How to Become a Truly Remarkable Leader
On average, most leaders are average, even if they think they’re remarkable. But every leader can become truly remarkable in some areas.
Remarkable leadership is never an accident.
REMARKABLE LEADERS ARE:
#1. Hot air balloons:
Someone is going to hurt your feelings. Remarkable leaders rise above offense and continue bringing their best.
Never use offense as an excuse for bitterness, gossip, pulling back, or revenge.
Response to negative experience sets the course for your future. Bitterness never builds a golden city. Wallowing in disappointment never paves a path to joy.
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” (Nelson Mandela – unjustly imprisoned for 27 years.)
#2. Hound dogs:
Remarkable leaders actively pursue the highest good of others like a hound on a fox, even when others fall below expectation. Never let a poor performer be justification for selfishness.
Remarkable leaders sniff for improvement everywhere they go.
Remarkable leaders don’t follow the example OF others. They blaze the trail FOR others.
#3. Gasoline:
Remarkable leaders energize others.
- Express empathy if you want to fuel energy. People feel energy when they feel understood. Empathy doesn’t judge what others feel. It understands what others feel.
- Reach high if you want to fuel energy. Mediocrity drains energy. Hard fought wins elevate the soul.
- Create a series of small wins on your way to a big win. A small goal tomorrow is more effective than a deadline in six months.
Momentum is a series of small wins.
#4. Stretched rubber bands:
Remarkable leaders don’t like waiting. They’re always ready to act.
- What can I do?
- How can I help?
- What’s next?
- How can we move forward?
Kind impatience takes you farther than comfortable inaction.
What prevents leaders from becoming remarkable?
How might leaders become remarkable?
Bonus material:
5 Ways Forgiveness Makes you a Better Leader (BizJournal)
Great Leaders Know When to Forgive (HBR)
The Simplest Ways to Inspire Inspire People and Change Their Lives (LifeHack)
5 Things Remarkable Leaders do to Succeed (BIA)
Great article on not being bitter
The last quote – “Kind impatience takes you farther than comfortable inaction” – is a trait that leaders should not only embrace in themselves, but encourage and support in those they work with.
Thanks Andy. The tension between irritating impatience and kind impatience is a hot. I find being irritated and impatience go hand in hand. 🙂 Kind impatience is something to aspire for.
Thanks Lisa.
Oh I like this one; “Remarkable leaders sniff for improvement everywhere they go.
Remarkable leaders don’t follow the example OF others. They blaze the trail FOR others” So why aren’t more leaders like this? I’ve come to the conclusion it is 1) laziness, 2) comfort in the status quo, 3) lack of confidence and 4) a form of blindness to change. Most people (leaders or others) just do not want to go down that “road less traveled” because they are afraid they might fail. From failure comes learning, from failure comes a stronger self, from failure comes strength to continue. Just my thoughts on a Friday waiting for the day to end.
I feel both comfort and challenge from your comment, Roger. Thanks.
Your insights help explain why average is the norm.
Thanks for the great topic! I’m working my way through a demotion that was justified by false accusations and assumptions. Your post is an encouragement to walk forward with an attitude that will not hurt me in the long run.
What is amazing is that what you have listed here as attributes of a remarkable leader are also attributes of a remarkable follower. It is a double-sided coin of leadership and followership when it comes to achieving goals. John McCallum, a well published researcher in the concepts of followership writes, “How well the followers follow is probably just as important to enterprise success as how well the leaders lead” (https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/followership-the-other-side-of-leadership/). During my thesis research on the relationships between leaders and followers I have stumbled across some recurring themes, and your “remarkable” list echoes them. Was Mandela a leader his whole life? Well, Harris Majeke said, “Mandela was inspired by the Satyagraha campaign led by Gandhi” (https://progressive.org/dispatches/mandela-took-inspiration-gandhi/). We all have our influences and our moments where we must follow in order to lead, and I think it is the same remarkable qualities that help us become successful in both disciplines. Good followers and leaders are not consumed with disdain and regret, they recognize their individuality and how that fits in with the organization, they are energized, and finally they are both willing and able to help and look for what is to come.
Leaders can become remarkable by knowing why to serve, when to serve and how to serve. These perspectives ranges in two subtle figures equivalent to self-affirmation of what the future holds and how to align it to the goals.
People can’t be productive and really creative until they feel the love and realize that their opinions and ideas do count.
Create an environment of civility with humility to engage early adaptors of accountability.
I work in an environment where too many follow the same path as the previous individual. This does nothing for creative leadership and leaves the situation as is. It’s what worked for the last guy, so it will work for me. Being a robot is nice, but it can be detrimental to the overall forward movement. Focusing on what was and not creating the ideal future today stagnates the team. I’ve met a few stretched rubber bands in my career and they helped me challenge the status quo. Always asking what they could do to help or move forward was and still is their best quality. When a leader focuses on past successes or their own growth, they don’t become remarkable. They become the last person that occupied that position.
Thanks Tim. There’s a place for systems and predictability. This is especially true in the manager role. Managers need predictable results so predictable processes are important. However, innovation means breaking processes and systems.