Leadership Qualities

Be Trustworthy
Trust is the basis for almost all the relationships in your life. Without trust, it's impossible to create healthy and productive environments, either with work or personal situations.

Be aware that others are watching you ... assessing your values system and integrity. People want to be assured that their trust, followed closely by their respect is being placed in a safe place -- your hands -- and that they are indeed wise to follow where you lead.

When people trust you, they are more willing to give their best, as they know that they always get your best. This leadership quality is sometime referred as integrity or honor, but all these terms have the same basic meaning: you say what you do and do what you say- period.

Inspire People to Work Toward The Vision
You can't push people to believe in or want to work toward the organizational vision and goals, but rather, one of the qualities of good leadership is that you guide, lead, and inspire people to want to participate in the process of moving toward the vision.

Be Self Aware and Insightful About Your Impact On Others
One of the most important qualities of good leadership is that the individual is aware of him or herself ... their abilities and the impact that they have on others.

If this doesn't come naturally to you, work on actively putting yourself in others' shoes. Recognize how you affect things and anticipate how others will react to your decisions and personality. While creating this analytical dialogue can seem foreign at first, you will find that it comes quite naturally with time and practice.

Accept Responsibility for Your Actions
Those who have qualities of good leadership never pass the buck. In fact, the best leaders will not only take responsibility for their own mistakes, but also shield their team from negative consequences, going to bat for them.

As a leader, always remember that the buck stops with you. We seem to be raising a society of people who prefer to blame others for their feelings, circumstances and lack of success.

True leaders are masters at accepting responsibility for all that comes their way and taking ownership and responsibility for getting things back on track. Blaming, justifying and excuse making just isn't in their responsibility.

Have High Self Worth and Self Esteem
You might not think that how you feel about yourself has a whole lot to do with how others perceive you or how effective you can be at taking charge of a group situation. However, it would be a huge mistake to make this assumption. Every individual is either their own best friend or their own worst enemy.

How you feel about yourself often leads to subconscious patterns. Those with a negative self worth may have many other leadership qualities, but sabotage their own efforts with a deep belief that they aren't good enough to carry the day.

Dealing with self esteem can seem like a touchy-feely waste of time, but that is absolutely not the case. It is crucial to your success and leadership ability.

Lead versus Manage
There is quite a fine line between these two styles. While a leader may certainly manage, managers rarely lead.