One Quality of a Leader
Short and sweet. What’s the one quality in a person labeled as a leader that you look for?
I want to say consistency, but that means so many things to me that I’m not sure I can explain exactly what I mean by it. Hopefully someone can provide a better answer.
The ability to be everyone’s best friend.
By Kyle on February 15, 2006 3:04 am
How about leadership? :)
By Marc Köhlbrugge on February 15, 2006 3:07 am
The ability to stand by a decision no matter what the outcome (and not easily give into those around you). I think that’s called integrity. The ability to do what they think it’s right even if everybody else thinks otherwise.
By Bryan on February 15, 2006 3:23 am
Integrity is quality of which consistency is a result.
By jamie on February 15, 2006 3:28 am
Don’t know about leaders, but deputy leaders should be a good shot ;)
By richard leader on February 15, 2006 3:42 am
The same as for ANY person: integrity.
By Matt on February 15, 2006 3:50 am
After reading the other comments on integrity, here’s my definition: doing what’s right even though you don’t have to, i. e. honoring the spirit of a contract, even though you could use a technicality to your advantage.
Guy Kawasaki describes it as “Being a Mensch”: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/02/how_to_be_a_men.html
By Matt on February 15, 2006 4:13 am
Deserve the label.
By ricardo on February 15, 2006 4:47 am
You have to be respected, and still, being friends with your colleagues.
If you know what I mean.
By Alex on February 15, 2006 5:40 am
The one quality that immediately comes to my mind is sacrifice. All great leaders have had to sacrifice something in their own lives to help lead the lives of others. But the funny part is for a leader, it’s not looked upon as a sacrifice, but as something necessary to do what’s right.
Perhaps the sacrifice is personal time, money, or other ambitions. But to me this goes right along the same lines as honor - or doing what’s right even though it may not be what’s best for you.
By Daniel Scrivner on February 15, 2006 5:48 am
For me, its when a leader has respect for everyones time.
Time is money in most business models and when you dont have respect for my time, I won’t have the time to respect you…
By JBagley on February 15, 2006 6:23 am
I’ll echo Jim Collin’s sentiment. Good leaders posses a certain level of humility; they aren’t self-serving. They point out the window to others when things are done right but look in the mirror when/if things go wrong.
By Devin on February 15, 2006 6:33 am
Consistency is definitely an important asset. If you’re a leader you’re bound to ‘piss people off’ along the way. Bein consistent in your decisions however prevents confusion and people getting even more pissed off because ‘you did it like this last time’ and all of a sudden ‘you’re doing it differently’. Inconsistency is the most important reason why people will start calling a leader unfair, resulting in a slew of other problems.
Integrity, some people say. I guess integrity is something every person needs to be succesful in whatever he / she is doing. This applies to leaders as well as followers. Without that one just can’t be succesful in the long run.
One thing is important to keep in mind at all times when being a leader: You can’t possibly please everyone. I already learned that the hard way in life. Leaders who do try to ‘please everyone’ will most likely fail. Sometimes some choices just have to be made even if that means a proportion of people will hate the leader for it.
By Marco on February 15, 2006 6:54 am
I’m not such a big fan of consistency. Consistently wrong isn’t helpful, and if you’re too busy standing by (or defending) your decision to learn, bad things happen.
My one quality would be flexibility. I don’t mean indecisiveness or pushover-ness but open-mindedness. (look at those suffixes go)
The ability to improve by constant evaluation of new (or old) ideas and information and adjusting accordingly instead of standing strong on one idea or concept and ignoring all others.
By sunshine on February 15, 2006 7:19 am
What about “admirable”? The admire verb means “to respect and approve of (someone or something)” (Cambridge Dictionary).
If I admire someone, I see no problem in following him/her :-)
By Ivan on February 15, 2006 7:27 am
I vote for integrity and under that banner in my opinion comes respect and consistency.
By karmatosed on February 15, 2006 7:45 am
Honour.
By David Barrett on February 15, 2006 7:45 am
Integrity = being principled.
Principles = fundamental truths.
Consistency = making principled decisions.
Why would this be good? Two people, the leader and a follower, can come to the same decision unless one is applying an untruth. Then the wrong person needs to be corrected by facing the facts.
By Nolan Eakins on February 15, 2006 7:53 am
I don’t think it’s practical to narrow a leader down to only one quality. Being honorable (integrity) for instance, usually assures one is strictly true to his/her ethicical code — which usually revolves around religious or political beliefs — but that doesn’t say anything about their ability to make tough decisions.
A “leader” might have a great vision, but no follow through. You really want to follow someone like that?
