Gracious leadership combines confidence and humility, and curates a culture of accountability by demonstrating top-down expectations for all employees, according to Janet Smith Meeks who wrote an op-ed for Chief Executive.
Ms. Meeks is an author who has previously held a number of leadership positions at organizations such as Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health. She argues gracious leadership can not only help a company's bottom line by improving employee engagement, but it can also help their public image.
"Conversely, organizations such as American Apparel and Uber have suffered costly reputational damage and value deterioration because the toxic behaviors of their CEOs were permitted," Ms. Meeks wrote. "And seemingly on a daily basis, we are bombarded with stories of high profile, toxic leaders. Sometimes it makes me wonder that if, without intervention, we could be approaching a crisis of leadership."