More on what great leaders are like

Skip Walter had a great blog post recently on what great leaders are like, and what less-than-great-leaders are like. It was educational and also painful to read because of the juxtaposition. So here’s Skip’s post with just the “great” statements – it’s more aspirational than comparative, so it serves somewhat of a different purpose than the original.

• A great leader always develops talent
• A great leader encourages active and confronting dialogue
• A great leader actively seeks current reality– what is really happening now
• A great leader seeks first to understand, before trying to be understood
• A great leader accepts responsibility when things go wrong
• A great leader is inclusive and uses “we” when things are going right and gives specific attribution to those who made the good thing happen
• A great leader has a vision and a passion for and a plan for getting to BHAGs
• A great leader understands that leadership is always taken, never given
• A great leader uses the Outcome Frame (What are we trying to create? How will we know we created it? … )
• A great leader understands that it is results that matter not how hard somebody works
• A great leader respects others’ time, and plans carefully
• A great leader eliminates and dissolves problems so that no one even knew there was a problem looming
• A great leader adds creative energy to every environment they participate in
• A great leader understands the Theory of Constraints (from Eli Goldratt’s The Goal) and knows that in any system only a few work steps need to be managed
• A great leader hires only Talent that has a passion for continuous personal development – life long learners who are also good at developing other people’s Talent
• A great leader under promises and over delivers
• A great leader treats everyone with extraordinary respect
• A great leader understands the value of strategic networking and gives to the network long before they need to extract value from the network
• A great leader understands the dynamics of value exchange relationships
• A great leader provides feedback on things which need improvement in private and with frameworks which allow the other person to generalize and learn and develop
• A great leader generates plans and organizational structures which are sustainable without the leader present
• A great leader shares all information and knowledge they possess to help develop others
• A great leader creates work environments that lead to sustainability for the planet
• A great leader understands that no human is exactly like him/her and that one needs to be flexible in dealing with talent (see David Keirsey Temperament Indicator)
• A great leader practices deep listening skills always
• A great leader is 10X. They break the old command and control mold. They are transformational. They create brand new paradigms and enable others to do the same.
• A great leader is generative
• A great leader does not draw attention to their first rater status
• A great leader works proactively to create an environment where innovation and technical accomplishment are anticipated, appreciated and celebrated
• A great leader hires exceptional people with exceptional capabilities and manages the differences that exceptional people exhibit
• A great leader identifies and clears barriers before the team runs into them
• A great leader changes the rules to create an outcome that meets or exceeds organizational expectations
• A great leader leads from the front like a Navy SEAL team leader
• A great leader shows up for important events and serves the team in time of crisis; they are part of the team
• A great leader is focused on outcomes, not the tactics to accomplish them
• A great leader isn’t rewarded because there weren’t any heroics to be performed; their contribution isn’t recognized
• A great leader may continue to try and change the rules, lead, and be a team player but may become frustrated and/or leave due to second-rater influence
• A great leader makes the right thing happen at the right time
• A great leader believes that the upside to listening is always greater than that of speaking and therefore typically listens to others and digests their thoughts before speaking themselves
• A great leader implements processes and procedures where they believe it will facilitate achieving a business objective
• A great leader works with the personalities of their team (but challenges personal growth as well as professional growth)
• A great leader shows compassion for the person in all of the challenges that life brings each of us
• A great leader always reacts the same – giving the team a trusting environment in which to concentrate on themselves and their work
• A great leader embraces change and encourages the team to take the opportunities that come with each change
• A great leader shows vision, inspires and leads their team towards worthy goals

(To get this list, I replaced the words “first rater” with “great leader” from Skip’s post, and deleted the second and third rater statements. I also deleted a couple of ones that I thought weren’t exactly on topic. Skip, my apologies for mangling your list!)