Carisma attracts alot of folks, but some find that those pied piper types do nothing but lead them off to their ruin.
If anyone is interested, Gallup (the folks who do all those polls) has developed what they call a strengthsfinder” where they have identified that everyone has 34 themes of talent (natural abilities). The difference is that each of us has differing amounts of each. For instance, my top 10 are futuristic, adaptability, belief, empathy, maximizer, strategic, input, intellection, developer and self assurance. Yours may vary.
To answer the question, I would look primarily for someone who is focused - or someone who can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. People who are focused prioritize, then act.
By Mark on February 15, 2006 8:16 am
Here’s the URL for the strengthsfinder if anyone is interested -
http://gmj.gallup.com/book_center/strengthsfinder/
By Mark on February 15, 2006 8:18 am
An afro. It’s extremely hard for me to respect anyone that does not have an afro, or at least has had an afro in the past. For me the afro speaks volumes about a persons character.
Oh, and it doesn’t hurt when said leader stands in front of his “team”, “community”, or whatever he is leading and takes the attacks from the surrounding World with such eloquence that you hope one day to be just like them.
By Colin D. Devroe on February 15, 2006 8:48 am
RESPONSIBILITY.
If a leader doesn’t have responsibility, he/she can have
Integrity
Principles
Consistency
He/She could be admirable
He/She could have humility
…and still, he/she won’t be a leader.
RESPONSIBILITY. Sounds easy, but believe me, it’s hard.
Cheers
Javier Cabrera
By Javier Cabrera (CSSelite) on February 15, 2006 8:58 am
Passion. Not between-the-sheets passion, I mean “boundless enthusiasm”. This could translate into energizing your team, sacrificing a great deal to make your product better than it’s potential, and goes a very long way in convincing customers you’re the real deal.
Since I could only pick one, I have to add honorable mentions for integrity (standing by one’s own belief system - regardless of that belief system), standing in front of your team (brilliant, colin) and responsibility.
By Lance E. Leonard on February 15, 2006 9:13 am
I think humility is a good assessment. For example, Vince Young and Reggie Bush were both leaders on their teams and both possessed a certain amount of humility. Confidence goes a long way as well, but look at Marcus Vick. He was extremely talented, had an enormous amount of confidence, but lacked humility thus making him a poor leader. People will want to follow you if you’re humble in your achievements, give credit where credit is due.
By Brody on February 15, 2006 9:26 am
I’m going to go against the grain a little here, and say Confidence.
Sure, I want my leader to have integrity and principles, but I honestly want everyone I work with to have those values… and to agree with Mark’s sentiments, just because a leader has good morals, says nothing of his ability to make decisions. Would I want a leader with integrity? Sure, but only if they were confident in their decisions and confident in the direction they were taking the group.
And consistency? I want my coworkers to be consistent, not my leader. If being a leader meant being consistent, then there would not be a need for leaders, because groups could just follow consistent patterns. It takes a leader to confidently lead you into uncharted territory.
And, I agree with Colin, having an afro is a definate plus. It takes a confident person to wear an afro.
By Kyle Posey on February 15, 2006 9:28 am
Hi, Walter Payton here. I thoroughly enjoyed this post, and this discussion of leadership reminds me of all the qualities that make a person great. Leadership is everything in the web buisness, and your leadership style should invoke memories of the way I played football; it needs to be both distinctive and unforgetable. I was not a overbearing presence, nor was I a “breakaway” runner, but at a concrete-like 200 pounds, my forte was power and quickness. These are the qualities that define the best leaders, and it’s clear that gaining a few precious followers will add up over the course of the game.
By Walter on February 15, 2006 9:40 am
The ability to shoot his/her own horse… as in actually be able to do the firing
Willingness to be feared. Being loved is great, but more often than note you will get walked all over, fear gets things done and geneerally garners respect. A middle ground is perfect.
Lastly, know what hill he/she is ready to die on. I.e. know how far you are willing to compromise
By Matt on February 15, 2006 10:21 am
Unfortunately, the single most important quality is something that usually can’t be learned: charisma.
There are several other qualities which matter almost as much, but charisma is the great separator.
By Mike D. on February 15, 2006 11:26 am
As for the best leaders,
the people do not notice their existence.
The next best the people honour and praise.
The next the people fear,
and the next the people hate.
But when the leaders best work is done
the people say,
‘We did it ourselves’.
(Lao-tzu C6th BC)
By John B. on February 15, 2006 11:59 am
You people always surprise me as I never expected the quality type of answers that I am seeing from such a simple question.
