As economic uncertainty wracks our communities, strong and authentic leadership is essential. Effective leaders are needed at all levels of society to create a clear and inspiring vision, to gain trust and to show compassion.

Having built an award-winning company that employed over 100 people and built more than 6,000 homes, I put a lot of thought into leading and managing. The truth is, that's what it takes lead in difficult times it's no different than it should be in “normal” times.

Whatever the external environment, there are three requirements for effective leadership.

VISION

Without one vision to inspire others, leadership simply does not exist. Early in my career, I worked for a company whose slogan was “A New York Stock Exchange Company.” Not “We build quality homes” or “We create great communities” – just a reference to the NYSE. Where is the vision?

When I think of leadership vision, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In this speech, King painted a picture of a future that everyone listening would want to be a part of, helping to build. This is a clear and inspiring vision.

This is what I had in mind when I started my company. Our vision statement was simple: “TW Lewis Company will become the best home building organization in America as measured by product quality, customer satisfaction and profitability.” This vision underpinned my leadership—a vision that expressed my dream, values, and personal journey—and also inspired all of our employees.

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Credibility: Can I trust you?

Think of someone you really admire and respect. My guess is that person is trustworthy. They demonstrate credibility through their intentions and competence. They do what they say they will do. The same is true when it comes to head. True leaders are trustworthy. They do what they say they will do.

One of the most recent examples of a “leader” who has failed in this department is Adam Neumann, the fired CEO of WeWork. From questions about the use of company funds to the involvement of family members in the business, numerous concerns were expressed about Neumann's credibility. In the end, he was removed because his followers did not trust him.

Do you care about your followers?

Leadership requires compassion—compassion for your employees and compassion for your customers. This means understanding and valuing other people's views and showing “compassion in action” – sensitivity, care and kindness to others.

While this is critical at all times, compassionate leadership is more important than ever. Enter the details. Deal with individuals. Solve problems. Make exceptions to the rules and do the right thing.

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The four basics of management

You also need to be a good manager. Throughout my long career, I have witnessed both successful and unsuccessful managers. My guess is that there are four fundamentals when it comes to management: planning, organizing, motivating and measuring. While leadership requires the above attributes, leadership alone is insufficient to sustain your business.

1. Planning

Whether you're in the C-Suite or a middle manager, you need to plan before you move forward. That is, start with your vision and create concrete steps to work towards it.

Another way to be a better planner involves setting goals. You won't achieve your goals until you identify them and make a game plan to achieve them. I've learned that it's better to set goals for different time periods: daily, monthly, yearly. Daily goals are important because they emphasize the importance of today. Monthly and yearly goals are good because they help you focus on what's really important versus what's urgent.

Once you know what the goals are, you can make a plan to achieve them. What should you do? What should your team do? What role does each of your direct reports play?

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2. Organization

When I was running my company, I was constantly looking at our org chart, wondering if there was a better way to organize around view. Who reports to whom? Do we have enough people working on X? Do we have too many people focused on Y?

Good management means a good organization of internal resources – both human and financial resources.

3. Motivational

Motivation is closely related to having a leadership vision. The best way to motivate your people is with an inspiring vision or a worthy ideal. If you are a supervisor, think of yourself as the leader of your three, five, or fifteen direct reports. How can you articulate a vision that will motivate them to be the best they can be?

Be careful. People respond to it personal encouragement. They also want to know that you are listening to them and that you value and use their opinions.

4. Measurement

Without metrics acting as a guardrail, you'll have no way of knowing if your processes and systems are working as planned. Regular measurement will tell you when your goals have been met and when you can move on. If you haven't met your metrics, then you can figure out what's not working and get things back on track.

At my company, we carefully measure customer satisfaction in every detail throughout the sales process. When we saw something that customers weren't completely satisfied with, we focused on it and figured out how to improve it.

Although our world may not be normal in many ways, effective leadership and management have not changed. Now is the time to get back to basics and make sure you're doing everything you need to lead your team and organization into a new future.