outcomes. Great leaders aren’t just committed to getting the job done, they’re equally focused on the results that execution is supposed to produce. So they are steadfast in their commitment to performance, and to the promises they’ve made to their stakeholders. Every effort is carried out with the desired results in mind.

Great leaders produce extraordinary results by:

• Repeatedly delivering in high-quality ways
• Embracing and embodying a results-oriented mindset
• Operating in the three leadership ‘time zones’ simultaneously:
  • Learning from and honoring the past
  • Meeting the expectations of the present
  • Creating a clear and tangible path for the future

Leadership is both the art and science of influencing others in a particular direction. Within these eight skills that all great leaders have in common, you’ll notice some color from the science side and some from the art side. Some that are tough-minded and some that are kind-hearted. Harmoniously, they all work together, and I recommend each one.

In life, there are no guarantees, but when you put these eight competencies together, I’m certain you’ll be in a strong position to become a leader worth following, maybe even a great one.

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Enjoyed this post? Explore the other pieces in our Golden Anniversary Collection:

• 3 Big Things I Learned When I Got Fired
• Work Hard, Be Kind
• 3 Important Reasons Why Pressure Is a Privilege
• What I’ve Learned from 50 Years in Leadership

Ready to become a great leader and excel in ‘leadership that works’? Explore our LinkedIn Learning Course on Finding Your Leadership Purpose, check out our course on Discovering Your Leadership Vocabulary, or learn more about our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and leadership resources to help you win in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.