By Scrivs on February 15, 2006 12:45 pm
Inspiration.
By Nathan Smith on February 15, 2006 1:16 pm
Servant.
By Joshua Rudd on February 15, 2006 1:32 pm
Appreciation. A leader can’t be leader without followers so a good leader needs to understand and appreciate that fact. A good leader must have good followers to have a successful team.
When a leader learns to appreciate the followers or the team, the followers will have more respect for that leader and be more willing to continue to follow.
By RonnieSan on February 15, 2006 2:23 pm
Principles. Without correct principles - a correct map - you aren’t leading, you’re a bad influence. True leaders lead by example, by a set of unchanging principles they believe in.
By Brandon Eley on February 15, 2006 3:47 pm
Vision - the leader has to see where to take the group. It’s up to the rest of the team to get you there.
By Christian Watson on February 15, 2006 3:55 pm
I also say Honor.
Someone might not be making the sales…but if they are making there decisions based on what is right or wrong, and chooses to follow RIGHT even if it’s not the financial right decision or the best decision for the company, that is highly respectable.
By Bryan on February 15, 2006 4:12 pm
The most important quality….
Understanding your team,
Respecting that you hired them because you see they had tallent,
Understanding that you DONT know everything,
Recognizing when you are right, and when you are wrong.
Takeing responsibility for all the mistakes, and passing credit for all the successes.
In my book, thats the first rule… Everything! is your fault, and without your team, your one man who cant do a thing.
Respect your team, respect their time, and they will pull thousands of hours of overtime to help the TEAM succeed.
By Dallas Pool on February 15, 2006 4:49 pm
I’m with Lance, it’s got to be passion.
By Noah Brier on February 15, 2006 5:49 pm
Clarity is key. Clarity is the key component, because you need to have clarity in your communication to the people you lead, and to the people you serve, you need to have clarity of mission, purpose and passion so people want to follow you, and you need clarity of purpose to wade through all the information that will come your way to find the truth, or at least the most relevant information.
By Phil Gerbyshak on February 15, 2006 9:25 pm
Integrity comes first for sure. Then there’s responsibility and the right attitude, but integrity is where it all has to start.
By Christian Montoya on February 15, 2006 10:58 pm
It depends, as with anything.
First, are you talking about a manager or a leader? There is a difference.
Second, when you say “good” are you talking about someone who always hits the numbers, always succeeds, or are you talking about someone who people would follow, last charge of the light brigade, “once more into the breach dear friends” style to the very end? There’s a difference there, too.
Leaders can be managers, but more often they’re the people who get things done on a larger scale than simply the support role a good manager plays.
An example of the difference between your definitions of the word “good” would be the difference between Larry Ellison and Colin Powell. Larry is ambitious, driven, and incredibly successful. People follow him because he’s got the power to climb the mountain (often on the backs of fallen competitors) to financial success. Does he have integrity or honor? Doubt it. However, look at Colin Powell. People LOVE the guy because he’s honest, likeable and humble. His leadership is gained through mutual respect, the kind that people will go to war and die for.
If you want to be a good leader, you first have to determine what kind of leader that is.
By Chris Carter on February 15, 2006 11:19 pm
Ninja Skills
By The Other Paul on February 15, 2006 11:46 pm
Vision. Execution would also be good, but you need a kick ass plan before you can go off and do it.
By Proud on February 16, 2006 12:01 am
Enthusiasm. For the people working with them, for the end goal, the nuts and bolts work and for the customers. None of that fake Anthony Robbins or life coach style be positive enthusiasm in a bottle. A leader needs an actual real love everything about this project kind of vibe.
By Anthony on February 16, 2006 12:40 am
Authority (by merit, not by hierarchy).
No authority means no respect. And no respect means no leadership.
By Tim on February 16, 2006 1:53 am
A good leader helps the people they lead to be better than they otherwise would be. A great leader helps them be the best they can be.
So, not so much a quality of leadership, but a measure of it.
john
By John Allsopp on February 16, 2006 2:36 am
The ancient Chinese would say å¾· is the requisit quality, but I differ. A leader needs personality cult status. He must be able to communicate one vision to his minions and have them carry out his word without question.
By Elliott Back on February 16, 2006 4:07 am
I completely agree with Chris (#41)
A great leader doesn’t necessarily lead great things.
Some of the qualities of leadership are the same regardless but but some will only work with one type not the other.
As an example, I believe that Hitler & Martin Luther King were both passionate and probably consistant and even honorable (for a given value of honor) but Hitler probably didn’t have much use for respect or integrity.
