I have been led by many people throughout my life. Some of them have left a good impression on me and others have not. What makes a leader a leader and how can we say what a good leader should do to be a good leader? There are leaders everywhere. Some of them lead by example. Others by fear. Leading can be a broad term that doesn’t describe what the purpose of leading a group of people means. A captain in the army has a broadly different purpose for leading than a teacher at a university. Or does it?

From this, I have a real-life experience. When I went into mandatory military service in Finland, I didn’t have any prejudices. I went there with an open mind to see what the life of a soldier looks like. From the outside, it looked like something very calculated and simple. Life inside the army looks very linear and you know what to do. You just do what has been asked of you to do. The army is a very hierarchical place. Ranks are highly respected, and a high-ranking person has a lot of power over others. This has both positive and negative effects.

The positive side is that you know who to listen to and it makes you humble. The bad side is that if the highest rank person is misusing his power, subordinates have no power to correct this behavior. You just have to be quiet and try to move forward. This is what happened to me during my military service. The captain of the department led by fear. This meant that people did things not because they felt it to be their responsibility but because they were scared to be questioned by the highest-ranking individual in the unit. This made it clear to me how one person can change the whole ambient of an organization. If the captain had been a good leader who would have cared about his subordinates the time for everyone at the military service would have been much more pleasant.

This story from the military service was my experience of bad leadership. It taught me how much a leader can affect the atmosphere and what leading by fear does to people. A leader is not someone who makes people do things because of the fear of not doing them. Instead, it should encourage people to do things because of yourself. The self-development of other people should be the purpose of a great leader in my opinion. In a survival situation where it is a question of life and death strong measures from a leader are required to make a team work. Systematicity and a clear knowledge of what needs to be done are necessary skills. But how those skills are being taught can be done in an encouraging way that makes a team work for the common best which in a war situation is a must. There might be some traumas from the early days in high-mandated military people’s heads making them so cold and inhuman. As they would want to throw back what they have once faced themselves. But as they had to keep those things to themselves when they were newcomers, now they can say and do whatever they want without anyone having to say something about it. As they would have “deserved” it for being quiet for so long. There must be some psychological reasons behind high-ranked people in army environments that make some of them unempathetic and arrogant.

Simon Sinek in a video called (Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They’re In) speaks about the misconception about what a leader is. In Sinek’s opinion, there are two things great leaders should have. Those two things are empathy are perspective. Leaders are often so concerned about their status that they forget what their real job is says Sinek. The real job of a leader is not to be in charge, but it’s about taking care of those in our charge. What we are lacking in most companies is that they are not teaching us how to lead. Leadership is a skill that has to be learned like any other practicable learnable skill. It is like going to the gym. If you practice every day you are going to become a strong leader and if you quit, you are a weak leader. Everybody is capable of being a leader, but that doesn’t mean everybody should be a leader. Great leaders are not responsible for the job, but responsible for the people doing the job. If we create the right environment in a workplace we get great people to work in it. The problem is not in the people, but in the way we lead them. Leaders lack empathy. Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output. If you want to be a great leader start with empathy, change your perspective, and play the game you are actually playing. These are some of the words Simon Sinek described about what is great leader.

I also checked another source for good leadership to see if these two sources have things in common. I checked the Center for Creative Leadership and their article about The 10 Characteristics of a Good Leader.

1. Number one is honesty. This is important for both individual and organizational levels.
2. Another important thing is delegation, and it is one of the core responsibilities of a leader. It is not just for freeing up space from your plate but for growing, facilitating teamwork, providing autonomy, and leading to better decision-making.
3. Third comes communication. The best leaders are great at communication in a variety of ways. To transmit information and inspire others. The effectiveness of communication affects directly the success of your business.
4. After that comes self-awareness meaning that you understand yourself and recognize your own strengths and weaknesses. The more you know about yourself the better leader you can be.
5. Being thankful and having gratitude can make you a better leader. People are more likely going to work harder for a thankful boss.
6. Having great learning agility when you don’t know something is a trait of a great leader. Being able to solve unfamiliar circumstances talks about a great leader which is a valuable trait.
7. Being able to influence people is another great sign of a leader. Influence doesn’t mean manipulation as it is being done authentically and transparently. It requires emotional intelligence and trust.
8. Empathy is correlated with job performance as part of emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness. Empathy and inclusion are necessities for improving workplace conditions.
9. Courage is a great trait of leaders. Rather than avoiding problems courage makes leaders step up and move things in the right direction.
10. Treating people with respect is one of the most important a leader can do. It will avoid conflict, create trust, and improve effectiveness.

In conclusion, I saw that a great leader is seen with similar qualities in different places. It is someone who lets people be their selves. Has trust in its workers and creates an environment that people feel to talk in and share their true feelings. A leader is not someone who leads with fear. It should be easy to talk to a leader. A leader is not in charge but taking care of those in our charge.

Sources:

Center for Creative Leadership, The 10 Characteristics of a Good Leader, 2023

https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/characteristics-good-leader/

Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They Are In, Simon Sinek, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyTQ5-SQYTo