Tough-minded Leadership with humanistic/people-focused Skills
In business today, every leader, every boss, every Chief Executive Officer, wants their company to be successful and so they advocate for tough-minded attitudes and strong-willed personalities.
And in doing so, they sometimes miss the mark and don’t create the success they are after.
They forget that, for leadership to work, for business to excel, you need a balance. It takes not only tough-mindedness, but also a humanistic approach to make a business succeed and grow.
A great leader partners a tough mind with an understanding heart
A tough-minded leader needs also to advocate for humanistic/people-focused skills. To do this you need to lead with these attributes:
- Tough-minded on focus and humanistic/people-focused in flexibility: great leaders need to focus to gain success, but they must be flexible and agile in all circumstances to be truly successful
- Tough-minded about creativity and humanistic/people-focused in appreciation: great leaders know that creativity is the essence of innovation, but they must be people-focused enough to engage and embrace the imagination of others if they want to fuel innovation
- Tough-minded toward vision and humanistic/people-focused in endeavour: great leaders know that, to be successful, they must have a clear and creative vision so others know the direction, but they must also encourage acts of courage, flexibility and boldness to ensure that their vision is successfully achieved.
- Tough-minded on standards and humanistic/people-focused about purpose: great leaders understand you must not compromise on standards, but they also recognise that each person has their own purpose that those standards can be used to express and fulfil.
- Tough-minded on accountability and humanistic/people-focused in admiration: great leaders know they must show results and be responsible, but an important aspect of their success is acknowledging and appreciating those who have helped them secure those results
When we have confidence in our people, and we treat them with real people-focus, they trust us with the tough decisions and stick with us through even the toughest times.
“Do not mistake a tender heart for a weakened mind, and do not confuse a tough mind for a heartless soul”