By sunshine on February 16, 2006 7:00 am
I think the most important quality is to have modivation quality while still building respect.
By Dennis Bullock on February 16, 2006 9:48 am
Lots of interesting answers here. I can’t believe that no one has mentioned what I feel *may* be the most important quality of a leader:
The ability to communicate well.
If you’ve got passion and can’t express it, you’re probably not going to be a good leader. A leader needs to be able to engage people, to delegate and to get people to understand his/her vision.
Mike D. mentioned charisma. I think most people with charisma are good communicators, but I can think of quite a few good leaders that aren’t exactly what I’d call charismatic. As well, I think charisma is somewhat subjective. Lots of Americans think GW is charismatic and lots think he’s a totoal dufus.
A few people mentioned consistancy. Maybe I don’t have the same meaning in mind, but it seems that this could be a liablity. A leader needs to be able to adapt, break rules and change direction in order to deal with the curveballs life will thow.
No, I think it’s got to be communication. Think about the poor leaders you’ve come across in life. I bet one thing they had in common was their in ability to communicate well.
I know this is what I spend lots of my time working on and I feel it’s my biggest obsticle to becoming a good leader.
By Keith on February 16, 2006 11:13 am
Humility:
Humility is the state of being humble. A humble person is generally thought to be unpretentious and modest: someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others. Humility is not to be confused with humiliation, which is the act of making someone else feel ashamed, and is something completely different.
By Justin Palmer on February 16, 2006 12:54 pm
Communication. We’re not going to follow you if you don’t tell us where you’re going.
By Marcello Mastroianni on February 16, 2006 2:53 pm
The ability to listen.
By Todd Sattersten on February 16, 2006 6:55 pm
trusts his team and keeps their trust
By KITUZ on February 16, 2006 7:23 pm
Sincerity.
The sort of people you want on your team will recognize insincerity instantly. They must believe that you know what you are doing and that you have their best interests in mind.
You can and should have these other admirable qualities, but if your people don’t believe in you, nothing else matters.
By Mike Ray on February 16, 2006 8:20 pm
The ability to see the future, and then inspire the blind to take you there.
By Eli Singer on February 16, 2006 8:27 pm
There are leaders who are good and those that are bad, and sometimes qualities that are good in some instances (like a military engagement) are bad in others (family relationships) and vice-versa.
In business one must see the next steps, and communicate them clearly. One must listen, and have clear reasons for any decision, when it differs from others expectations.
Ideally, the person has unshakeable principles of honesty, be willing to both learn and teach, and must be clear on the costs and benefits of a humane organization. Consistency isn’t about making a decision and sticking to it, but in using consistent standards in the decision-making. This allows a person to correct mistakes and adapt to changing conditions without looking like he/she’s being inconsistent.
The current administration is the worst kind of leadership. They are not listeners, they don’t learn, they don’t teach. They simply make bullheaded and politicized decisions and ignore, deny or cover up any failures.
By Rich Webster on February 16, 2006 8:41 pm
Decisiveness.
I have been in the field and seen people just hang on all the possibilities and are at a loss for what to do next. Indecision is the mother of failure. The ability to pick up a course of action on the fly , and run with it for as long as need be.
Runner up would be diplomacy.
# negotiation between nations
# delicacy: subtly skillful handling of a situation
# statesmanship: wisdom in the management of public affairs
# Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between accredited persons (the diploma of the diplomat) representing groups or nations.
And perhaps 3rd up, foresight. The ability to encompass all known and possible unknowns and encompass contingency plans for most if not all variables.
I see respect, and communication and even honor…not true.
You can lead a team successfully without respect. Sure it be nice if everyone did, but a lot of times a leader is forced to make a decision that will cost them respect amongst other things. Not to mention slight personal mix ups which may cause such scenarios.
Communication? As long as a leader sees the big picture, do they necessarily need to explain this picture to everyone? No. They need to just get everyone to crank their own gear and all will become evident. They need to simply be able to tell everyone, what to do, and when to do it.
Honor…I highly value this trait and I do my best to lead an honorable life. However this is not a trait you necessarily need to have to be a good leader. You need honor to be a good soldier, not to be a good politician, not to be a good leader.
By takemynamedamit on February 16, 2006 8:42 pm
A leader is successful in most of his tasks and also gives equal credit to his team.
By Ravi on February 16, 2006 9:54 pm
A successful leader must have wisdom to continue to lead.
By bill on February 16, 2006 11:27 pm
Influence.
