Attributes of Leadership

Passion

A strong sense of passion is required to become an effective leader. Effective leaders also possess a passion for teaching and coaching. You will be raising the performance bar for every organization for which you accept responsibility. It will be your responsibility to teach your associates the necessary skill sets to clear the higher bar.

Trust

Is the paramount attribute required of a leader! Your associates must believe in you. They will be entrusting their futures and livelihoods to you. Therefore, it is imperative that you gain their confidence. It will be necessary to convince your associates that your objectives and your plan to achieve those objectives are in their best interest.

Your superiors whether they are your boss, your board of directors or your clients will be entrusting you with their assets. They must be convinced that you are honest and will report reality. They must be both convinced you can achieve superior results and be comfortable in providing the financial resources you will require to deliver those results.

Honesty will be your primary virtue!   

Courage

You will be taking on some big risks. In order to deliver superior results you will have to destroy existing thinking and philosophies, reorganize to become more efficient, change business strategies to achieve greater profitability.

I refer to these actions as Creative Destruction.

Creative Destruction requires courage. Not everyone will agree with your plan to improve performance. You will be criticized. Reactionaries will place obstacles in your path; they will deny you the necessary resources to implement your plan. You must have the courage to carry on.

Values

Your value system should be superior and distinguish you from others. The business orientation I refer to is to make three blades of grass grow where only one grew before you arrived. The Israelis refer to the concept as “making the desert bloom.” The Marine Corps ethos distinguishes the Corps from other military organizations. Your organization should be elite and capable of achieving superior performance.

Aggressiveness

Taking action has to be your default state of being. When faced with a challenge you will automatically choose to act rather than opt not to take action.

Seize the initiative. Time is a valuable asset - a faster  moving competitor will ultimately defeat you. Be comfortable taking calculated risks. Be flexible and be ready to change direction at any time while continuing to purse your objective.

Resilience

It is inevitable that you will suffer defeats and experience losses during your journey. Develop your sense of resolve to return to the arena, determine the cause of the failure, take corrective action and continue the journey to your objective.

I wish you good fortune in your journey!