Top 5 leadership qualities for modern managers

As a seasoned leader with experience spanning retail management, IT, and higher education, I've had the privilege of observing and cultivating leadership across diverse sectors. Today, I want to share insights on the top five leadership qualities that I believe are crucial for modern managers. These qualities aren't just theoretical concepts—they're practical skills I've honed through years of leading client service teams with a customer-focused approach to services, innovation, and outcomes.

1. Adaptive Resilience in the Face of Rapid Change

In today's fast-paced business environment, the ability to adapt quickly and maintain resilience is paramount. I've witnessed firsthand how sudden changes in ownership and management can transform entire organizations overnight.

For instance, during my time in retail management, I led a team through a major transition when our network of stores underwent a change in ownership and management. This shift brought about significant changes in company culture, operational procedures, and strategic direction. The change was met with anxiety and resistance from long-time employees who were comfortable with the previous management style.

As a leader, I had to:

• Remain calm and focused amidst the uncertainty of new ownership
• Quickly learn and understand the new management's vision and expectations
• Adapt our communication strategies to bridge the gap between employees and new management
• Stay resilient when facing pushback and potential staff turnover

By demonstrating adaptive resilience, I was able to guide my team through this turbulent transition period. We not only successfully integrated the new management's policies but also achieved a 20% improvement in employee retention compared to other regions going through the same transition.

Key takeaway: Adaptive resilience isn't about avoiding stress; it's about thriving under pressure and viewing challenges as opportunities for growth and organizational improvement.

Resilience references:

1. Adaptive leadership principles emphasize the importance of flexibility, continuous learning, and embracing change (Heifetz, Grashow & Linsky, 2009).
2. Leaders who demonstrate adaptive resilience can quickly respond to unexpected events, solve problems, and handle stress effectively (London, 2023).
3. Resilient leadership strategies involve remaining flexible and agile, staying focused on goals, and bouncing back quickly from setbacks (Coutu, 2002).

2. Emotional Intelligence: The Cornerstone of Effective Leadership

Emotional intelligence (EQ) has become increasingly recognized as a critical leadership quality, and for good reason. In my experience leading IT teams, I've found that technical skills alone aren't enough to drive a team to success. The ability to understand, manage, and effectively express one's own emotions, as well as to navigate and influence the emotions of others, is invaluable.

A perfect example of this came during an educational development project for the largest course at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). We were under a significant development time crunch, and some of my team members were becoming frustrated with the excess workloads and pressure. In this high-stakes situation, I realized that focusing solely on the project deliverables would be counterproductive. Instead, I chose to "play to the people, not the game."

I took the following steps:

• Scheduled one-on-one check-ins with team members to understand their individual concerns and challenges
• Actively listened without judgment, acknowledging their feelings of stress and frustration
• Collaborated on solutions that addressed both project needs and personal well-being
• Adjusted project roles and timelines to better align with team members' strengths and capacity
• Made meetings about the team working together rather than the deadlines
• Refocused the team on the significant win we would achieve by getting this new project off the ground
• Highlighted the positive impact our work would have on students' educational experiences
• Emphasized how overcoming these hurdles was developing our skills and resilience as individuals and as a team

By looking after the people and maintaining a focus on our larger purpose, the task became much more manageable. The result was remarkable: not only did we complete the project on time, but team morale improved significantly. This led to higher quality outputs and innovative solutions that we might have missed if the team had remained stressed and disengaged.

Moreover, this approach fostered a culture of mutual support within the team. Team members began to look out for each other, offering help when someone was struggling and celebrating each other's successes. This positive team dynamic continued well beyond the project, enhancing collaboration and productivity in subsequent endeavors.

Key takeaway: High EQ leaders create psychologically safe environments where team members feel valued, understood, and motivated to perform at their best. By prioritizing the well-being of your team and connecting their efforts to a meaningful purpose, you not only achieve your immediate goals but also build a resilient, high-performing team for the long term.

EQ references:

1. Emotional intelligence is critical for effective leadership as it enables leaders to understand and connect with their team members on a deeper level (Harvard Business School, 2019).
2. High EQ leaders create psychologically safe environments where team members feel valued, understood, and motivated to perform at their best (Women in the Boardroom, 2024).
3. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are better equipped to create a positive work environment, build strong relationships with team members, and inspire trust and loyalty (Oxford Group, 2023).

3. Visionary Thinking Coupled with Practical Execution

In higher education, I learned that being a visionary isn't just about having grand ideas—it's about translating those ideas into actionable plans and tangible results. The most effective leaders I've encountered have the ability to see the big picture while also understanding the granular details required for successful implementation.

During my tenure at a leading university, I faced a significant challenge when the institution pivoted towards prioritizing student experience and sense of belonging. This shift in the strategic environment required a reimagining of our services geared towards students. It wasn't enough to simply acknowledge this change—we needed to create our own vision that aligned with the university's broader goals while providing practical solutions that would move the needle on student experience.

