Bob Kuechenberg, the former Miami Dolphins great, once explained what motivated him to go to college. “My father and uncle were human cannonballs in carnivals. My father told me, “go to college or be a cannonball.” Then one day my uncle came out of the cannon, missed the net and hit the Ferris wheel, I decided to go to college.” The zen of exceptional leaders.
Follow exceptional leaders.
The way you tap into your motivation as a leader may not be as drastic for you as it was for Bob Kuechenberg, but tapping into it is necessary nonetheless. Being a leader is what will set you apart from the rest of the pack and will take you farther than you could have without it.
So what traits do these leaders possess? Here is a list that I believe are essential. It’s not an exhaustive list but is a good place to start.
Proactive leaders take the initiative in getting things done. They prefer to tackle issues head-on rather than assume a reactionary posture. Extra mile leaders are out front on understanding the culture of their organization and the needs of the people they serve. They don’t wait to be told or asked, they see what needs to be done, and they do it.
Courage
People will wait to see if a leader is courageous before they’re willing to follow his or her lead. People need courage in their leaders. They need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. They need a leader who will stay the course when things get tough. People are far more likely to show courage themselves when their leaders are.
For the courageous leader, adversity is a welcome test. Like a blacksmith’s molding of red-hot iron, adversity is a trial by fire that refines leaders and sharpens their game. Adversity emboldens courageous leaders and leaves them more committed to their strategic direction.
Leaders who lack courage simply to the company line. They follow the safest path—the path of least resistance—because they’d rather cover their backside than lead.
Communication
Communication is the real work of leadership. It’s a fundamental element of how leaders accomplish their goals every day. You simply can’t become a great leader until you are a great communicator.
Great communicators inspire people. They create a connection with their followers that is real, emotional, and personal, regardless of any physical distance between them. Great communicators forge this connection through an understanding of people and an ability to speak directly to their needs.
Exceptional leaders have contagious enthusiasm
What sets these leaders apart from mediocre leaders-every time, is a passion and enthusiasm for what they do. Their attitudes are positive, and their temperament is even-handed. A leader in your organization with enthusiasm and passion will be the benchmark for the rest of your team. Without them, your work will be hard, but with them, your team can see extraordinary results. These leaders bring out the best in those they serve.
Generosity
Great leaders are generous. They share credit and offer enthusiastic praise. They’re as committed to their followers’ success as they are to their own. They want to inspire all of their employees to achieve their personal best–not just because it will make the team more successful, but also because they care about each person as an individual.
An attitude of excellence.
Attitude of excellence
Great leaders are not satisfied with the status quo nor do they settle for what is merely acceptable. They have a compelling desire to be the best personally and professionally.
At times it can be misinterpreted by those without the extra mile mentality as self-serving, grand-standing, or posturing, etc. but at their core, the extra mile leader cares deeply and truly wants to advance the team in the right direction.
Self-awareness
Contrary to what Dilbert might have us believe, leaders’ gaps in self-awareness are rarely due to deceitful, Machiavellian motives, or severe character deficits. In most cases, leaders—like everyone else—view themselves in a more favorable light than other people do.
Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence, a skill that 90 percent of top performing leaders possess in abundance. Great leaders’ high self-awareness means they have a clear and accurate image not just of their leadership style but also of their strengths and weaknesses. They know where they shine and where they’re weak, and they have effective strategies for leaning into their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses.
Passion
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. So are boredom and apathy. No one wants to work for a boss who’s unexcited about his or her job or even one who’s just going through the motions. Great leaders are passionate about what they do, and they strive to share that passion with everyone around them.
Infectiousness
Great leaders know that having a clear vision isn’t enough. You have to make that vision come alive so that your followers can see it just as clearly as you do. Great leaders do that by telling stories and painting verbal pictures so that everyone can understand not just where they’re going, but what it will look and feel like when they get there. This inspires others to internalize the vision and make it their own.
Authenticity refers to being honest in all things–not just what you say and do but who you are. When you’re authentic, your words and actions align with who you claim to be. Your followers shouldn’t be compelled to spend time trying to figure out if you have ulterior motives. Any time they spend doing so erodes their confidence in you and in their ability to execute.
Leaders who are authentic are transparent and forthcoming. They aren’t perfect, but they earn people’s respect by walking their talk.
Adherence to the platinum rule
The Golden Rule–treat others as you want to be treated–assumes that all people are the same. It assumes that, if you treat your followers the way you would want a leader to treat you, they’ll be happy. It ignores that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the center of attention.
Great leaders don’t treat people how they want to be treated. Instead, they take the Golden Rule a step further and treat each person as he or she would like to be treated. Great leaders learn what makes people tick, recognize their needs at the moment, and adapt their leadership style accordingly.
Humility
Great leaders are humble. They don’t allow their position of authority to make them feel that they are better than anyone else. As such, they don’t hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed, and they won’t ask their followers to do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.
Approachability
Great leaders make it clear that they welcome challenges, criticism, and viewpoints other than their own. They know that an environment in which people are afraid to speak up, offer insight, and ask good questions is destined for failure. By ensuring that they are approachable, great leaders facilitate the flow of great ideas throughout the organization.
