Editor’s note: Suzanne Ogle is the CEO of the Southern Gas Association.
There are hundreds of articles written daily on traits of fantastic leaders and toxic leaders and hundreds of buzzwords abound in the media on these topics. Of course, there is also the age-old debate of whether great leaders are born or made. When it boils down to being a leader that people want to stick with, that leader must create a compelling vision of where they are going and where they are taking their team while communicating it in the same compelling manner. The leader needs to exhibit alignment between their vision and their values, cultivate a culture of trust and know who they are leading. Finally, this leader needs to know the people they want to follow them.
Traits that are required to create and communicate this type of vision require leaders to focus on what is important to their company, their values and their team. A leader must also be crystal clear on depicting this vision and communicating it in several ways to land with all members of the team. There must be a lazer-like focus on where they are going and how success will be achieved for the company, the leader and their team.
The leader has to ensure this vision has marked progress points – a beginning and an end – and is one that can be understood by many. A leader demonstrates their competence by aligning the vision with the company mission. They build their credibility across the organization by knowing that where they are going is directly related to where the company needs to go to be successful.
The alignment of the vision to the leader’s values is critical to fostering trust, authenticity and loyalty. People do not follow someone they do not trust. Trust is built when a leader demonstrates and visibly lives their values in their everyday interactions. A leader must be intentional in their actions and interactions with people. The focus needed f...