Many companies don’t become as great as they can be. Their leaders do want to reach for the skies, but there are often barriers in place avoiding them from achieving that. Other companies, however, seemingly come out of nowhere and suddenly become huge. For instance, the team at Infor, under guidance of Charles Phillips, has gotten all their affairs in order and have grown to be the third largest company of their kind, after SAP and Oracle. So what is it that companies like Infor do, but others don’t? It’s all down to leadership, something that Charles Phillips knows everything about. Here are six traits that he feels are necessary in all successful leaders.
- Don’t Manage Behavior
For a long time, management was about control. Managers controlled how others behaved, and this stopped them from reaching their potential. People shouldn’t be controlled, they should be mentored and stimulated to truly unleash their potential. By leading, rather than managing, teams become loyal, motivated, and creative, and start to show initiative.
- The Psychology of Organizational Culture Is Down to Reactive Psychology
While being proactive is incredibly important, most people continue to be reactive. People don’t address their health until they are sick, their relationships until they break down, their finances until they are broke. Because everybody is reactive, both at home and at work, business cultures are also reactive. This isn’t the right way to deal with things, but it is the reality. Good leaders know this and try to be proactive about reactive cultures.
- Don’t Move Without Direction
Too many people are so busy that they lose sight of what they are trying to achieve. Unwittingly, they move further and further away from their goals. Good leaders give direction and make it clear to others where they are supposed to go. This also makes people more effective, and, thereby, less busy.
- Time and Focus Should Be Expanded
Remember when technology was seen as the way for everybody to get more time? That didn’t quite work out! Unfortunately, this means technology is not used to its full potential either, because its goal continues to be to increase productivity. By expanding time and focus in a technological entity such as the cloud, businesses can achieve greater successes.
- Systems Should Be Aligned to Avoid Internal Competition
When everybody works towards the same ultimate goal, and every individual contribution is appreciated equally, internal competition is avoided. There is good internal competition, such as awarding someone for having a job completed first, but if one element is seen as more important than another, bad blood is created.
- Less Bureaucracy, More Accountability
People have to trust in their leaders and in their companies. This can only be achieved if bureaucracy is reduced and accountability is increased. And this starts, always, at management level, with leaders having to lead by example.
Characteristics of Excellent Organizations
So what does an excellent organization like Infor look like?
- Individual talent is utilized and potentials are realized.
- There is an excellent work/life balance and management is proactive in enabling that.
- Direction and purpose is clearly defined and aligned.
- Time and focus is expanded, with everybody working to their full potential.
- Systems are aligned to allow greater collaboration.
- Everybody trusts everybody.
