The Key that Unlocks Leadership
I’m consumed with power-packed brevity. Five words are better than thirteen. That sentence originally read, “If I can say something in five words rather than seven I’m excited.” Brevity by itself is meaningless, it needs content.
In the spirit of brevity, what is the most important leadership quality/behavior of all?
My number one quality is number one on the following list of potential top leadership qualities.
- Believe you matter. “It is not a question of ‘Will I make a difference?’ Rather, it’s ‘What difference will I make?” (Kouzes/Posner)
- Make others believe they matter. Inspired by Joe Tye.
- Take Action. Joan Koerber-Walker says, “The difference between dreamers and leaders is that leaders ACT on those beliefs and begin the process of ACTually making a difference.”
- Embrace and follow purpose.
- Love people, purpose, your organization, and yourself. Inspired by Al Diaz.
- Character/integrity – John Spence.
- Creativity along with the ability to solve problems.
- Humility.
- Delegation. Leaders who can’t delegate never reach their potential.
- Passion and vision.
I wrote about this a year ago and I still believe the most important leadership quality of all is believing you matter. You won’t matter until you believe you matter.
Believing you matter is the first step toward:
- Courageous dreams.
- Loving others.
- Helping others matter.
- Taking action.
- Making decisions.
- Listening to others.
Believing you matter doesn’t guarantee you’ll become a leader. It only lays the foundation for leadership. If you don’t believe you matter you won’t.
Can you identify the most important leadership quality of all?
What’s on your list of most important leadership qualities/behaviors?
**********
Readers note: I had originally intended to post part of my interview with Doug Conant today. I left my notes on my desk so that post is next week.
Teachability. Stagnation is death…of personal growth, of ideas, of teamwork/relationships, of innovation, of problem-solving and of passion.
Robin,
There’s a lot to be said for nurturing your own potential through personal growth. If we don’t we high the leadership lid.
Cheers,
Dan
How true! If we don’t believe we matter, the rest doesn’t matter. We have to value ourselves before we can truly value and help others. Great post, Dan!
Carma,
I love a well turned phrase… “If we dont believe we matter, the rest doesn’t matter” Bingo!
Have a great weekend,
Dan
i think the greatest leadership quality would be preparing a replacement. A better one. Leaders should create leaders
You have chosen one of the important challenges of leadership. Cheers
I think “Believe you matter” is more a quality for being successful than being a leader.
All leaders are successful so they have it
Listening to others—Hearing others–> brevity 😉
Great motivating list for Friday Dan! And definitely worthy of much ponder.
I am juggling believe and know in your list. Believe-accept, affirm, trust, faith. Know-appreciate, comprehend, discern, recognize. Similar yet different. Interesting.
Can we make others believe they matter? I know we can show them that they matter. Does inspire others fit?
The only other add on I can think of is…
Recognize and celebrate (probably fits with Al’s inspiration)
Doc, I like the differentiation between believing and knowing. In different contexts, either can be more powerful than the other. Belief to me seems related to confidence, maybe a certain level of faith in something – maybe more heart than head? Knowing has to do with having validated it with data or your own experience – more head than heart. Agree, it’s a very interesting point.
I agree Greg, there may be a distinction between brain and spirit, head and heart. Probably an overlap too. Validate and then embrace?
Doc,
Absolutely love your distinction! Double KaChing.
I think we can help others believe in themselves… However, we can SHOW them they matter. You have given me a ton to think about.
Showing them they matter helps them believe they matter.
Cheers,
Dan
Doc is a featured contributor on Leadership Freak. Read his bio at http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/doc
Hi Doc. You certainly strike a nerve and makes one reflect on how we “make others believe they matter.” Using your dyad “believe” and “know” I would venture to say that before anyone can believe they matter they must first know they matter. They will know they matter when our actions, or should I say interactions, leaves no doubt in their mind as to their value and self worth. When that message hits home then belief will creep in and become a part of their identity. Knowing you matter validates your work. Believing you matter validates your life. 🙂
Riffing off of your observations Al, maybe it is think then know then believe which then of course anchors values.
So where does ‘feeling that you matter’ fit in? LOL, somebody stop me!
I love number one! Great Stuff. Thanks for Contributing.
Thanks Scott
Dear Dan,
I think the most important leadership quality is “Humility”. Humility is core of leadership. Actually it depends upon the kind of leadership. But the leaders who transform people and society have humility as their core. I also believe the “Empathy” is equally an essential component of leadership. Leaders have ability to understand and sense the position of others emotional state and it provides them a good platform to connect and encourage them.
