3 Traits of Great Leaders.

There are many shades of leaders in the world. They can range from boring to action oriented and inspirational. Let’s take a simpler approach and separate leaders into two basic types. Leaders who lead well and those who lead poorly. How do you define leading in a great way vs. poorly?

Rather than come up with a complicated system with multiple principles to determine what it takes for a good leader to lead well or a bad leader to lead poorly, let’s simplify again. Only the 3 things truly matter at the end of the day.

Based on doing analyses and applying it in my life and seeing the results, I found three valuable traits you can use to determine who makes a good leader. This will also help us uncover what makes a good organization or employee.

The three fundamental traits to look for in a leader include their capability to be:

• Selfless
• Responsible
• In it for the long run

Selfless

When a leader is selfless, they are comfortable with who they are and exhibit superego behavior over time. Such a leader has high self-awareness and possesses excellent self-control, they also seek superego over ego without compromising it. They can empathize with those around them, including building rapport, which helps them keep an open mind, when looking at multiple viewpoints, while enhancing their ability to take different perspectives, from different cultures and/or opinions, including political opinions. In other words, they possess a great deal of emotional intelligence.

A leader who displays selflessness will attract great talent to the organization. They will also develop more devoted employees while creating a more productive work environment, this can also delvop more leaders in the process.

Responsible, because they want, not just need.

A responsible leader will always understand that is the only way they will get better. A responsible leader is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team, constantly ensuring strengths are strengthened and keeping weaknesses at bay.

Such a responsible leader is never perceived as weak. Instead, they are strong and resilient, doing what is right for the good of all the people they are responsible for. They create high but achievable standards and constantly work to help employees or the team, regain their confidence even if they failed.

The responsible leader also possesses longevity, think about Tom Brady, if he ever blamed his teammates, would he have won 7 super bowls, and still be playing for his 8th?

Leaders look for the lesson gained, not the results lost, in that way you can learn from it.

In it for the long run

A leader who is in their position for the short term will have difficulty bringing everyone together, this includes leaders like Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, they look in the long run and make decisions based on that. They know he or she is only temporary, so why put in the effort?

A leader can tell their staff they are not committed about benefiting the business in the long term by displaying selfishness and treating people poorly. This can include certain Presidents like Jimmy Carter, and many Leaders of developing countries as corruption is very high, such as Brazil an Mexico. If you want to find out more about this, here are some movies.

https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/11-movies-about-whistleblowers-that-you-cannot-miss

If there is even a hint that the leader is there for the short term to drive up profits while decimating the business, watch out, or get short-term jobs for the country. Their following will be weak, and only those afraid of losing their jobs will do much of anything to support them, this can include leaders in Mexico and Africa, however this can get better, and it has been.

A leader must commit to the long-term health of the organization they are leading; otherwise, chaos reigns. A good leader can internally communicate if a plateau occurs, as if a single person would go through something like that.

“Remember that all success is based on long-term commitment, faith, discipline, attitude and a few stepping stones along the way.” Jim Rohn