These Types of Leaders Can Expect to Be More Successful

Google “Boss Rule #1.” The search will return one of the most common ideologies in the annals of leadership history and a warped philosophy many leaders, managers, and supervisors embrace without hesitation. Your search likely returned: “Rule #1 — The boss is always right. Rule #2 — If the boss is wrong, see Rule #1.” While this meme may be amusing for some, in practice, unilateral decision-making and autocratic leadership reign supreme in many organizations. Leaders who follow this mantra are misguided and operate under prehistoric power motives, which may be appropriate for military generals during combat, but an autocratic leadership style is contrary to success in a matrixed, inclusive, or hierarchical organization (Khan et al., 2015).

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Leaders who embrace the “Boss Rule” are making several judgment errors. First, many individuals in positions of authority mistakenly operate under the premise that a job title certifies leadership ability. This phenomenon is not surprising, considering organizations across industries and disciplines promote people with quality frontline accomplishments into management positions, despite their lack of supervisory or leadership experience. In industry, the best mechanic often becomes a team leader; in sales, the person who generates the most revenue typically becomes a manager of junior staff; in academia, the most prolific researcher or best teacher steps up to become an administrator, director, dean, or even university president!

However, a title and frontline experience certainly does not ensure others will respond favorably to the whims of a newly appointed leader (Welch, 2005). Functional knowledge is only one of many skill sets needed to navigate the complex role of motivating performance successfully. Appointed leaders who believe they are qualified to lead based on prior experience in the jobs they are now expected to supervise fail to realize that trust, integrity, and respect are earned qualities that cannot be instilled or designated by the provision of a job title alone.

Influence without authority

Instead, there are two primary ways to demonstrate your leadership ability regardless of job title or the organizational level of your position. First, become a lateral leader (Zhu et al., 2018). While there is no algorithm to ascend to a leadership role, certain behaviors are related to leadership success, including the ability to establish relationships based on trust.

The key to mutually productive alliances is always considering the other person’s needs when attempting any persuasion effort. This means genuine communication without hidden agendas and intentional deferral of satisfying your own needs. Taking the other person’s perspective is paramount, as is avoiding the perception that you only communicate with others when you need something, such as the other person’s affirmation or compliance.

Why inclusive leadership really matters

Next, embrace a focus on inclusive leadership (Shore & Chung, 2022). Being an inclusive leader means encouraging each employee to have a voice and express their opinions. There should be no consequences or punitive action in the event the employee airs an unpopular perspective that seems different from mainstream ideas. Instead, the inclusive leader realizes that cultivating diversity of thought is the hallmark of progressive leadership (Wang et al., 2019).

Modeling inclusivity shows personal awareness and suppression of bias because the inclusive leader realizes that their own perspectives are experience-based, and they may miss some very relevant perspectives because of their cultural bias. By embracing unfamiliar approaches and diverse beliefs, the savvy leader shows not only high emotional intelligence but also the willingness to acknowledge that individual perspectives may not be the best solution to business challenges. The best leaders always realize that their approach may be misguided and are open to alternative perspectives (Welch, 2005).

If your current beliefs aren’t yet fully aligned with inclusive leadership, consider the materialistic merits of inclusivity. Research across industries and cultures shows positive correlations with inclusive leadership approaches, and many of the metrics businesses crave, such as high productivity and profitability, are contingent on inclusivity. When leaders and organizations embrace inclusivity, the workforce is more stable and happier, and there are direct links between inclusivity and the generation of innovation revenue (Philips et al., 2014).

In a survey of 1,700 companies across eight industrialized nations, Boston Consulting Group found a significant positive correlation between leadership diversity and overall innovation. Above-average diversity was related to innovation revenue (sales from newly created products or services). It was 19 percentage points higher than that of companies with below-average leadership diversity—45 percent of total revenue versus just 26 percent! The link is clear: Inclusivity enhances the probability of a profitable organization.

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Lateral leadership and inclusivity in practice

While inclusiveness means letting each employee express their unique perspective, it does not imply that any idea or suggestion be endorsed. However, the inclusive leader knows the correct way to provide negative feedback to others, which is grounded in autonomy-supportive leadership strategies. Facilitating autonomy means using specific techniques when trying to persuade and influence others. Autonomy is a basic human need that suggests optimal performance is directly related to perceptions of choice and free will (Ryan & Deci, 2020).

Ultimately, humans perform best when their job responsibilities and corporate philosophy encourage them to pursue their personal destinies. Thus, we create a win-win situation whenever we can foster autonomy in others. Fostering autonomy is done by using specific strategies explained here. Still, in general, autonomy in others is cultivated by assuming the other person’s perspective, presenting requests in need-satisfying ways, acknowledging negative feelings (when applicable), and using the right language when engaging in persuasion attempts. Considering all the benefits of inclusive leadership, it may be time for you to infuse a more autonomous approach to your leadership style and allow others to help you reach your leadership potential.