Top 5 traits of great leaders

Great leaders are imperative influencers. They inspire us with meaning and purpose, all the while creating a trusting and engaging environment, where people could shine and achieve a common goal. 5 effective leadership qualities that drive performance;

1. Leading with integrity "The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter where it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office." - 34th President Dwight Eisenhower

Integrity is what begins and sustains open, intimate, and trusting relationships, through which people become caring and engaging. Integrity is earned over time, sometime a long time. But when it's there, great things can happen.

Integrity is the quality of being honest while adhering to a strong sense of moral and ethical principles. It means keeping your word, saying what you do, and doing what you say. It means saying and doing the right things, even when no one is watching.

"Don't worry so much about your self esteem. Worry more about your character. Integrity is it's own reward." - Laura Schlessinger

2. Leading with purpose

Understanding your purpose, or your organizational purpose is the most important aspect of your service. It means knowing it in your heart, believing in your vision, and primarily exercising emotional intelligence skills to drive decisions that will maximize employee engagement and alignment. Purpose helps define your "why". Why you do what you do. What sets great leaders aside is that they know how to inspire with their "why". They put a higher degree of importance on how their product or service would make the world a better place, instead of traditional "profit" and "growth" measures. Profit and growth are in a sense derivatives, or results of, a great vision in place. Purpose also helps define the long and short term vision, goals, strategy, road map, and metrics. Excellent video on leading with your "why", and why should anyone care...

3. Leading with humility

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; It is thinking of yourself less." - Rick Warren.

We tend to be much more inspired or moved by successful leaders who are genuinely humble in nature. Leaders who demonstrate humility, pave the way for higher levels of employee engagement and job performance.

Leading with humility means being much more concerned with your team's well being and lives at work, then yourself. Sometimes there seems to be a disconnect in how humility is perceived. Psychological studies reveal that humility is not associated with "weakness", or ""introversion", but rather

with positive qualities such as sincerity, truthfulness, respect for another, fairness and modesty.

Humble leaders take ownership and personal responsibility. They lead by example, and don't look to blame. They don't complain, and stay positive. They display strengths with their vulnerability. Truly humble leaders are a rare find.

4. Passion for innovation and creativity

Leaders who foster and promote such environments will typically be on the cutting edge. Innovation and creativity lead the "future", on the ever going challenge and quest for bettering our lives.

There are ways and methods to promote innovative cultures including lean 4.0 and Industry 4.0, which you can read more here. But, great ideas obviously come in all shapes and sizes from anywhere, anyone, and anytime, and do not require any formal structure for it's inception.

A simple method for idea generation or "problem solving", is just simply questions... Asking the right questions however , is a form of art and a science in itself.

Einstein famously said "If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem, and 5 minutes thinking about the solution."

A simple tool for problem solving or idea generation from the world of lean management, is the 5Y tool. It states that when prompted with a problem or a question for example, the root cause of the problem, will reveal itself only after a number of questions. So typically the first, the second, nor the third answer will likely reveal the true root cause... The other day I came across this inspiring interview on a local news channel, from an Israeli entrepreneur. Georgina Green, introduced her new value driven innovation (BEEZEE); Connecting local small businesses to more customers, and doing so efficiently during these difficult times. The moto is "Shop local, Spend local, and enjoy local." In the interview below, Georgina shares with us how her idea came to be, her vision, her passion, and her altruistic nature.

5. Being transformational

Change is the fuel that runs the engine. As Peter Drucker once said "The best way to predict the future is to create it".

Leaders who embrace change are no afraid to ask for it. Challenging that status quo, permits change and engages the team into a different mindset. Creativity and innovation are driven by the forces of change.

Transformational leadership, which is one of a handful number of leadership styles, is one that thrives on change. This style builds on a leaders passion, vision and charisma, where the chase for excellence is ever lasting. Some notable transformational leaders: Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, William Demming - the father of quality control, and Dr. Martin Luther King.

There are various cultural philosophies that incorporate lean measures and scientific principles to drive change within organizations. Some of these, when implemented properly, yield great results.

You can read more about leadership traits, tools, styles, and what leaders do, in my book available on Amazon - 'Think Like A Leader'. Perhaps discover your leadership potential.

#leadership #Transformation #Change #Culture #Innovation #Lean