Cognition / idea presentation / thinking skills: Can you process the information (knowledge) needed in a way that is understandable and are your people able to sufficiently utilize their thinking abilities to help smooth the path to success?

Drive and motivation: Are you willing to persist and strive to overcome obstacles and moments of discouragement in order to accomplish the vision?

Trust and respect (in both directions): Have I earned respect and trust rather than demanding it?

Teamwork and collaboration: Do I have a good understanding that I cannot do everything alone?

Ability to empower and enable performance: Am I willing to trust that people can help and do I support training to grow their skills?

Capacity to coach, appraise, and reward performance (give feedback): Do I recognize the difference between good and poor performance?

Workers rank these abilities in order of importance to them. As part of the research, workers were shown the above list and ranked the list in order of importance to them. As you carry out your common sense approach to leading, look at how these workers ranked the list and then run the same research with your team of workers. That approach is clearly common sense leadership and might make for an interesting discovery. Capacity to coach, appraise, and reward performance Ability to empower and enable performance Teamwork and collaboration Trust and respect Vision, purpose, and direction Cognition / idea presentation / thinking skills Technical / Administrative Skills Drive and Motivation

Never forget people are watching. I’m always amazed at leaders who continually alienate workers, demonstrate an untrusting management style, grab power and control by stepping on others, and in general are not people persons. These individuals clearly have lost their sense of direction. They lack real common sense when it comes to leading and relating to others. Workers watch your actions much more intently than they listen to your words and the end result is a high tension, low productivity working environment when there is incongruency.

Maximize the skills and talents of those you lead. If you have someone who brings a skill set to the table and you ignore seeking ways to utilize those skills, you are clearly shortchanging yourself, the organization and your worker. Common sense leadership knows that blending all the skills and talents of team members makes for a more effective, efficient, and energetic team. Do you have a clear understanding of all the gifts you’ve been handed and, are you putting these gifts into play? Common sense says that is how it should be done.

Closing Thoughts

We have a leadership crisis in this country at every level. I don’t know why except to think that we have become a very impersonal society where we seldom place the needs of others as an important part of our interactions. Self-centeredness dominates and servant leadership is a rarity.

I recently came across this survey of characteristics for the next president of the United States. As you consider your vote for our next leader, why not use the list as part of your screening process. Information on the survey is found on the NextNationalCEO.com website.

Insightful Judgment, Visionary, Trustworthy, Gets Things Done, Inspires Others, Good Judge of People Influences Others, Courageous, Confident, Energetic.

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