Do you have these 5 leadership traits?

Guest post from Ron Schutz:

Confidence is my #1 trait for leadership as an entrepreneur.  There must be a proper balance of humility and belief in one’s talents.  The excess of this is arrogance; the demonstration of pride!  A simple reality could be, do people respect you and seek out your opinion or do they avoid you as much as possible?

Prideful people turn others off.  Confident people attract others to their strength.

#2 Vision.  If you do not know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?  One of my favorite movies is Patton.  The most impactful scene in the movie is Patton standing on a muddy stump – directing tank traffic.  As a leader, he had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish, yet he was willing to get off his white stallion and take a place of an MP directing traffic to keep his vision moving forward toward his goal.

#3 Respect.  Seeking the input of others, weighing their thoughts, attempting to understand their logic for why they see or believe a reality as they define that reality.  In developing a SIFT Coalition (Securing Individualism and Freedom Together), productivity increases exponentially because of emotional buy-in and respect of input from fellow workers.

#4 Delegation.  A strong leader, with a strong clear vision, surrounds themselves with talents that complement their skills.  They trust those others and give them both responsibility and authority to act.  I find the largest roadblock to continued growth is this inability to trust others.  As an effective leader, your time is so valuable that anytime you can “buy” more time for the “important, and not urgent,” * by delegating to your highly skilled and dedicated team, your effectiveness increases.

#5 Avoid Tweaking.  I find it highly demoralizing to watch a leader fiddle with a plan, making last minute changes once the plan has been agreed upon.  I am not talking, here, about a fluid situation like a fire, or a battle.  I am talking about things like an event.  Insecure leaders come back and shift things around.  This creates disorder, loads of additional stress and a lack of respect for those who contributed to the plan. Learning to accept the ideas and contributions of others, even it is not exactly how you might have done it, goes a long way. How many people do you know who have changed jobs, not for salary issues, but rather because they feel unvalued?

A practical list of great leaders who have demonstrated these 5 qualities are Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Ronald Reagan and numerous military leaders.  Go forth, read up on these leaders. Learn from their struggles and successes. 

*See Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Ron Schutz, consults with business owners to help them realize their full financial potential. He develops strategies and workable solutions to prepare companies for transition.  After being trained in problem-solving techniques as an engineer and receiving a commission in the United States Naval Reserve, Schutz pursued his passion for finance and banking by completing his MBA at New York University.  With nearly fifty years in business, he relives his challenges through the eyes of Sasha in his new book, AMERICAN FATHERS. For more information, please visit www.profitpicture.net or www.ronschutzauthor.com.