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The Millennial Leaders Project: What millennials think makes great leaders

DECONSTRUCTING WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE LEADER in 2020

Leadership is a loaded word. When things go wrong in teams, it's often "leadership" that gets blamed. And when things go right, "leaders" are quick to get all the credit. But what does good leadership actually look like? And what makes an effective leader? We've dug deep into research, interviewed executive coaches, and asked over 100 managers who are currently working to improve their leadership skills.

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5 SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

MANAGERS

EXECUTIVE COACHES

LEADERSHIP ISN'T ABOUT WHO YOU ARE, IT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY

The word “leadership” can feel a bit funny. It seems like a formal concept from times-gone-by, when everyone at work was labeled as either a boss or a worker. Today, leadership isn’t about what’s in your job description. Instead about bringing people together to get things done - no matter what the title is on your LinkedIn profile.

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THERE ARE 17 SKILLS & BEHAVIORS THAT DRIVE SUCCESS

So what do effective leaders do that makes them successful, especially in today’s crazy world of (remote) work? Our research culminated in a list of 17 competencies that drive leadership success, proven by both academic research, expert opinions, and the practical experience of managers.

VALIDATED WITH 120 MANAGERS

To validate the 17 skills and understand which ones are most important, we interviewed 107 managers and asked them a simple question: What do you think are the most important skills to succeed as a leader?

We then analyzed the responses to see what skills are top-of-mind for today's leaders, and which ones might be flying under the radar.

LEADERS IMPACT THROUGH EMPATHY, NOT COMMAND-AND-CONTROL

More than every 2nd leader (55%) we've asked reported that empathy and emotional intelligence are key for every effective leader. Patience, caring about your team and the ability to understand and relate to how people around you feel were just a few examples of reported behaviors. Surprisingly, significantly fewer leaders reported bias to action (19%) or resilience (9%) for example as important key drivers.

MILLENNIAL LEADERS PRACTICE HUMILITY EVERY SINGLE DAY

Almost every 2nd leader (45%) we've asked reported has named humility as a skill that leaders need to practice. Behaviors like serving the needs of others, admitting your mistakes, walking the talk, being approachable and measuring your success in the success of others have been laid out as signs of great leadership.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ARE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

A surprising outcome was that Diversity and Inclusion has been mentioned only by a few of the leaders we've asked: Only 11% of the founders and 6% of hired managers have named building diverse and inclusive teams as a top skill for leaders to master. According to McKinsey (2018) diverse companies outperform their peers by up to 33% in profitability. However, recognizing it as a key driver for team performance is still not as prevalent as it may seem or should be. While this does not mean that it does not matter for today's leaders, it simply shows that we have more work to do.