Here's more of the best advice on how to be an effective leader from seven top business leaders.
5. An effective business leader has to be curious.
Curiosity is a prerequisite to continuous improvement and even excellence. The person who gave Mary Jean Thornton, Former Executive Vice President & CIO, The Travelers, this advice urged her to study people, processes, and structures. He inspired her to be intellectually curious. He often reminded Thornton that making progress, in part, was based upon thinking.
She has learned to apply this notion of intellectual curiosity by thinking about her organization's future, understanding the present, and knowing and challenging herself to creatively move the people and the organization closer to its vision.
6. An effective business leader has to listen to both sides of the argument.
The best advice Brian P. Lees, Massachusetts State Senator and Senate Minority Leader, ever received came from his mentor, United States Senator Edward W. Brooke III. He told him to listen to all different kinds of people and ideas.
Listening only to those who share your background and opinions can be imprudent. It is important to respect your neighbors' rights to their own views. Listening to and talking with a variety of people, from professors to police officers, from senior citizens to school children, is essential not only to be a good business leader, but to also be a valuable member within your community.
7. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. If one has truly prepared and something goes wrong the strength of the rest of what you've prepared for usually makes this something easier to handle without crisis and panic. One of the best pieces of advice Dave Hixson, Men’s Varsity Basketball Coach at Amherst College has ever received and continues to use and pass on is this anonymous quote - "Preparation is the science of winning."
Along with this are two expressions from Rick Pitino's book Success is a Choice, which speaks to preparation. Hixson asks his teams every year: "Do you deserve to win?" and "Have you done the work?" This speaks to the importance of preparation toward achieving your final goal. If you haven't done the work (the preparation) the answer to the second question is an easy "no!"
One Last Piece of Best Advice
Great advice on being an effective business leader comes from many sources - parents, other relatives, consultants, bosses, co-workers, mentors, teachers, coaches, and friends. The important point to remember is to stay open, listen to everyone, but also develop your own leadership style.
