-LEADERSHIP-
Qualities That Make a Great Leader
1. Focus
“It’s been said that leadership is making important
but unpopular decisions. That’s certainly a partial truth, but I think
it underscores the importance of focus. To be a good leader, you cannot
major in minor things, and you must be less distracted than your
competition. To get the few critical things done, you must develop
incredible selective ignorance. Otherwise, the trivial will drown you.”
2. Confidence
“A leader instills confidence and
‘followership’ by having a clear vision, showing empathy and being a
strong coach. As a female leader, to be recognized I feel I have to show
up with swagger and assertiveness, yet always try to maintain my
Southern upbringing, which underscores kindness and generosity. The two
work well together in gaining respect.”
3. Transparency
“I’ve never bought into the concept of
‘wearing the mask.’ As a leader, the only way I know how to engender
trust and buy-in from my team and with my colleagues is to be 100
percent authentically me—open, sometimes flawed, but always passionate
about our work. It has allowed me the freedom to be fully present and
consistent. They know what they’re getting at all times. No surprises.”
4. Integrity
“Our employees are a direct reflection of the
values we embody as leaders. If we’re playing from a reactive and
obsolete playbook of needing to be right instead of doing what’s right,
then we limit the full potential of our business and lose quality
talent. If you focus on becoming authentic in all your interactions,
that will rub off on your business and your culture, and the rest takes
care of itself.”
5. Inspiration
“People always say I’m a self-made man. But
there is no such thing. Leaders aren’t self-made; they are driven. I
arrived in America with no money or any belongings besides my gym
bag, but I can’t say I came with nothing: Others gave me great
inspiration and fantastic advice, and I was fueled by my beliefs and an
internal drive and passion. That’s why I’m always willing to offer
motivation—to friends or strangers on Reddit. I know the power of
inspiration, and if someone can stand on my shoulders to achieve
greatness, I’m more than willing to help them up.”
6. Passion
“You must love what you do. In order to be truly
successful at something, you must obsess over it and let it consume you.
No matter how successful your business might become, you are never
satisfied and constantly push to do something bigger, better and
greater. You lead by example not because you feel like it’s what you
should do, but because it is your way of life.”
7. Innovation
“In any system with finite resources and
infinite expansion of population—like your business, or like all of
humanity—innovation is essential for not only success but also
survival. The innovators are our leaders. You cannot separate the two.
Whether it is by thought, technology or organization, innovation is our
only hope to solve our challenges.”
8.Patience
“Patience is really courage that’s meant to test
your commitment to your cause. The path to great things is always
tough, but the best leaders understand when to abandon the cause and
when to stay the course. If your vision is bold enough, there will be
hundreds of reasons why it ‘can’t be done’ and plenty of doubters. A lot
of things have to come together—external markets, competition,
financing, consumer demand and always a little luck—to pull off
something big.”
9. Stoicism
“It’s inevitable: We’re going to find ourselves
in some real shit situations, whether they’re costly mistakes,
unexpected failures or unscrupulous enemies. Stoicism is, at its core,
accepting and anticipating this in advance, so that you don’t freak out,
react emotionally and aggravate things further. Train our minds,
consider the worst-case scenarios and regulate our unhelpful instinctual
responses—that’s how we make sure shit situations don’t turn into fatal
resolutions.”
10. Swankiness
“Understanding the underlying numbers is the
best thing I’ve done for my business. As we have a subscription-based
service, the biggest impact on our bottom line was to decrease our churn
rate. Being able to nudge that number from 6 percent to 4 Percent meant
a 50 percent increase in the average customer’s lifetime value.
We would not have known to focus on this metric without being able to accurately analyze our data.”
SOME VOCABULARIES CLOSER TO LEADERSHIP
-CHARISMA-
compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.
-AUTOCRATIC-
relating to a ruler who has absolute power.
-DEMOCRATIC-
relating to or supporting democracy or its principles.
-BUREAUCRATIC-
relating to a system of government in which most of the important
decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected
representatives.
-LAISSEZ FAIR-
is an economic system in which transactions between
private parties are free from government intervention such as
regulation, privileges, tariffs, and subsidies.
-PARTICIPATIVE-
relating to, or being a style of management in which subordinates participate in decision making.
-DIRECTIVE-
involving the management or guidance of operations.
-DELEGATION-
the action or process of delegating or being delegated.
-AUTHORITATIVE-
commanding and self-confident; likely to be respected and obeyed.
-MOTIVATION-
reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.
