An Exuberant Leader; A Necessity

There are no shortcuts to building trust. Leaders should learn to build trust through continuous and honest engagement with their team members. The engagement must either be empathetic or exuberant which helps in the trust-building process.

‘An Empathetic leader; a scarcity’, my previous blog, talked about the importance of empathy, as a critical skill for leaders. In this blog, I would like to focus on another attribute that helps in leadership development, Exuberance.

Have you seen people becoming cheerful and lit up because a leader walked in? Everybody looks up to this leader because of the charisma and energy this person bestows. The contrary also happens.

We may have seen when some leaders walk in, the energy from the room just vanishes. Chitter-chatter to silence, laughter to gloominess, hope to despair, optimism to pessimism.

What sort of a leader do you want to be?

Do you want to be a leader who energizes people around you or one who sucks out the energy?  The latter is despised by all, but a leader with exuberance is always appreciated and is sought after.

When would you call a leader exuberant?  

Enthusiasm, Energetic, Excitement, Liveliness, and Cheerfulness are synonyms for exuberance.

Leaders who combine passion, fun, and energy in everything they do and whose words and deeds are comfortable and pleasant to others, are exuberant leaders. They bring the element of passion to their work, and this is contagious, and the whole team becomes positive and passionate about their work

Team members would become enthusiastic and willingly and happily collaborate with such leaders. So, exuberant leaders can easily mobilize teams and motivate them for strategic execution.

Characteristics of exuberant leaders

There are many ways to bring energy and passion to work. Some of the characteristics that help in the making of exuberant leaders are being an articulate leader, a happy-go-lucky leader, and a dapper leader. It’s a good mix of all these attributes that make an exuberant leader.

An articulate leader

The most critical and conspicuous skill for leaders is the way they communicate. It is essential for leaders to communicate with impact and not be overly loquacious or taciturn in their interactions.

Loquacious leaders are overly talkative and sometimes speak without any relevance or need. Taciturn leaders are reserved and do not communicate enough. An articulate leader must have a good balance and should communicate right with vitality, brevity, and clarity.  

Leadership skill is not just one skill but a set of many skills and abilities. One of those skills is to influence people. According to Robert B Cialdini, an American Psychologist, there are 6 ways to influence people. Being a positive role model and being likeable is one of the ways to influence people. How can you influence people without being an articulate leader?

A happy-go-lucky leader

In one of the surveys, 65 per cent of people said that it is important to have fun at work. All work and no fun would make anybody a dull person. However, all fun and no work would also be useless. So, there must be a good balance between fun and work.

 It becomes critical for leaders to bring the right amount of fun to work. One may come across leaders who are profoundly serious and sticklers for rules and regulations. It often becomes difficult for some people, to work with such leaders.

A team is made up of members who have different personalities. The leader must cater to all these personalities and help them advance in their career. A happy-go-lucky leader can help build camaraderie, which in turn motivates every individual who is part of the team. If you are a senior person in an organization and managing a team, ask yourself this question; Do I bring in the fun at work? Am I a happy-go-lucky leader?

A dapper leader

A dapper leader dresses for the occasion; is casual when needed, business-like at meetings, bright at parties, and in sportswear when playing their favourite game.

One may think that dressing right may not be important and only the results matter. Presenting oneself is very critical as it creates a first positive impression in the minds of others. Psychology says that our first impression lasts longer, and people get into a bias called ‘the confirmation bias’ and hold on to that first impression longer, often overseeing flaws.

Results cannot be achieved without branding, positioning yourself, and making yourself visible. A dapper leader who is happy-go-lucky and can articulate well can do just that.

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Exuberance must be woven into the culture of organizations and this often cascades from the top. It is one of the primary and most important attributes that leaders should develop when working with teams.  

Leaders who are naturally introverted might have to flex their personality type, to be exuberant. It needs a little bit more effort to be exuberant, compared to naturally outgoing and extroverted leaders. Doing so will help improve the leader’s charisma and amiability, a necessity in this millennial world.

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