To bring this vision to life, I:

• Developed a clear, compelling narrative about how our services could enhance student experience and foster a sense of belonging
• Conducted extensive research using design thinking to understand current student pain points and areas where we could make the most impact
• Broke down our long-term vision into manageable, short-term goals that could show quick wins and build momentum
• Collaborated with various stakeholders including students, faculty, and administrative staff to ensure our vision was comprehensive and aligned with diverse needs
• Implemented an agile culture of experimentation to allow for flexibility and continuous improvement based on staff and student feedback
• Created a dashboard and gave regular reports to ensure service visibility and measure the tangible impact of our initiatives on student experience and sense of belonging

Our key initiatives focused on two main areas:

• Peer Support Service: We developed a peer support service to lower the barrier of engagement for students interacting with university information services. This involved training student ambassadors who could provide friendly, relatable assistance to their peers on a wide range of university-related queries. This service not only made information more accessible but also created a sense of community and mutual support among students.
• Belonging-Focused Events: We created a suite of events designed to activate spaces and build a student culture around the concept of "Library as the place to be" on campus. These events ranged from study groups and workshops to cultural celebrations and relaxation activities, all aimed at transforming the library from a mere study space into a vibrant hub of student life and interaction.

The results were transformative: record student engagement with satisfaction scores consistently in the 90th percentile, alongside observable changes in student behavior, such as longer stays, more social interactions, extensive use of spaces, and increased requests for assistance. The Library's active spaces have evolved from a transient area to a vibrant hub of student life, garnering attention from other departments eager to mirror this success. This approach showcases how to translate strategic priorities into impactful solutions, gradually transforming and rebranding the Library from a mere repository of information to the heart of student community and belonging on campus.

Key takeaway: Visionary leaders inspire with big ideas but succeed through meticulous planning, stakeholder engagement, and data-driven execution. They bridge high-level strategy and ground-level implementation, ensuring visions translate into tangible improvements in lived experiences.

Visionary references:

1. Visionary leaders use strategic thinking to predict market trends and stay ahead of emerging changes (John Mattone Global, 2024).
2. Visionary leadership involves not just having a grand vision, but also breaking it down into smaller, actionable steps (Leadership Examples, 2024).
3. Visionary leadership fosters innovation, adaptability, and a culture that’s receptive to change (Wesley Cherisien, 2023).

4. Inclusive Decision-Making and Collaborative Problem-Solving

In today's fast-paced business environment, particularly in startups, the traditional hierarchical leadership model is often ineffective. I've found that the most successful leaders champion inclusive decision-making processes and foster a culture of collaborative problem-solving.

This approach was crucial during my time leading an online retail startup. We faced a complex challenge: improving the online customer experience and engagement with our product brand and catalogue while grappling with limited staff capacity and the need for efficient scaling – familiar issues for many online startups.

Our team was small and, like most startups, we maintained a very flat structure. With our limited resources, every task needed to be prioritized and streamlined for maximum efficiency. Moreover, each team member needed to be versatile, understanding more than just their specific role to maximize adaptability and remove barriers to completing tasks.

To tackle these challenges, I implemented the following strategies:

• Technology-driven agile meetings: We leveraged technology to hold regular agile meetings, ensuring everyone stayed aligned despite our fast-paced environment. These meetings allowed us to quickly address challenges, share updates, and collaboratively plan our next steps.
• On-the-job skill sharing: Rather than formal training sessions, we encouraged continuous, organic skill sharing. Team members would often work together on tasks outside their primary roles, learning from each other in real-time. This not only improved our overall adaptability but also fostered a culture of continuous learning and mutual respect.
• Transparent decision-making: We made sure everyone had access to key performance indicators, customer feedback, and other crucial data. This transparency removed ego and territorialism from decisions, allowing team members to make informed choices based on data rather than personal biases or departmental interests.
• Collaborative priority setting: Rather than dictating priorities from the top, we involved the entire team in determining what tasks were most crucial. This ensured buy-in and a shared understanding of our goals, critical in our resource-constrained environment.
• Open forum discussions: We held regular company-wide discussions where everyone, regardless of their position, could voice ideas and concerns. In our flat structure, these open forums often led to unexpected insights and innovative solutions.

Our approach enabled the startup to function efficiently with minimal staffing requirements. By optimizing staff-draining tasks, we ensured that digital elements of the business were unhindered and able to scale. This lean, highly efficient team successfully handled growing workloads and unexpected challenges without becoming overwhelmed.

These outcomes demonstrate how inclusive decision-making and collaborative problem-solving can overcome typical startup resource constraints, creating a foundation for sustainable growth.

Key takeaway: Inclusive leaders tap into their teams' collective intelligence, fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, and adaptability. This approach doesn't just improve operations – it creates the conditions necessary for efficient scaling and long-term success in a startup environment.

