Put The Lustre Back Into Leadership!

In order to answer this burning question, GALLUP scientists analysed over one million working teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with top leaders and employed surveys over a period of 50 years to reach over 10,000 followers of highly successful leaders.

What Did They Find?

• Exceptional Leaders always invest in Talents

Knowing their own strengths as a carpenter knows his tools or as a physician knows the instruments at her disposal, allows the leader to call on the right strength at the right time, providing them with valuable self-awareness and insight. Without an awareness of key personal strengths, it’s virtually impossible to lead others effectively.

Knowing their Team’s Individual Strengths. Recognising and nurturing the strengths of each team-member will dramatically lift team engagement from a low of around 9% to a radical rise to around 73%, simply by acknowledging and developing individual talent differences. Healthy and engaged teams are 8 X MORE PRODUCTIVE, showing far greater commitment and loyalty.

• Exceptional Leaders surround themselves with staff who complement their talent

Not one gifted leader has it all! They lead with their strengths and seek others who can complement their limitations, thus creating an efficient and effective team that runs like a finely oiled machine. Gallup research shows that the most efficient groups possess characteristics from the four main domains of Executing, Relationship Building, Influencing and Strategic Thinking.

• Exceptional Leaders understand the needs of the people they are leading

A behavioural research sample was conducted by Gallup across one thousand people drawn from a variety of different organisations. It showed very clearly that employees seek four essential attributes in a leader: trust, compassion, empathy and hope. These are the four essentials that most highly successful leaders provide their teams.