Last month I posted the question on the blog for you, the readers, to answer: what is leadership?
I asked you to come up with your own ending to the sentence: “Leadership is…” And you did – and it was magnificent. I received 20 responses from all over the country that covered 47 different areas of leadership, which I summarized in the list below. If you want to see the raw comments, click here and scroll down to the comments.
I think most would agree that if a leader had many or most of these qualities you identified, they would be well worth following!
1. Admit mistakes
2. Aim toward self-awareness
3. Align the energy of a group
4. Be accountable to others, yourself and the organization
5. Be energetic
6. Be flexible of mind and spirit
7. Be honest
8. Be inspired and inspiring
9. Be kind
10. Be of service to the people you lead
11. Be responsible
12. Be strong
13. Be the best you can be
14. Be willing to forgive yourself and others
15. Care for others
16. Challenge the process*
17. Communicate hope
18. Connect with others
19. Convey ideas, plans of action, measures of success (or failure) and confidence in others
20. Cooperate
21. Create opportunities for excellence
22. Deliver memorable learning for all
23. Deliver results
24. Demonstrate strength of character
25. Do nothing very well.
26. Dream
27. Enable others to act*
28. Encourage the heart*
29. Find solutions that work for the common good / everyone involved
30. Generate excitement and commitment
31. Guide others and yourself
32. Have courage
33. Have patience
34. Inspire a shared vision*
35. Keep your cool
36. Life-long learning
37. Listen to others
38. Love the people you lead.
39. Make decisions
40. Maximize productivity of people over time
41. Model the way*
42. Motivate others
43. Question
44. Set a good pace
45. Take credit for the team
46. Take risks
47. Transform
* Someone submitted this quality, but was quoting it from Kouzas and Pozner's "The Leadership Challenge."
