An ideal leader in nature does not exist in principle. One good person, an experienced professional who is well versed in his business, may not even imagine how to structure the work so that the efficiency is maximum. Another leader, excellent in most respects, is not able to listen to criticism from employees, and therefore is simply not able to look at the problem from different angles. And such examples can be infinite. Nevertheless, this does not mean that one does not have to strive for the ideal. Consider the most popular features and qualities of an ideal leader.
Adequacy
This is the first and most important point. The boss, first of all, should adequately look at the world around him, his subordinates, and the particularities of his task. A person may not understand the issue, may not be able to manage people, but if he is adequate, all the necessary skills will come very quickly. Although this is not an ideal leader, he will eventually learn and approach this proud title much closer than a completely inadequate leader.
There are a lot of examples of complete inconsistency with their position in modern society. Usually this is not a day working children of influential parents and other similar personalities, accustomed to receive everything and immediately just because they were successfully born. Such can destroy any project in the shortest possible time.
Professionalism and experience
The second important indicator of what an ideal leader should be is his experience, professionalism and acquired skills. A boss who previously worked in the same field in which his company now exists is capable of making the only right decisions and accurately represent the scope and direction of the required work. This all allows you to very quickly achieve excellent results and get high performance indicators of the organization.
Insight
An ideal leader should be able to look at the very essence of things, processes, people and problems. Many people with insight make the right decisions instinctively, not realizing why they did just that. Unfortunately, such a skill is usually innate, but it can also be developed, it is enough to be able to compare different elements in a single chain and make long-term forecasts based on not the most obvious data. An astute boss will be able to choose the best employees, even if this is not visible on their resume. He will be able to anticipate possible problems and solve them in advance, and will see the best option for further development, even in a situation where, like everyone else claims the opposite.
Criticism
The book “Ideal Leader” by Yitzhak Adizes says that when two people converge in everything, it means that one of them is not needed. This is an absolutely correct remark. A normal boss should not only perceive criticism of his own decisions without aggression, but also be able to hear all opponents. Truth is born in the dispute, as Socrates said, and most importantly, the dispute helps to hear a different point of view, which is invaluable for making the right decision.
Discipline and responsibility
An ideal leader should be responsible and disciplined, at least in order to set an example for his own subordinates. It is difficult to get employees to follow the corporate style if the boss himself regularly violates it. It is almost impossible to make people come to work on time or leave it strictly after the end of the working day, if the most important person at the enterprise allows himself to be regularly late for several hours or leaves immediately after lunch. Of course, there are always good reasons such as an important meeting, negotiations with prospective clients and similar situations, but rarely when it all happens every day.
Difficult decisions
An ideal leader simply must be able to make difficult decisions. Moreover, even in such situations when there is no unambiguously correct answer and at least something needs to be done. As stated in the book of the same Adizes, in the vast majority of cases, inaction leads to much more sad consequences than incorrect action. There are exceptions to any rule, and we can say that there are situations when it is better to just wait, but waiting in this case can also be regarded as an action. And now the real boss should always be ready not only to make such decisions, but also to bear responsibility for them, without putting it on the heads of subordinates who are simply following orders.
Cadres decide everything
The boss must be able to select employees so that they can perform absolutely all the functions and fully realize the company's potential. If a manager begins to do something other than general management, signing documents, negotiating with major clients and making crucial decisions for organizing, then one or more employees were chosen incorrectly. In the most ideal situation, bosses are needed only in force majeure situations. And this is true in both directions.
If people work and perform their tasks well, even if they do not do it exactly as the boss himself would do, you should not touch them. Ultimately, as experience accumulates, the optimal solution and the most effective solution to the problem will be found independently. And when you try to get a subordinate to do something different than he understands it, you can simply let the whole more or less well-functioning work mechanism derail, and instead of higher indicators, get the completely opposite result.
Conclusion
Summing up, we can say that the ideal leader must meet at the same time too many criteria. If there are such people, then their number is very small, and you won’t get enough of them for all firms, organizations and enterprises. So, a conditionally good leader will be someone who meets at least half of the indicators, including first of all adequacy, without this important criterion, even the most excellent leader is unlikely to be able to effectively develop the organization and achieve good results.