Skip to main content

Want to Be a Leader? Focus on These Four Traits

I've learned that leadership skills are perishable. It takes a devotion to listening and learning to build and maintain leadership skills and effectiveness.

People thrive when they have leaders who are:
·         Decisive: The moments when leadership matters most are in times of uncertainty and change -- times when people crave clarity. Leaders don't need to have all of the answers and no one expects them to. What is needed, however, is the ability to seek the best counsel, make firm decisions on the path forward, and ensure everyone on the team understands their role in a shared vision.

Leaders must also keep their eyes on the big picture so that when the environment changes, they can adapt and help their teams change course. They have to be ready to make tough decisions and communicate them clearly to the entire team. 
·         Trustworthy: Leaders build a credible reputation and earn the trust of their teams through their everyday actions -- by setting high standards, showing energy and enthusiasm, and committing to the development of their people.
Building trust involves more than just talking about core values -- you have to live those values by demonstrating them in every action you take. As leaders, the example we set for our employees shapes the culture of our teams. When you demonstrate honesty and integrity in your actions, your team members will be compelled to do the right thing, even when you aren't in the room.
·         Compassionate: Being a compassionate leader involves more than just treating people as you would like to be treated. It's about treating people as they like to be treated. And compassion isn't just for tough times -- it's for all times. It can be as simple as having a face-to-face meeting with your team, rather than sending an email. It's about personally thanking employees for their hard work, recognizing them by name, and explaining why you're so grateful for their contributions.

It's also about being responsive. I make it a priority to read and respond to all correspondence from employees. It ensures I understand what's on their minds, shows that I genuinely care, and it helps to identify emerging issues in my organization.
·         Innovative: Innovative leaders have the ability to think beyond the status quo and inspire their team members to do the same. Leading a culture of innovation requires courage. You need to be able to step out of your comfort zone and take measured risk. Innovative leaders learn from their mistakes and take every opportunity to get better. They reward creativity and effort as much as success, and build an environment where everyone feels comfortable bringing their best ideas forward.

Whether you are a general in the military, a manager of a team, or an individual contributor

  overseeing a project, you can show leadership and achieve success by embodying these 

 four traits.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reaction to Globalization

Globalization and the attendant concerns about poverty and inequality have become a focus of discussion in a way that few other topics, except for international terrorism or global warming, have. Most people have a strong opinion on globalization, and all of them express an interest in the well-being of the world's poor. The financial press and influential international officials confidently assert that global free markets expand the horizons for the poor, whereas activist-protesters hold the opposite belief with equal intensity. Yet the strength of people's conviction is often in inverse proportion to the amount of robust factual evidence they have.As is common in contentious public debates, different people mean different things by the same word. Some interpret "globalization" to mean the global reach of communications technology and capital movements, some think of the outsourcing by domestic companies in rich countries, and others see globalization as a byword for...
50 comments
Read more

LEARNING DISABILITIES

The term learning disability refers to many different types of learning issues that can vary widely in levels of severity. Students with a learning disability have at least average intelligence. They have areas of high functioning and areas of difficulties. Their learning disabilities are not caused by problem, such as vision or hearing impairments, or by primary emotional disturbance, and their challenges are not the result of poor schooling. Students with learning disabilities take in information, such as sights or sounds, but may have difficulty understanding or attaching meaning to it. They find it hard to organize information so that it is readily accessible. Retrieving the information from either short or long term memory is difficult. In addition, expressing the information, either verbally through speech or writing, or nonverbally may be a problem. Students with learning disabilities often exhibit wide discrepancies between different skills areas, in other words, they may be g...
32 comments
Read more

A TEACHER’S TRIBUTE TO STUDENTS

Teaching is a passion, and my experience as a teacher has been beautiful, emotional and fulfilling. Over the years, I’ve watched the student – teacher equation evolve: From Guru, as all-knowing to Guru as friend and equal, as someone who doesn’t always know the best. Today’s teacher and the learner are partners in the process of teaching and learning. We inspire, motivate and learn from each other; if I don’t know, I can admit it to my students. The teacher is only a facilitator; one who will help the student grow, become a self-learner. The teacher is only one of many sources. Not infrequently, there is a role reversal. With children being so tech-savy, often I am the student and they are my teachers. Has teaching changes the way I think ? Yes, most certainly. My students have shown me how to manage time. I marvel at how deftly they juggle sports, academics, dance, and theatre, for instance. I have learnt how to accept failure as I see my students taking success and failure with equan...
16 comments
Read more