Two essential ingredients to successful leadership

Over the past months we’ve been working with a broad range of businesses from local NFPs to global organisations, and although their challenges are unique, they all know and prioritise the value of good leadership and teamwork. When debating essential ingredients to confident leadership, there are two elements which we demonstrate in our work and encourage others to implement: preparation and accountability.

What is preparation? It’s not usually paid, it isn’t prescriptive, and it takes time out from BAU. However, it brings confidence, efficiency, and leadership. Being prepared for a meeting by reading papers, considering questions or solutions is good practice. Knowing your subject and the agenda enables you to engage with the people in the room rather than worrying about what you need to say next. As a facilitator or chair, it is quite simple to see who has or has not prepared and is “winging it”. Expectations of professional preparation are more obvious as you climb the corporate ladder; it’s not good enough to bluff your way through. In one-on-one sessions, I challenge individuals to improve their preparation. When I hear the response “I don’t have time”, my answer is to manage your diary, schedule prep time and recognise the investment (converted to cost) everyone else in the room has made.

And what is accountability? A recognition that someone is taking control and owning an action. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or what industry you work in, if you take accountability you are immediately alleviating someone else’s concern and allowing yourself to be fully invested. Always know where “the monkey” is, and if you don’t know, ask the question.

It’s been a great few months of workshops and trainings at Aide de MD, and I’m confident that we lead by example by preparing and being accountable. If you’re considering a theme for your next staff meeting or offsite, I recommend including these two components, talk to us if you need further ideas.

Following are some quotes from our recent workshop participants:
• I wasn’t expecting such a fruitful and effective workshop. It increased our bonding, enabled us to solve problems together, evaluate ourselves and was educational. Thank you so much!
• I would highly recommend Charlotte and her team. The leadership advice and guidance given has helped a lot to improve my day to day management skills
• Thank you for coming and facilitating. It gave me time to THINK!