I agree that “Courage “is core of leadership. Courage makes leaders to see big picture and take decisions even in odd circumstances. Courage has its origin from Heart. So leaders lead from heart and anything which is led from heart has strong conviction and commitment.
Leaders should have “Courageous humility” and “Emotional intelligence”. And anyone who possesses these qualities is good leader by default.
“Courageous humility” probably relates to Dan’s number on in that knowing you matter has to be balanced with recognizing that everyone else does too. I like this, Ajay.
Hey Dan, love the way you push us to think. I’d probably modify your number one slightly and say my number one quality would be knowing why I matter. Maybe I’m full of myself, but I’ve never really thought I didn’t matter, but I’ve invested huge amounts of time thinking about why. In the broad sense: why do people matter? Why do people like me matter? In the specific sense: Why do I matter in this role? Why do I matter in this specific instance? Organizationally: Why does a business matter? Why the paint business in particular? It’s a question of where and how you add value in return for the resources you consume.
Seems like a lot of deep thinking, but consider this: I am often able with no preparation to tell someone else why they or what they’re doing matters to me or to the world. My boss considers that one of my greatest strengths.
Love the ten quailites .. all great stuff! Like navigation beacons, we all need some help to stay on course!
What i find important (this is timely for some recent observations) is that “believe that you matter” is not the same as “i’m the only thing that matters”. I’ve watched a few people live a life that centers on themselves– thinking that they have caputured the spirit of “i believe i matter” . Unfortunately, without a willingness to look broader than Self-Matter-ing they missing the mark. In reality they need to realize that they matter to their children, their spouse, their community— and with that, they are called to realize that their power rests not in their ability to make decisions based on their own interest, but to continue to made a difference — TO OTHERS.
I enjoyed your post today. I agree, that if we believe we matter than we will matter to others. I believe we shoud appreciate our differences and embrace them because even when we are not trying to make a difference we do just by being who we are.
For me, the most important quality in a leader is authenticity. Both in the sense that they are real with themselves (and have enough self-awareness to do this) and that they are real with the people around them.
Hi Dan, as Doc mentioned great way to start the weekend. I am humbled by your encouragement and gesture. The list is all encompassing as well as the additional attributes mentioned by the community. I agree with your assertion that we have to matter to ourselves first and I believe so our identity can have meaning and be true. “Transparency” for me is a very important feature of leadership. People should be able to successfully predict your behavior in most circumstances and if they can’t it’s because they don’t know you well enough. When a leader “shows all” he dismantles the fear barrier and engenders faith, trust, approachability, and reliability. The wholly transparent leader need never remember the truth, he/she let’s his soul speak and his heart listen. As I recently read: The truth never disappears, it can and may be disrupted, but it can never die.” Behaving totally immersed in what can be called the “naked truth” motivates all to follow and believe in the Transparent Leader. Y’all have a great weekend and thank you for adding value to our journey.
Am thinking that Dan either has had too much caffeine or may be onto something with this ‘less is more’ approach. Pretty soon his 300 words or less will whittle down 100 then 30…
Your paradigm shift has given me license to go back and look at a couple of documents and I am dropping words right and left….bet the message comes across clearer too!
Thanks Dan!
Hi Dan, We need to make a correction to my post. The last sentence should have said OUR journey instead of my journey. Traveling alone is never very fulfilling so before it festers we need to correct it. Whenever possible the trek should never be companionless. Sole ventures will not ever attain the breathless sensation and joy of reaching our goals in unison and brotherhood. The elation of togetherness surpasses whatever contentment one may hope to experience by oneself.
Duly noted and changed…enjoy the weekend. Cheers
Thank you! I always love your posts and find so many important keys to optimal heart-based leadership “Power Standards!” This was a good post to start my school year.
I would add show up and look good. You can’t lead if you’re not there and your appearance counts. There is no excuse for not dressing well and being fit. If you don’t have a clue about how to dress, help shouldn’t be far away. If you are fit you will have more energy for the job. (You don’t need to be thin to be fit.) Diet is also important. It’s hard to lead with a doughnut in your mouth. Douglas W. Green, EdD
Believing you matter is a huge one. This requires knowing yourself. I would also add the desire to grow and develop yourself. Great points and thoughts.
Dan, you do matter and have made a difference in my leadership! I’m sorry I have never said thank you (one on my list this year is thankfulness). Keep it up.