I have been thinking a lot about leadership lately. I guess with a new president in the States, leadership is sort of a hot topic right now. I have also been evaluating some of the leaders that have been in my life, whether at school or at church or in the workplace. Granted I am a fairly critical person, but there sure is a lot of bad leadership out there!! So, I have compiled a list of the qualities that I think make for a good leader.
APPROACHABLE: This is huge. If a leader is not approachable I consider the “game” lost from the word go.
HUMBLE: I don’t mean meek, or subservient, but I definitely DO mean, NOT arrogant. A lot of people seem to be leaders, not in order to lead, but so that they can have power. Power-hungry people are never humble and rarely accommodate anyone else in their singular quest to run everything and be everything.
WISE: And I don’t mean all-knowing. Wisdom sometimes means admitting you don’t know something or letting someone else handle something.
DELEGATORS: Knowing the right people to ask, and being the kind of leader who inspires others to do their part. Doing everything yourself is stupid. Enough said.
FIRM: Spineless noodles need not apply.
FLEXIBLE: Life happens.
COMPASSIONATE: If you don’t care about me, I don’t care about your ideas.
INSPIRATIONAL: Leaders inspire change. They make people want to become better versions of themselves.
Notice that missing from my list are knowledge, degrees, awards and the like. Although they are great, they are not necessary.
When I think back over all the leaders that I have known, only two fit this criteria. They are VM and MV. If you know me at all, you can figure out at least one, if not both of them. If you don’t know me, it’s not important who they are. Just know that good leaders do indeed exist.
