What is a leader? Is it a position, a job, or a title? The black and white definition is "the person who leads or commands a group, organization or country". Hmmm, not sure I care for that definition so much.
Commencing down rabbit hole....right....now....
For me, leadership is a personal attribute. Anyone with enough experience or training can be a supervisor, manager or CEO. Even a President, Prime Minister or Premier. I have always considered that being a leader was much more than the position you hold.
Maybe what I am thinking of is more subjective in nature. I'm thinking of a "good" leader. I think I have probably eliminated the concept of a leader being anything but a good leader. One can argue, if you are a bad leader, are you actually leading people? If you don't have buy in or confidence of the people you are leading are you actually leading them? Are you a leader?
So then, now that we got that out of the way, what is a good leader?
Well, hang on. I suppose to mitigate any confusion, it is also important to distinguish the difference between a good leader and a good person. A good leader can be a good or bad person as can a bad leader. I can drop a lot of names of people who were good leaders but horrible people, but I don't think you need me too. History is chalk full of examples. I think it is a common misconception to label a bad person automatically as a bad leader, but that may not be the case. In fact, one could argue, if you have horrible values, morals and ethics and you can gain a following of good people to lead, you must be a pretty good leader.
Ok, ok, lets land our plane...
As I have stated, this part gets really subjective is based solely on my perspective. If you google "qualities of a good leader" you will be inundated with endless lists and compilations created by every school of business operating in the last 20 years. So, what's one more to add on the pile? These are the attributes that I look for in a leader and what feel separates a good leader from everyone else. Most of these are on other lists, but these stand out to me. I am sure anyone reading this post could add at least one more.
And in no particular order...
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Active Listener
- Self - Confidence
- Strong Communicator
- Delegation
- Decisive
- Fair
- Motivated
- Humble
- Caring
- Disciplined
- Self - Aware
- Empathetic
- Accountable
- Empowers Others
- Charismatic
Well, I certainly try to be. Some of these attributes do come natural for me and some definitely do not. But as a leader, I am always focused on improvement. Learning each day from those around me. As a leader, I know that the associated responsibility isn't left at work because being a leader is with me always. At home, in the community and at the kwoon.
Thanks for reading
Mike
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