By Kelley Reynard

Building from the recent posts on self-awareness and the importance of making your employees feel safe, this post elaborates further on the visible behaviours and qualities required for good leadership.
A recent survey revealed that employees who perceived altruistic, humble, and selfless behaviour from their managers, were more innovative and creative, and suggested new product ideas and ways of doing work better. They were also more inclined to engage in team citizenship behaviour, and pick up the slack for an absent colleague as a result of feeling included in their workgroups. These are the employees all leaders want to have working for their organisation. These are the employees who trust and respect their leader. So how does a leader impact on and influence the trust and respect of their followers?

As discussed in a recent post, self-awareness is viewed as one of the most valuable capabilities to have as a leader and an important factor in achieving success. We aren’t all born with extremely high levels of self-awareness, however, it is something that can be developed and built upon if attended to. Besides participating in a 360 degree assessment, asking for informal feedback, and taking the time out to reflect, Will Yacowicz, reporter at Inc. Magazine, suggests adopting the following behaviours.

Share your mistakes
Acknowledging your own imperfections can help foster an environment that promotes self-improvement. People connect with those who showcase their own personal growth, which displays their humanity and legitimises the growth and learning of others.

Host a dialogue, not a debate
Being inclusive and getting rid of the attitude that you are the ‘boss’, will help to show your employees that you are humble enough to suspend your own agenda and beliefs.

Accept your own uncertainty
By embracing the limits of your knowledge and skills, you will engender a sense of interdependence. Embracing the fact that you don’t have all the answers will create the space for others to step forward and offer solutions.

Be a follower
Empowering others to lead and facilitating employees’ development, is a quality many inclusive leaders have. By reversing the roles, employees are provided with opportunities to take a different perspective.

To access the full article by Will Yacowicz, please click the following link
http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/how-to-get-your-employees-go-beyond-call-of-duty.html