My first job out of out of college, a real engineering job I had the pleasure of working with my first real leader. He was my direct supervisor and the vice president of engineering. He and I stayed in touch LONG after I left that company. He is the one that suggested that I would do well in quality/pharma. I also had the displeasure of working with the biggest failure of a leader. I will afford that person empathy and grace and not discuss what role he had. In fact, I can combine several people of that company that he had taught over the years into an amalgum of what a leader should not be. Rather than point out the obvious, I have a list (I know you are shocked) of what disciplines and traits you should try to do.
If you feel you need to lead through fear you are not leading or inspiring. You are not being real. You are giving people an ultimatum. They may follow you a few times, but the fear you put in them is what has the power. You do not.
If that is okay for you and that relationships especially in work are fleeting, sure, okay. But you are the source for things being miserable and people leaving. The phrase about leaving bosses, is true. There are times you leave for reasons not related to the place but in those instances if it does not sting a little, then the leadership or peer relationships were not there.
Be kind
Be organized or recognize your organization issues
Be human while being a boss
Explain and teach, those are 2 different things
Check on people and mean it. Care about their well beings. If there is something they tell you that is important check in again.
Be careful on who you respect in messagiong when their leadership styles do not meet yours. Explain who they are to your reports and their issues. Be credible without punching down.
Make all the people as happy as you can; if you can’t make everyone happy, make the people that you can happy ecstatic
Give out candy. I am right on this.
Remember when you were in their role. If you were never in their role, learn about the toughest part of their days.
Remove obstacles
Invest your time into your group
Get them external training
Be the buffer between you and the corporate beurocracy as much as practical
Trust people to accept the message as is. There are going to be people who do not get the message but you need to make sure they have every opportuity to understand
Get rid of the low performers. I have not been amazing at this because of empathy and the above. I have refined this to get rid of the bad actors. Most of the time low performance is because of issues that you don’t know about. If you care and inquire about your reports and colleagues, you can be the difference from low performance and finding their groove.
This is a short one for me. So in short in the words of my grandfather who taught me more about leadership without knowing, Don’t be a D#$# or as I put it, do everything with love.