The role of a leader is complex and sometimes ambiguous. Leaders shape the culture and the outcomes of a business. Leaders can make the difference or make no difference at all.  Leadership is one of the least taught subjects but perhaps one of the most puzzling and arguably one that needs significantly more attention in today’s organizations.

In previous articles, I have highlighted leadership skills including controlling your emotions, being purposeful and present, and the value of resilience, especially during a pandemic. I’d like to add another caveat to leadership: Make it better.

I often ask my staff, students and friends, “Will doing what you’re suggesting make it better?” There are times when we purposefully let situations play out so the participants in the scenario develop new skills, learn how their actions impact the outcome or just because there isn’t a better alternative. But when we do intervene, it’s important that we step back and ask the crucial question, will my intervention make this better?

Far too often, interventions just add to the noise and create more clutter. Additional opinions don’t always improve the outcome. More often than not, additional opinions just add coverage for someone to set up the proverbial “I told you so!” Leaders need to own their contributions, impact and opinions. Fundamentally, leaders should make things better. And training plays a key role in helping them improve processes and experiences across the organization.

As you read this, I am confident that you can envision a leadership intervention that definitely did not make things better. As you think of your experiences, break it down; what went wrong, what was the intervention and why did it not go well?

If we agree that leaders can impact outcomes, drive performance and shape cultures, then the leap to making it better isn’t too far off. How often are we presenting problems, challenges or issues that we often dive into, are invited into, or sometimes just barge into? In the end, isn’t the most important measure of leadership effectiveness “the betterness challenge?” Did your intervention make it better? Did your involvement develop a team member, solve the problem, prevent a problem or help solidify a strategy? These are the questions leaders need to be trained to ask in order “make it better.”

What does making it better look like in practice?

When asking questions, stop and review them. Do your questions resolve a problem? Do they add a new perspective that is necessary for success? Have the answers already been supplied or available somewhere else?

Your time is valuable, so is the time of your staff and colleagues. Is your intervention worthy of the cost of your time and resources of you and the team? Are you spending $1,000 in time and energy to save $200?

Are you providing an opinion or a solution? Often, leaders are fond of their own opinions. But do these opinions lead to success or simply another approach? Is your approach the absolute and only path to success?

At its core, leadership is the process of influencing others. One of the key elements to leadership success is determining when and how to execute influence. Leadership by dictate is seldom a wise long-term strategy. Therefore, the conundrum for leaders is to decide when and how to exert their influence. All too often we seem to over-complicate the leadership strategy. How often have we been told, “keep it simple.” Here too, the concept of making it better comes to light. If our influence is not making it better, then we are wasting resources.

Keep these tips in mind when thinking about your leadership.

“Langton’s leadership” principles:

• Be purposeful in why you do things and what outcome you are hoping to achieve.
• Have a keen sense of self-awareness. Know your strengths, weaknesses and blind spots, know where you add value and be honest about where you do not.
• Communicate a vision. Let others know where you are heading. It’s tough to have followers help you achieve outcomes if they don’t know explicitly what you are trying to achieve.
• Use emotions for support, eliminate emotions based on frustration or anger.
• Be resilient. Organizations, markets, people are constantly changing, ride the wave rather running from it.
• Make it better! Leaders focus their energy on where they add the most value.

By following the tips outlined in this article, you will be well-positioned to develop leaders who “make it better” and to adopt these processes as a learning leader, yourself.