Leadership traits of the 20th century.

The quest to collect the leadership traits of the most influential people got a major boost in the recent years. Over the past few decades, we have had a number of people trying to discover how some leaders were so successful in what they did.

How did they manage to easily overcome objections, convince voters, win the negotiations, sell cars, get higher credit rating so on and so forth?
 

What leadership traits can we learn from people who made millions selling credit cards or houses or life insurance? Think about it. Can a company become successful unless it had a successful team? In contrast, lets say you sell life insurance term for a living, how would it be if you can sell twice as much in half the time because you can do the same job even better with good communication? This notion is probably as old as human civilization.

Let us look at a few general leadership traits found in most of the successful leaders. This list of characteristics can be used to identify and learn the leadership skills. The list is focused on some of the leadership traits and in no way exhaustive.

Change has been the one word which was dreaded by establishments for many years. In today’s world, this is one word which is the most constant of all. Thus, the leader of the new world should be willing to change as required.

Flexibility is the word I am supposed to use. (There seems to be no flexibility in use of words to describe leadership traits or so I am told) Leaders should be able to observe the changes happening in the society and move with it.

"A leader should be flexible and adaptive to changes without compromising his ethics".

Here is chance to show your own Leadership Traits.

When you are dealing with people, you are in effect, dealing with their emotions. As mentioned before, a leader has to Overcome inner conflicts before he deals with others’. In essence, a good leader should have maturity and emotional strength. In contrast to popular belief that business leaders should be grim faced and tightlipped, a good leader is empathetic and responsive.

By the way, the grim ones often die of heart attacks. You now know which is the misunderstood of all the leadership traits.

Another defining trait of a leader is his ability to build teams and motivate them to achieve common goals. It is his duty to keep the group motivated and give them direction. He can achieve this only if he is motivated enough and he believes in the cause. Passion for the cause and enthusiasm are indispensable.

Leaders are usually seen as active, expressive, and energetic. They need to build a sense of excitement required to get the job done. This excitement will later result in satisfaction.

A leader should be the Source of Enthusiasm for his Crew.

If you don’t find something worth dying for, you will not find living to be a great joy. A Common saying

The U571(Movie) Exec officer was very hurt when he is not promoted and given his own boat. He gets disheartened by the incident. When the captain asks if he is willing to risk the life of a young crew member to save others, he hesitates.

"You see, you hesitate. As a captain, you can't afford to hesitate" A Famous dialogue from U571.

Leaders have to make tough decisions and they need thick skin to be effective. This does not been they should not have compassion. A leader will have flexibility when he develops an ability to be tough when the situation demands and be compassionate when required. Sometimes I feel leadership traits seem to be very ironical combination of skills.
 

Any job that is started needs to be finished successfully. A Leader’s job is no different. We have often come across situations where we have left the work unfinished. A leader can’t afford to do so. All the other traits constant, this is one which can be given the highest priority. At the end of the day, the one who finishes the race is the one who counts.
 

I have often failed to finish the things that I started. The result of which, I used to feel pangs of inadequacy when I tried to lay hands on new things. Success breeds Success. So it is very important to close the screen on all the things we start. Success in itself is one the leadership traits.
 

"A person who displays and demonstrates a determination to complete a task he has started had the potential of leading others".
 

One of my family friends is a Veteran of WW II. When I was child, he used to tell us stories about his experience. In the enemy territory, soldiers dig up ditches to hold their positions. Then to carry forward an offensive, one team starts lurching forward on elbows under cover fire.
 

Dead front, you have heavy machine guns firing 1000rpm. There is an overwhelming uncertainty of life and still they keep moving forward. What can possibly keep them motivated to do that? The basic human instinct is to run away. But these men do not understand that. You can call it brainwashing. These men have determination unequalled by anyone else.

They just have to get that Job done. "Mission accomplished " is their only goal.

Energy is one more trait of a Good Leader.

He has to develop the ability to create and maintain high levels of energy for extended periods of time. This is one of the reasons the men (and women) of the armed forces make such good leaders. Their training gives them the ability to stay awake and be aware for long spells.

In a recent survey, it was shown that 40% of Top CEOs of Corporate America were from the marines. One of the most famous billionaires of US Donald Trump is known for his adulation of leadership training he got in the Army.

I am a submarine buff. My best friend’s father was a submariner. My favorite pastime is watching movies about submarines and reading about them. Submarines represent a world unnatural to humans, beneath the sea.

A captain and his crew have to deal not only with the unseen enemy but also the unforgivable and fathomless sea engulfing them. This brings me to the next point, Intuitiveness.
 

"Change is the only constant in the world. The one who is the most adaptive will rule the world" - Law of nature.
 

The ancient times had many myths about the power of intuition. Intuition is natural to humans. Due to overestimation of rational though during renaissance, Intuition was given a back seat. The trend has continued till date. With the New Age philosophy spreading like wild fire, everybody is now paying attention to this ancient force.

Now, it is one the indispensables of the leadership traits. Intuition can be nurtured and developed like any other talent. Time spent in this activity will be of great value.
 

"Intuition will help one lead other to places which no eyes have seen." - An Ancient Egyptian Myth

As I mentioned in page on leadership, now a days, leadership is by design. None of them have a ‘Degree of Leadership’ from Harvard. Most of the good leaders are products of many kinds of experiences and thus will have developed different kind of skills.

To conclude, let’s have a look at one of the best compilation of Leadership Traits. US Marine Core or USMC, has been a place which has given birth to a lot of leaders. So, it would be good idea to know what the marines expect out of a leader.
 

US Marines 11 Leadership Principles: (USMC)

Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates.

Train your soldiers as a team.

Ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished.

Know yourself and seek self-improvement

Know your soldiers and look out for their welfare.

Keep your soldiers informed.

Set the example.

Be tactically and technically proficient.

Make sound and timely decisions.

Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities.

Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.

With this study of leadership traits, you will be more aware of your surroundings and easily pick up these skills. Please make sure you have gone through the best characteristics of leadership and the leadership quality also. That way you will go through a full circle in your understanding the leadership traits.

What to do next?

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