7 HABITS OF LEADERS:
Courage:
People will wait to see if a leader is courageous before they’re willing to follow his or her lead. People need courage in their leaders. They need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. For the courageous leader adversity is a welcome test. Like a blacksmith’s moulding of a red-hot iron, adversity is a trial by fire that refines leaders and sharpens their game.
Effective Communication:
“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” —Joseph Priestley.
Communication is the real work of leadership. It’s a fundamental element of how leaders accomplish their goals each and every day. You simply can’t become a great leader until you are a great communicator. Great communicators inspire people. They create a connection with their followers that is real, emotional, and personal regardless of any physical distance between them.
Generosity:
Great leaders are generous. They share credit and offer enthusiastic praise. They’re as committed to their followers’ success as they are to their own. They want to inspire all of their employees to achieve their personal best – not just because it will make the team more successful, but because they care about each person as an individual.
Self-Awareness:
Contrary to what Dilbert might have us believe, leaders’ gaps in self-awareness are rarely due to deceitful, Machiavellian motives, or severe character deficits. In most cases, leaders—like everyone else—view themselves in a more favourable light than other people do. Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence, a skill that 90% of top performing leaders possess in abundance. They know where they shine and where they’re weak, and they have effective strategies for compensating for those weaknesses.
Passion:
“If you just work on stuff that you like and are passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” – Mark Zuckerberg
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. So are boredom and apathy. No one wants to work for a boss that’s unexcited about his or her job, or even one who’s just going through the motions. Great leaders are passionate about what they do, and they strive to share that passion with everyone around them.
Humility:
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” — C.S. Lewis
Great leaders are humble. They don’t allow their position of authority to make them feel that they are better than anyone else. As such, they don’t hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed and they won’t ask their followers to do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.
A sense of purpose:
“You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.” — Ken Kesey
Whereas vision is a clear idea of where you’re going, a sense of purpose refers to an understanding of why you’re going there. People like to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Great leaders give people that feeling.
