I was recently invited to give a talk on the basics of leadership – at a closed door corporate event which one of my clients hosted for their retail management staff.

It was out in the mountains – I got to fly back to the city while the managers face three days of leadership/team metaphor… a.k.a. Gruelling physical challenge.

The very cool, diverse group of people helped me figure out (and apply real world examples to) the following psychological criteria for exceptional leadership.

Best of all, it’s a acronym (who needs another numbered list anyway?):

G – for “Great Beliefs”

Before you lead any group of people to do something extraordinary, it pays to equip them with a set of awesome, empowering beliefs that allow them to get the job done.

Inspiration and motivation are irrelevant here – before we start playing with those Jedi mind tricks, you must first instil the beliefs that make the job possible.

Great, useful beliefs include:

“It’s possible to change things”

“My actions can and will make a difference”

“I already have or can find the resources (resourcefulness) I need”

R – “Reasons to Act”

Basic rule of behaviour psychology: No one, not even someone already on salary, will take any action unless they have a sufficient “reason why” providing psychological leverage.

Equip your team with multiple “reasons” why they can, must and want… to take action. Scary asshole bosses traditionally go nuts with threats when it comes to “Reasons to act”… and they may even get results! However, the best (most consistent) results happen when there is healthy balance of carrot (cos positivity is cool) and stick (cos we live in “reality”).

Ask yourself and your team questions like:

“What is the cost of not doing this?” … and…

“What is to be gained by taking action now… as opposed to next month?”

O – Outcome Clarity

This gets included simply because most folks forget the important parts of goal setting. Tangible measurements of success… plus, total certainty of when, where and with whom (more important than you think) are what well-formed “outcomes” are all about.

This is the stuff that makes “The Secret” work.

Practical approaches to turning a lame “goal” into a laser-precise “outcome” include asking:

“What will it look like when I have this?”

“Where will I be/What will I be doing the moment I realise I’ve achieved my goal?”

The more vivid and emotionally compelling the better.

W – Wilful Action

Simultaneously the simplest and the most regularly overlooked “essential ingredient” in the recipe for leadership success. Wilful action is getting up and doing it – once you’ve got all the other stuff.

Many times, people with the right beliefs, reasons, outcomes and even skills (see below) will still sit around waiting for someone to go first!

This is where you, the one who doth utter “Simon says”, stands up and leads! It isn’t called leadership for nothing.

S – Skills

This is where the technical training and real life “school-of-hard-knocks” stuff comes into play. Don’t bother leading folks who are incompetent. Invest time (and money) in first giving your people all the know-how required.

They don’t need to be masters – that comes with the actual “doing” part.

The best leaders are always already masters – they lead with so much more integrity by being able to say:

“Come, follow me down this road… I know the way.”

Got a question? Think something is missing? Want to know how this could apply to your specific leadership situation? Reply in the comment section (just scroll down) and we’ll figure out the answers together…