References:

1. Inclusive leadership is emerging as a critical capability, helping organizations adapt to diverse customers, markets, ideas, and talent (Bourke & Titus, 2020).
2. Collaborative leadership involves leveraging the diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives of a group to drive forward initiatives and solutions (Cherisien, 2023).
3. Effective group decision-making strategies include keeping the group small, bringing a diverse group together, and providing a safe space to speak up (Emmerling & Rooders, 2020).

5. Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing

In my journey across different industries, one truth has remained constant: the best leaders are perpetual learners. They not only seek to expand their own knowledge but also create a culture of learning within their organizations.

This quality became particularly evident during my transition from tech and retail management to higher education. Despite my years of leadership experience, I found myself in a very different environment with unique challenges. The staff incentives, customer relationship dynamics, and overall organizational culture were vastly different from what I was accustomed to in the private sector.

I had to rapidly skill up to effectively lead in this new context. Here's how I approached this challenge:

• Immersive Learning: I immersed myself in the higher education environment, attending faculty meetings, student events, and administrative sessions to gain a holistic understanding of the institution's operations.
• Seeking Mentorship: I sought out mentors within the higher education sector who could provide insights into the unique aspects of academic leadership.
• Adapting Communication Styles: I refined my engagement and leadership skills to better resonate with academic staff, who often value autonomy and intellectual discourse more than in corporate settings.
• Focus on Mission: I ensured I wasn't distracted or bogged down by the cultural challenges of the not-for-profit environment by always tying decisions and initiatives back to the core educational mission.
• Cross-Sector Knowledge Application: I looked for opportunities to apply my tech and retail experience in innovative ways within the higher education context, particularly in areas like student engagement and service delivery.
• Continuous Feedback Loop: I established regular feedback sessions with my team to understand how my leadership style was being received and where I needed to adjust.

The impact of this approach was significant as within six months, I was able to successfully lead a major educational development project, combining my technology skills and customer-centric approach with the nuanced understanding of student needs I was developing. Perhaps most importantly, this experience reinforced the value of continuous learning in leadership. By remaining open to new ideas, actively seeking knowledge, and being willing to adapt my leadership style, I was able to navigate a significant career transition successfully.

Key takeaway: Leaders who prioritize continuous learning create adaptable, innovative teams that are better equipped to face future challenges. Moreover, a commitment to learning allows leaders themselves to remain flexible and effective across diverse environments and industries.

Continuous learning references:

1. Continuous learning is essential for leaders to adapt and grow, fostering a culture of learning within their organizations (Harvard Business Review, 2020).
2. Leaders play a crucial role in facilitating continuous learning and reskilling within their teams (McKinsey, 2023).
3. Building a culture of continuous learning involves encouraging open communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration (Bookboon Learning, 2024).

Conclusion: Leadership is a Journey

As we've explored these five crucial leadership qualities—Adaptive Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, Visionary Thinking with Practical Execution, Inclusive Decision-Making and Collaborative Problem-Solving, and Continuous Learning—it's clear that effective leadership is a multifaceted and evolving skill set.

While each of these qualities plays a vital role, two stand out as particularly impactful: the blend of emotional intelligence (reading the room) and visionary thinking with practical execution (taking care of business). These qualities are invaluable because they directly impact what matters most—our customers. The ability to understand and respond to the needs of both your team and your customers, coupled with the capacity to envision and implement solutions, forms the cornerstone of effective leadership.

However, if there's one quality that rules above all, it's continuous learning. The capacity to learn and change is crucial to any leader's ability to make mistakes, improve, and do better. It's this quality that enables leaders to adapt across different sectors and face new challenges head-on.

Throughout my journey across tech, retail, and higher education, I've come to realize that all good leadership is fundamentally the same. It's about learning from your customers, learning from your staff, and connecting the dots of value between what the business produces and the jobs to be done of your customers. As a leader, your role is to bring your people along on the journey of success, fixing customer problems and fulfilling their needs.

It's important to recognize that there's no definitive training or certification that can make you a good leader-manager. Leadership is something that everyone needs to work out through experience. However, applying yourself to it as a craft will accelerate your growth, making you and your teams more effective.

The journey of leadership is ongoing, filled with challenges, learning opportunities, and moments of triumph. By focusing on developing these five qualities, and particularly by committing to continuous learning and customer-centric problem-solving, you'll be well on your way to becoming the kind of leader that inspires, motivates, and drives success in any environment.

Remember, great leaders aren't born—they're made through dedication, self-reflection, and a commitment to ongoing improvement. As you continue on your leadership journey, I encourage you to reflect on these qualities and how you can incorporate them into your daily practice. Share your experiences, learn from your failures, and celebrate your successes. Leadership is a collective endeavor, and by growing together, we can create more dynamic, innovative, and successful organizations.

What leadership quality do you find most challenging? How are you working to improve it? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.