Lead With (un)Common Sense

Good leaders inspire people to follow them.

Aspiring leaders should aim for “dual mastery” — a blend of operational (hard) skills and human (soft) skills. True leadership doesn’t mean just conducting efficient meetings, delivering great performance reviews, and keeping the bottom line healthy. It also means being a good person and treating others with respect. While operational skills — such as goal setting and strategic thinking — matter greatly, organizations tend to overemphasize their importance, often at the expense of the human side of leadership.

In that light, you can define leadership as “the daily practice of building your character so your influence — formal or informal — allows people to thrive and fuels sustainable progress for them and the organization.”

Effective leaders set high standards through their actions. Leadership built on power and control alone might deliver short-term financial success, but it rarely earns employee commitment. When leaders say one thing but do another, their employees perceive them as inauthentic, and trust erodes. Team members might work with such leaders to get their jobs done, but they won’t be engaged, loyal, or...