Put the team first
These leaders by and large are selfless in that their motivation and their proactive ways are done with the intent of benefitting the team. Yes, there can be exceptions when what motivates an individual is selfish. But by and large, they have a broad understanding of the mission and vision of the organization and their sacrifices are for the benefit of the group.
Of course, it pays dividends in the long run as all hard work and effort do, but it’s not the prime motivation.
Accountability
Great leaders have their followers’ backs. They don’t try to shift blame, and they don’t avoid shame when they fail. They’re never afraid to say, “The buck stops here,” and they earn people’s trust by backing them up.
Found their purpose
They found their purpose.
These leaders have not only tapped into their passion but have taken it a step further in discovering their purpose. They intuitively understand that it’s not about what they “do” that defines them or motivates them to go the extra mile.
Their leadership has embraced the blessing and gift of their Creator and have committed themselves to live their life in such a way that honors it.
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.”
What you are capable of becoming is realized when you worry less about what you do and care more for the life you have to live and how you can serve others. When you do, the results will speak for itself.
The bottom line
Becoming a great leader doesn’t mean you have to incorporate all of these traits at once. Focus on one or two at a time; each incremental improvement will make you more effective. It’s OK if you “act” some of these qualities at first. The more you practice, the more instinctive it will become, and the more you’ll internalize your new leadership style.
What other qualities would you like to see added to this list? Please share your thoughts on exceptional leadership in the comments section below, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
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More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
I am a fan of Civil War history. I also like to study leadership and effective leadership qualities. This article tells the story of Joshua Chamberlain, a highly decorated Union officer. The objective of the article … highlight a great gesture of effective leadership.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor from the State of Maine, who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. Although having no earlier education in military strategies, he became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general.
Chamberlain achieved fame at the Battle of Gettysburg, where his valiant defense of a hill named Little Round Top became the focus of many publications and stories, including the novel The Killer Angels and the film Gettysburg. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Union forces were recovering from initial defeats and hastily regrouping into defensive positions on a line of hills south of the town. Sensing the momentary vulnerability of the Union forces, the Confederates began an attack against the Union left flank.
Sent to defend the southern slope of Little Round Top, Chamberlain found himself and the 20th Maine at the far left end of the entire Union line. He quickly understood the strategic significance of the small hill, and the need for the 20th Maine to hold the Union left at all costs.
Time and time again the Confederates struck until the 20th Maine was almost doubled back upon itself. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Col. Chamberlain recognized the dire circumstances and ordered his left wing to initiate a bayonet charge. From his report of the day, battlefield conditions make it unlikely that many men heard Chamberlain’s order; most historians believe he initiated the charge. The 20th Maine charged down the hill, with the left wing wheeling continually to make the charging line swing like a hinge, capturing 101 of the Confederate soldiers and successfully saving the flank.
For his “daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top”, Chamberlain was awarded the Medal of Honor.
But those heroic events were not the best leadership qualities that Gen Chamberlain had to offer.
On the morning of April 9, 1865, Chamberlain learned of the desire by Lee to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia. The next day, Chamberlain was summoned to Union headquarters where he was informed that he had been selected to preside over the parade of the Confederate infantry as part of their formal surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 12.
Brig Gen Joshua Chamberlain.
Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the Civil War. Chamberlain described what happened next in his memoirs (Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, The Passing of the Armies: The Last Campaign of the Armies, (Pennsylvania: Stan Clark Military Books, 1994), pp260-261.):
The momentous meaning of this occasion impressed me deeply. I resolved to mark it by some token of recognition, which could be no other than a salute of arms. Well aware of the responsibility assumed and of the criticisms that would follow, as the sequel proved, nothing of that kind could move me in the least. The act could be defended, if needful, by the suggestion that such a salute was not to the cause for which the flag of the Confederacy stood, but to its going down before the flag of the Union. My main reason, however, was one for which I sought no authority nor asked forgiveness.
Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood: men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing before us now, thin, worn, and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond;—was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured?
Instructions had been given; and when the head of each division column comes opposite our group, our bugle sounds the signal and instantly our whole line from right to left, regiment by regiment in succession, gives the soldier’s salutation, from the “order arms” to the old “carry”—the marching salute.
Gordon at the head of the column, riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, catches the sound of shifting arms, looks up, and, taking the meaning, wheels superbly, making with himself and his horse one uplifted figure, with profound salutation as he drops the point of his sword to the boot toe; then facing to his own command, gives word for his successive brigades to pass us with the same position of the manual,—honor answering honor.
Another story for you: A Story About Living as Told by a Six-Year-Old Boy
On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum; not a cheer, nor word nor whisper of vain-glorying, nor motion of man standing again at the order, but an awed stillness rather, and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!
And that, at the start of the day and at the end of the day, is the true meaning of effective leadership. It represented the most effective leadership quality Gen Chamberlain could have initiated.
The moral of this story:
Leadership is not about you; it’s not about anything in a leadership position, – except the mission and purpose of the organization.
Another great story: The Story of Tank the Dog or Is It, Reggie?
Please share a story from your leadership experience vault.
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All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More inspirational stories from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Great Stories and Storytelling Can Have a Very Healing Influence
Never Give Up Your Dreams
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