By Doug on February 17, 2006 3:07 am
Since my resume is eclectic in job titles from newspaper girl, to cashier, to customer service rep, i’ve been under the leadership of almost every sort of ”manager or supervisor”
I find that those who are not only great communicators for accomplishing various tasks (for example, “I told you to paint it a blue, but not a cyanish blue!”) are great leaders. But also, if something goes wrong, this leader would not blame his or her ‘workers’ for failure, but he/she would take the blame and take a step back to reflect on his or her mistakes. Another leadership quality topping my list is one being able to step in other people’s shoes; someone who can understand the particular employee’s roles and actions for a task and not let his or her ego cloud his or her judgement in making tough decisions.
By WatchOutBehindYou on February 17, 2006 8:50 am
The sina qua non of good management is RESPECT for the people actually doing the work. You can’t lead if nobody will follow you, and people will only do their best for someone who repects them and what they are doing.
By ray on February 17, 2006 8:59 am
Competence.
By JC on February 17, 2006 11:50 am
The ability to focus the activities of those under his/her care on the right things.
By Allegra Sloman on February 17, 2006 1:39 pm
I once had a manager that I consider a true leader. Although I can’t put my finger on just one trait made her a leader. It was a culmination of it all.
She was well respected by those who she managed.
She was a role-model. I had no excuse not to get my one homework assignment done for the week, for my only class. when she took care of her 3 kids, husband, 13 employees, worked out at the gym, cooked dinner and pulled straight A’s in her 2 classes.
Without explicitly stating it, she encouraged people to do well not for the sake of the job/company but for themselves. You never wanted to let her down, because if you did that meant that you didn’t do the best you could do.
She understood and treated us like humans, not as tools to get a job done.
By funkknight on February 17, 2006 3:38 pm
Bow-hunting skills, nunchuck skills, computer hacking skills…
Seriously though. I like my leaders Just and Attentive.
By Lindsay on February 17, 2006 4:25 pm
I can’t believe no one has mentioned that Walter Payton left a comment.
I’d say the ability to communicate a vision and instill passion for it in others.
By John on February 18, 2006 9:38 am
I commented earlier just to clear up the “what’s integrity” problems people were having.
Anyway, watch plenty of SG, BS-G, ST-NG, and the History channel to learn the secrets of true leaders. :-)
By Nolan Eakins on February 18, 2006 8:21 pm
Leads by example.
By David Brannan on February 19, 2006 3:59 am
enthousiasm, no matter how hard the “journey” to success is
You cannot lead if you are not totally engaged in your “enterprise”.
By Benoit on February 19, 2006 12:02 pm
A successful leader must have wisdom to continue to lead. Unfortunately, the single most important quality is something that usually can’t be learned: charisma.
By Snow blower on February 21, 2006 7:42 pm
Followership. Great leaders were great followers first.
By Michael Wagner on February 25, 2006 7:23 pm
I completely agree with Chris (#41)
A great leader doesn’t necessarily lead great things.Some of the qualities of leadership are the same regardless but but some will only work with one type not the other.
By Cyber Momday on February 26, 2006 5:46 am
Without reading through the slew of other posts on the site, for me, a leader is simply someone who gets things done. I don’t care if it’s through his own sheer will and determination to do the job himself, or by motivating others to help him reach a certain goal. A leader can reliably get jobs done where others hesitate, procrastinate, or otherwise fale.
By Kyle on February 26, 2006 4:48 pm
A good leader has to have power: power to make decisions, stand by them and see things through, power to create belief within their team so that when there is doubt they are still followed, power to admit they are wrong and give credit when others were right, power to empower others. Charisma, Integrity, Enthusiasm, Respect, Wisdom, etc will get you nowhere as a leader unless you have power to act and make decisions that change things. Of Course, all those things may help you get power, but until you have it you’re not a leader.
By Mick on March 26, 2006 6:31 pm
A good leader has to have power: power to make decisions, stand by them and see things through, power to create belief within their team so that when there is doubt they are still followed, power to admit they are wrong and give credit when others were right, power to empower others. Charisma, Integrity, Enthusiasm, Respect, Wisdom, etc will get you nowhere as a leader unless you have power to act and make decisions that change things. Of Course, all those things may help you get power, but until you have it you’re not a leader.
By Mick on March 26, 2006 6:32 pm
I am the Leader of all leaders no one can compare to me
I AM GOD
By The Man on March 29, 2006 10:49 pm
L- LOYALTY
D- DUTY
R- RESPECT
S- SELFLESS SERVICE
H- HONOR
I- INTEGRITY
P- PERSONAL COURAGE
By Mickey on November 10, 2006 2:13 pm