Editor’s note: Serial entrepreneur and investor Donald Thompson is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire. His column appears on Wednesdays.

RALEIGH – Leadership is constantly on my mind. In fact, as a CEO, investor, mentor and keynote speaker, good leadership practice informs almost every moment of my day, and I have worked hard for nearly two decades to refine my leadership skills. So last week when Blind Hub released their list of the 15 U.S. companies with the best leadership teams, it sparked my interest. The report is worker-generated and measures three benchmarks: employee confidence, leadership vision and communication. 

I love that because it’s simple and true. Good leadership means that your employees feel confident in your decision-making skills, motivated by your vision and actively involved in your company’s future. Good leadership makes people feel supported so they can do their best work. That’s easy to say but harder to practice. 

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The internet is overflowing with leadership advice, so let me cut straight to the chase. In my 20 years of leadership, here are the four most critical concepts I have learned that every executive needs to master if they want to be a better leader. 

Insist on high standards

The greatest compliment you can give your team is having high expectations for their work output because it shows that you believe in them. If you treat people as accomplished and talented professionals, and hold them to high standards of quality, most will rise to meet or even exceed those expectations.

Set clear, specific and achievable goals. Communicate those standards and objectives early and often, keep track of every deadline and check in on your key team members so you always have a good idea of where they are in a project. Most employees fail because the standards they were supposed to meet were unreachable or not communicated clearly and early enough.

I’m also a big believer in the power of praise. When your team does well, make sure they know it! Reward exceptional performers and make them highly visible to incentivize and inspire the rest of your team. 

The best idea wins

It is not your job to have all the best ideas. It is your job to facilitate collaboration and build a culture of inclusivity so that every employee has a voice at the table. Rely on trust and transparency so employees are encouraged to bring their best ideas and test them against all the other ideas in the room. 

The trick is to systematize and actively solicit ideas with company-wide meetings, messaging channels and systems of feedback. It’s not enough to simply trust that employees will speak their minds when they have good ideas. Pay attention to the more introverted people on your team who may not feel comfortable voicing their perspectives and give those people a direct line for support. 

Encouraging employees to share ideas also teaches them to work as a team, a dying skill in today’s business climate. When your idea isn’t the best, how do you move forward to support a teammate and do what’s best for the entire company? How do you make your next idea stronger? 

Great ideas should be implemented and rewarded. Of course, money and recognition are a good start but employees should also be included in the implementation process. Empowerment breeds happiness and incentivizes growth, helping reinforce a healthy workplace culture. 

Fast + sloppy = slow

Nine out of 10 times when you’re working on a project, speed is king. You want to turn out key deliverables as fast as possible, but sometimes when the deadline arrives, the work is incomplete or, frankly, mediocre. To be a great leader, you must learn to balance high-quality work with speed and efficiency, and teach your team to find that balance as well. 

This problem is often presented as an “either-or” dichotomy. Speed or quality but you can’t have both. In my experience, that’s just not true. Instead, you have to find the middle ground: that place where the work is as strong as it can be in as short a time as possible. You don’t need to insist on perfection, but you also cannot accept a mediocre product. 

In general, quality wins. Speed is less efficient because quick solutions almost always require multiple edits and corrections. Most deadlines are arbitrary. We write them as best guesses before we have any real idea what the work will look like. That means they’re also moveable. Teach your team that it’s ok to ask for an extension if it means the work will be significantly stronger. 

Give and receive feedback with grace 

Healthy feedback is essential to teamwork because it allows us to draw on each other’s strengths and it makes us stronger by association. Giving feedback means you need to be comfortable with being honest and experiencing some resistance. You can’t be everyone’s favorite all the time, and no one has ever learned anything from endless praise and cheerleading. Learn to compartmentalize your feelings so you can separate how you feel about a person from whether or not they are meeting your standards.

The same rules apply when you are receiving feedback. Defensiveness is normal, but you have to set aside your personal feelings of hurt or disappointment and take responsibility for doing your best work. Surround yourself with people who will give you open, honest critiques and not protect your feelings. Ask for feedback often and when it comes, listen carefully, thank the person, and don’t react or argue. You can process what they’ve told you after the meeting.  

These four concepts are not easy to master. But remember you don’t have to be perfect every day in order to be effective. Just keep learning, striving and adapting, and your team will grow stronger beside you. 

About the Author

Donald is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, author, podcaster, public speaker and mentor for Google’s Entrepreneurs Exchange. He currently divides the bulk of his time as CEO of Walk West, a digital marketing agency, and co-founder of The Diversity Movement, a technology-enabled DEI training firm. You can hear more of his leadership advice on the NC Chamber’s Critical Action Podcast where he talks about privilege and inclusivity with Dr. Michael Waldrun of Vidant Health or by visiting donaldthompson.com.

Other Donald Thompson columns

Donald Thompson: From my bookshelf, here are 3 books to help you cut through the noise 

Donald Thompson: To lead by example, choose your words carefully

Donald Thompson: How to be ruthlessly efficient with your time