Leadership is vital to the success of an operation, whether it’s in business, sports, or as a teacher. A strong leader possess certain qualities and abilities that I deem to be the seven most important characteristics of a leader. These characteristics would apply in almost every situation. In no particular order, these characteristics include honesty, trust, accountability, communication, motivation, adaptability, and organization/planning. Most of the characteristics tie in with each other.
Honesty: Leaders must be honest. Being an honest person is something everything should strive for, but in the scope of leadership, honesty leads to the other abilities, or credibility. Honesty leads to trust, which is vital in all environments.
Trust: A good leader must have the trust of their followers, and in turn, he must trust them. In the workplace, trust is delegation. You need to be able to trust people in order to give them the responsibility of completing an important task. Employees need to trust that their leader is doing what’s best for them, and the company. In team sports, players need to trust their teammates, and to do their assignment. They need to know that if they mess up, they have ten other people who have their back, and will hopefully fix their mistake.
Accountability: The ability to take responsibility and acknowledge one’s shortcomings and failures is a tough one to master. Great leaders take the blame when something goes wrong. Using football as an example, some quarterbacks take the blame when a pass gets dropped. It may have not been their fault, and everyone knows it, but it makes the other players feel better. If the quarterback threw the receiver under the bus, it would create turmoil in the locker room.
Communication: In all theaters, communication is a necessary skill. Everyone is different, some people are more reserved, while others are outgoing. Good leaders know how to communicate with all types of people. I’m extremely reserved, communication is not one of my strong qualities. I’m fully capable of being a good communicator, and I do talk when I feel its necessary. I just don’t like talking in front of a big group, but again, when I feel it is necessary, I’m more than willing to speak up. Feeling comfortable is a big part of communication. Personally, the more comfortable I am with people, there is a greater chance that I would be willing to share my ideas. Leaders help facilitate this process through bonding experiences, staff outings as well as other things.
Motivation: Great leaders are almost always great motivators. Two movies pop into my head when I hear the word motivation: Miracle, and Remember the Titans. Both coaches are extremely motivational figures. We all remember the great speeches from these movies, but these coaches motivate in subtle ways too. Coach Boone uses fear to motivate, and in certain settings this can work. At the high school level, the use of fear as a motivator generally works, though it can alienate your team. The great speeches are the memorable part, but without the work done along the way, there would be no opportunity to speak. Great leaders know how to motivate during the day to day stuff, even though that’s the hardest thing to get up for. Players don’t need help getting amped up for the big game, but having the motivation to go 110% during practice is sometimes difficult.
Adaptability: Leaders must be open and willing to change in their leadership style. As previously stated, different situations require different styles of leadership. It is up to the person thrust upon the position of leadership to identify the situation and act accordingly.
Organization/Planning: Finally, leaders must be well organized. It just makes things easier to keep records and to track things down. Also, leaders should have the ability to plan or schedule. They need to manage their time properly, as well as their employees.
Every leader is different, and it is extremely difficult to master all of these characteristics. No one is perfect, but we can strive to be perfect. That pertains to leadership in that you may not be the best motivator, but you still possess the ability to motivate. Everyone is a leader in some way or another, it’s how you conduct yourself that determines the scope of your leadership.
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