Leadership is empowering. People who grow their leadership ability can employ the skills and talents of others to achieve their most important goals. Napoleon Hill wrote about leadership as an essential skill for achieving success. Each of us, no matter our role, benefits from working to become more influential leaders.
To grow our leadership muscle, we can work on five key traits within ourselves.
- Humility. Leaders don’t need to tell everyone how great they are. Our results speak for themselves. Humility is not to be confused with low self-esteem or negative self-talk. A true leader understands and works to expand their greatness. They choose to show rather than tell others about their abilities. We can practice humility by doing great things and sharing the credit with all who assisted along the way.
- Passion. Do not under-estimate the power of being passionate about our endeavors. When we believe in and enjoy what we are doing, it shines through, and others naturally want to follow. To grow this skill, take a moment to reflect on your life and reconnect to the passion that led you to your current choices.
- Integrity. Deal honestly with yourself and those around you. Most of the time, integrity is a pass/fail course, but you can repeat the course as many times as you need. When we are honest with ourselves and others, people know they can depend and rely on us. To grow your integrity, take a moment to reflect on where you may have failed to be honest and commit to changing that behavior going forward.
- Responsibility. Great leaders assume responsibility for their results. When things don’t go as expected or planned, they don’t blame those around them; they take the initiative to learn from the mistakes and try new avenues to success. We grow this skill by assuming full responsibility for our results at all times. Seek feedback and look to improve anything that is not bringing optimal results.
- Vison. The real key to leadership is vision. A leader needs to see where they want to go and build a compelling case for others to join them on that journey. Take the time to develop your vision and share it with others. You will find fellow travelers to help you make that vision a reality.
Everyone benefits from being a strong leader. Great leaders attract like-minded followers, and together everyone achieves their goals with less effort and time.
