Qualities of a Leader

I’m sure you are all like me and have been bombarded with political ads through TV, radio, phone calls, texts, and other means. There are many offices up for grabs and many positions on the ballot. It is vital for everyone eligible to vote and hopefully the decisions people make in who to vote for are well thought out and justified with logic.

As I have been thinking about the upcoming elections, I have been thinking of something that has been a part of my mentoring work this fall: leadership, and what makes a great leader. Simon Sinek says all leaders have one thing: followers. When you think of it that way, there are a lot of leaders out there! Politicians, business CEO’s and managers, school teachers and administrators, coaches, and many more-all people who have others following their lead and depending on them to move people and organizations in the right direction. I’m a firm believer that leaders don’t necessarily need titles and their actions and their words can create followers no matter what the circumstances.

So what qualities makes someone a great leader? Clearly, everyone has their own thoughts on this and especially when it comes to making decisions on who to vote for, I would hope people would consider what they want in a leader before marking their ballots. Here are some characteristics I want to see in leaders, no matter what level or what position they hold-these are in no particular order:

•  Integrity: being honest and upfront with moral qualities. Followers want to know you are telling them the truth and can be trusted and believed, in all circumstances.

• Communicator: ability to communicate consistently and in a variety of ways to share with others the vision, expectations, concerns, solutions, etc. for the work that is going on.

• Collaborator: Leaders need to work with everyone and need to understand that working together for the common good will always get us farther than looking at it like I am the only knowledgable person in the room. Collective efficacy is a term used often in education and it fits in all aspects of leadership.

• Listener: This connects to collaborator as leaders need to not just speak to their followers but listen to understand what is going on and what their followers are seeing. Leaders ultimately have to make decisions at times for the good of the group but without checking in with their “team” and weighing a variety of options, the best decisions may not be made.

• Empowering: Great leaders give “the power” to their follower by showing them the way but ensuring that followers know their beliefs matter and that they can take their organization to an even higher level. Sinek has a great quote that says, “leaders are not necessarily in charge, they are responsible for those in their charge.”

• Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Leaders need to care about others and have an ability to show their followers they are there for them and understand what

This clearly isn’t a perfect list and no leader would be 100% perfect in demonstrating these. However, someone who leads with these characteristics would have my support.

What characteristics do you want in your leaders? Do you vote in elections for the candidates who most represent those qualities? Why or why not? I would hope we would expect our leaders to uphold the best of these and utilize their characteristics for the positive and to build strong organizations and teams.

However you make your decisions on whom to vote for in elections-hopefully you have reasons for your votes-I encourage you to vote and make your voice heard. Every vote truly does count and it is vital for all voices to be heard. Have a great week!

Coach K