I’ll bet something like this has happened to you.
You’re working hard at something…could be as simple as a
crossword puzzle or as complex as an interstellar rocket engine. What I’m getting at is what happens when you
get to the point of exasperation.
You’ve tried and tried and you just can’t get to the next
step no matter what you do. Then comes
the question we have all uttered in similar circumstances: “What’s it take
anyway?”
Strangely enough, we may have asked the same question when
it comes to being a great leader. What’s
it take anyway?
Another question that may come into your mind about now
is—Why is knowing the answer to the previous question important to me?
The short answer is:
You can’t be it if you can’t define it.
Take a moment to consider what I am saying. I’ll put it another way.
If you don’t know what it takes to be something, you will
have no idea how to BE something. If you
don’t know how to be something, you can’t BE it!
Now, here’s the implication of all this as it relates to
being a great leader. We all must be
one! You have to “lead” your life. It’s your responsibility. You can’t pass it off to someone else.
And, what is true about “leading” your life also applies to
leading people. The same characteristics
are critical to doing a great job.
The characteristics of a great leader have been written
about for centuries. Those
characteristics are well documented.
Frankly, I’m going to document them again in this post but
in my own way. I’m doing that because,
as stated above, you can’t be it if you can’t define it.
I’ll get to my view of the four critical characteristics of
a great leader in a moment.
However, an important point must be made here. The four characteristics are useless if the
leader doesn’t have the essence of a great leader embedded deep in her/his
heart.
Let’s make sure we understand the definition of that word,
essence.
When you Google “definition of essence” a definition that
appears on the page is:
“the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.”
Pretty powerful, wouldn’t you say?
So, what I’m saying is each of the following four
characteristics of a great leader also must have another “indispensable
quality.”
WISDOM
“Leading” a quality life or a group of people clearly
requires wisdom.
Wisdom includes a lot of things, but it would be “wise” for
understanding, to list a few of those things here:
Honest—Intelligent—Perceptive—Reflective—Disciplined—Decisive—Fair—Clear—Analytical—Dependable
There’s a bunch more…but you get the idea.
Oh, but one “indispensable quality” must permeate each of the
above things.
VISION
Just as leading a quality life or people require wisdom, the
great leader must also have vision.
I’m not talking about an ophthalmologist declaring the
leader has 20/20 vision! The kind of
vision I’m talking about can only be found in a leader with some of the
following characteristics.
Aspiring—Inspired—Daring—Creative—Intrepid—Resourceful—Clever—Dynamic—Ingenious—Appreciative
Once again, there are many more characteristics that go into
being a great leader with vision. These
I consider the most important.
Oh, but one “indispensable quality” must permeate each of the
above things.
POWER
Power in this context is not used like a despot would use
it. There have been plenty despots drunk
with power in the history of the world.
None of them have gone down in the annals of time as “great!”
A great leader thinks of power as defined by the following
characteristics:
Confident—Patient—Introspective—Tenacious—Courageous—Nurturing—Bold—Assertive—Attentive—Vigorous
“Leading” your life or people with true power is inspiring
rather than intimidating.
Oh, but one “indispensable quality” must permeate each of
the above things.
FEELING
Yes, a great leader must have wisdom, vision and power but
s/he has to wield all of those with feeling.
Now I’m not talking about a feeling of kumbaya.
A great leader demonstrates feeling in the following ways:
Humble—Intuitive—Curious—Unguarded—Observant—Trusting—Receptive—Compassionate—Visceral—Open
Oh, but one “indispensable quality” must permeate each of
the above things.
Once again, to summarize the key characteristics of a great
leader:
Wisdom, Vision, Power,
Feeling.
All of those being wrapped in
the overriding and “indispensable quality.”
Look at the iconic figures defined as great leaders. They may have demonstrated just as valuable
additional characteristics as the four outlined in this post.
The one “indispensable quality” they all had and applied to
suit their situation was an attitude of wanting to find new ways to solve old
problems.
They would look at the
critical issues related to their leadership role and figure out how to make
them better.
Whether you want to “lead” your life or your group of people
the essence in your heart must be to find new ways to solve old problems and
all will be well.
What is the most important point you
learned from this information and how are you going to apply it in your
leadership role?
Please share your thoughts by commenting below.
And…please forward this information to others by following the social
media share link at the top or bottom of this post.
Thank
you.
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