Effective leaders are sensitive to context – including the requirements of their followers – and are able flex their style accordingly. In the course of our work, we have asked many followers that what they want from leaders, and conclude that their responses can be described under four elements.

1.	Authenticity
Every follower will answer the question “Why should I be led by you?” by considering what’s different about you (that might be attractive to me as a follower)? The leaders’ skills at displaying these personal differences represents the foundation for their leadership.

So now ask yourself: Are you clear about the differences that work for you in a leadership context? Do you communicate these skillfully to others? Do they know something of who you are and where you come from?

2.	Significance
Followers need recognition for their contribution. Social psychologists have made repeated pronouncements on this profound human need for recognition. It is remarkable how often as individuals we seem to want it but not give it.

A leader needs to ask himself: Do you pay enough attention to those that you wish to lead? Do you make them feel that what they are trying to achieve is important, and that they themselves have a vital role to play?

3.	Excitement
Leadership involves exciting others to higher levels of effort and performance. It is more than simply getting things done. Leaders communicate this by using their personal differences, or by the movement from personal closeness to distance and the sense of edge that this often creates. But beyond this, leaders are often able to excite others through their passionate commitment to clearly articulated personal values and to a vision.

Ask yourself: Do you excite people to higher performance every day that you are at work? Are you a source of energy in your organization? Or a drain?

4.	Community
Followers want to feel part of a community. Human beings have a deep-rooted desire to belong, to feel part of something bigger, to relate to others – not just the leader. The nature of wider community varies. Some are intense and all-encompassing, others more diverse and fragmented.

Ask yourself: Do you engender a sense of belonging? Are you a community builder? Do you help people to connect – to each other and to the overarching purpose of the organization?

When individuals communicate their own authenticity and generate a sense of significance, excitement, and community to others, they are getting the basics of the leadership relationship right.

From: Why should anyone be led by you? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones