What do you think it really takes to be a great leader?

[thegreenyogi]

[OneViewpoint]

Oh man, this is a complex question. I'm not sure I can do it justice in writing. But I'll try.

Unfortunately what it takes to be a great leader is a bunch of things they don't teach in classrooms. And our parents tend to avoid this discussion like the dreaded "sex talk".

On the other hand, some people are capable of learning leadership skills to some degree and some will never learn. Hence why leadership is so rare and uncommon.

A conversation I have with people in the early stages of their careers all the time is that as an individual contributor in an engineering, finance, accounting, nursing, manufacturing, or whatever role you happen to end up in... your technical skills matter. That's where you develop and demonstrate your competency in your chosen field.

But at some point you get elevated into your first job as a new manager. And now you need to make a conscious change. You have to walk away from what is comfortable for you and simple black and white technical answers. You need to start focusing on managing a group of other people. Any group of people come with differing needs and capabilities. The bigger the group the more complex it gets.

And this trend continues as you progress in your career. Technical competence is always a baseline expectation. But as you go from a new manager, to a mid level manager, to a senior manager, to a VP, to a C-Level executive, people skills matter more and more and your reliance on being the technical authority can be shifted to the people who report to you. You are basically going from being an engineer or a manufacturing guy to being a leader of people. You have changed your career path.

Here are some of the traits leaders need to have.

• Empathy
• Compassion
• Larger than average risk tolerance.
• The ability to delegate authority and accept responsibility.
• Consistent behavior, no favorites. People follow leaders they trust.
• Awareness a person's personal goals, career development needs, and limitations.
• Awareness of constantly shifting group dynamics.
• A genuine interest in solving the problems of getting people to work together.
• A team building mentality.
• A very sharp awareness of written and verbal communication. Less is more.
• Be very very stingy and precise with words. Boil everything down to it's simplest terms if you want a diverse group of people to all get the same message.
• Conflict de-escalation and management skills.
• Demonstrate effective meetings, emails, and phone calls. Coach people who waste other people's time unnecessarily.
• Allow your people to fail. Discuss the outcome rather than blaming the result. failing to do this will have you making every decision all the time. That's a miserable lifestyle. Force other people to develop into leaders. Give them the environment to do that.
• Vision. Somewhere along the way you need to start reserving some time for navel gazing and thinking in terms of a 1 year, 3 year, and 10 year time horizon. What if? Where is technology going? What will government policy do to you? What about current industry trends like offshoring to cheap 3rd world labor markets and the resulting stretch of supply chains?
• Decisiveness. It's OK to manage by consensus and coaching 99% of the time. But in times of crisis, a leader needs to be able to shift gears and make decisions along with taking the responsibility for those big decisions. People actually want that from a leader in a crisis. You need to be able to recognize those moments and act on them. Sometimes you need to be ruthless and goal oriented.

Like I said, no school teaches this stuff. And few people are born with these behaviors innately. Even fewer have the tolerance for the risks. Most people aren't even aware of the changes happening to them over time. That's why true leaders are rare and valued.

An excellent example of this personality type is Dwight D. Eisenhower, a 4 star general during WWII who went on to become a US president. He was not a great military mind. He was a great leader who got a bunch of difficult personalities to work together.

[thegreenyogi]

Very informative and very interesting to read!! 🤓

[OneViewpoint]

@thegreenyogi

Thank you ma'am. I failed to mention that what I've seen a lot of in the military and in business is two failure modes in the personalities of leaders that invariably results in failure of the organization.

1.) The AUTHORITARIAN. These people get promoted because they are either technically very competent or because they are over confident loudmouths. Neither type ever bothers to learn any of the leadership skills I mentioned above. They believe they are "leaders" by virtue of the title they have been handed. They always believe they are the smartest person in the room and all of their people are absolute morons. They are oblivious to their own lack of leadership skills. It's a fucking disaster every time.

2.) What I call the FIRST PIG AT THE TROUGH syndrome. These people may or may not understand leadership. But they don't care. They are corrupt. They are looking out for themselves first, last, always. For instance, in the Army I was taught that an officer only eats after his men have eaten. An officer is the last to sleep and the first to wake. It's part of leading by example. But some officers flaunted their position and power. They were the first to eat, the first to sleep, and the last to wake. And the men saw what they were. Respect was near zero. Resentment was seething.

In the business world this looks like C-Level Execs giving themselves stock options and bonuses tied to stock price then freezing pay raises for everyone else. Or making business decisions that are bad for the company to inflate the stock price so they can make their year end bonus. Once again the pigs are seen to be taking everything and the respect is zero while the resentment is high.

[thegreenyogi]

@OneViewpoint Noted. Your added information was also very interesting. There is a lot to be learned from a person that is as experienced as you are provided they want to learn of course. 🤓

[Telekinetic-Potato]

It takes knowing and arguably caring about the goals and desires of everyone on your team and setting an example. Everyone around you should be able to put into words your methods of success.

And whether you do it by yelling in someone's face or a series of long, soft talks, you need to be good at making people perform at their best because they've looked in the mirror and made the adjustments they needed to make. So you also need to be an agent of growth for the people around you.

And that example you set and the growth people feel around you makes them respect you especially if you're resilient enough to be a shoulder to cry on and the shelter that protects them whenever the rain comes.

So I'd say it takes knowing who you want to be and chasing it so hard it makes other people feel confident enough to chase being their best self.

I like to think of it as being the version of myself that's the most unchained. The most free. And keeping the people I care about on a path aligned with what they need.

[4ngelic]

intelligence, decent morals, charisma, good social skills, respectability, the ability to make inspiring and poignant speeches, having a spine

[4ngelic]

(i was thinking politically)

[strawberryapple]

To be a really great leader would be someone who doesn't try to impress people by replyling to GAG questions using ChatGPT. 😀

[OlderAndWiser]

Every truly great leader understands that their position makes them a servant of those whom they lead, and they do so with humility.

[capriVib]

A true leader must have the vision to read the future and the genius to foresee 50–100 years ahead. They must be decisive and courageous willing to take responsibility and accept risk. They must remain realistic, grounding their methods in reason and science rather than emotion. And finally, they must be able to persuade the people, with strong communication skills and powerful oratory.

[HawkPerception]

Being charismatic is probably the most important trait. Being able to invigorate, inspire, motivate, or just encourage others to a cause is basically the essence of being a great leader. But other than that, qualities of courage, integrity, humility, empathy, being strategic, decisive, accountable, communicating clearly, and being adaptable and resilient.

[Zack-Bann]

Many things go into it
A lot are natural born qualities
But also skills you pick up


I think the true basis of leadership is a sense of responsibility:
Once you accept that you can’t throw the blame on anyone but yourself you will be able to guide the people you lead towards the desired outcome

[_Troian_]

A true leader is a great listener, he is calm.. especially calm under stress and knows how to manage it, a true leader doesn’t panic and always has a plan. Most importantly he has high empathy, motivates his people and has something he believes in, that my friend.. that is the thing which makes u a great leader.

[Nik1hil]

Lot of Things..

Taking initiative, Being accountable , Learning from mistakes, Never Giving up, Being shameless, Accepting failure Miserably, Watching your Success Explode into failure in your face, Walking most of the Path Alone!.

[uzumymw]

To be a great leader you have to know when to listen and follow too. There are many ways to lead and finding your style is good to do before leading anyone.

[AviatorTom]

A great leader puts the people he's leading above himself, is willing to take risks, think outside the box, and do things that haven't been done before.

[FreyaRed]

You have to be a leader and not just a narcissist who think they are great rulers in times of prosperity.

[RavVid]

A vision that does in fact work and an ability to inspire the populace to make the sacrifice to realize it.

[Anonymous]

Care about the feelings, safety and health of ordinary citizens.
Try to make the country a better place by attempting to improve the economy.

[strateguy632]

I agree like doing all those that trump is doing.

[Shiprex]

Compassion and vision as well as dedication to common good.

[snermcger]

Vision, Plan, Conviction, Dedication, Persuasiveness, Motivation, Honor, Integrity, Compromise, Decisiveness, Brutality.

[Iron_Man]

Intelligence, guts, take a stand movements but good movements clean up the country

[beefcakebradybatson]

Decency, compassion, strength, TRUE charisma, commanding personality.

[katiesmuff]

This current clown certainly isn't an example.

[OneViewpoint]

The current clown is only useful as an example of "Don't Do This".

[katiesmuff]

@OneViewpoint Yes I agree! It takes a good heart, compassion, the ability to work with everyone and to understand your a leader for all the people.

[exitseven]

Maturity, competence and imagination.

[Fʊʟʟʍօօn]

An intelligent, smart, and good person..

[CuriousMufuxka]

Followers and a great message.

[Bloodparadise]

Confidence and pride.

[blackeagle007]

Confidence