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    Qualities of a Good Leader

    Loyalty and Commitment

    As a leader, you want to gain the trust of your team/followers.
    Loyalty is the ability to recognize the value of other people and stick with them through the good and bad times. This means that you don't give up on people easily. This quality is necessary for true leadership.

    Show loyalty to your team/followers by being honest, trustworthy, supportive, and generous. Many times a loyal person will find themselves having to put other people's needs above their own.

    A loyal leader is confidential and reliable.
    Loyalty also means faithfulness:
    How do you know that someone is loyal to you:
    - They tell you the truth and they are honest
    - They forgive you when you make mistakes
    - They make an effort to see your point of view
    - They don't share your secrets with other people
    - When you are around them they reflect a positive energy
    - They trust you
    - They value the relationship that you have with them
    - They don't do things that they know will hurt you
    - They support your goals

    As a leader, you must know that just like trust, loyalty is earned and it must be consistently nurtured.

    So, as a leader, you don't only want your team to be loyal to you but you must be loyal to them as well. You must have their backs, defend them, and not allow other people to change how you feel about them. A popular slang defines loyalty as a 'Ride or Die'.

    Loyalty flows from the heart and it is sincere.
    Commitment and loyalty go together. To be committed is to be dedicated. It is the act of being obligated to do something.

    True leaders don't make promises that they can't keep. If you commit to something you are obligated to fulfill it, otherwise your character is in jeopardy.

    When you are committed:
    - You look for solutions when faced with obstacles
    - You try harder and give it 100%
    - Quitting is not an option
    - You never look or go backward

    Commitment is an extremely important soft skill needed in leadership. Also, commitment is a choice. When you commit, you are making an active decision to do so.

    True leaders build a good relationship with their team.
    When you have a relationship built on loyalty and commitment, you have certain expectations about how both parties should behave.

    Leading by Example

    A true leader should teach people not to do as they say but to do as they do. If you are a leader that has to teach your followers to do as you say, it is because you are aware that your words are powerless and not backed up by actions.

    It is highly insulting to teach a person to do something that you won't do or haven't done. If you don't believe in your own words or thoughts, why should anyone else?
    Some people are great talkers and poor doers. A person that only talks with no action is a leader I will not choose to follow.

    This is why knowledge alone is not power; what you 'do' with what you know is power!

    One of the greatest ways of being a leader is to lead by setting an example.

    How could you tell someone to do something, behave a certain way, or set certain values that you don't do? This is hypocritical.

    This is what determines the true teachers or leaders from the fake teachers or leaders because they don't teach based on experience.

    Leading by example.
    When you lead by example, leading will become easier for you because naturally, people do what they see. This is even so with children. Children mimic what they see adults do. This is a great way to teach new skills and abilities.

    If you want to:

    Teach people
    - How to be disciplined, be disciplined
    - How to be honest, then be honest
    - How to be loyal, be loyal
    - How to be a great leader, then be a great leader
    - How to change their habits and behaviors, work of yours first

    Many leaders don't get respected by their team or followers because their lives aren't in alignment with what they teach.

    It takes great discipline to be a true leader because it's not easy having to set an example where your actions and behaviors are often judged by others.

    Leading by example ties you to responsibility and accountability.

    This is the problem in leadership, leaders want to act how they wish, without being accountable to other people and responsible for their actions. These are often the blaming leaders, always looking for someone to blame for their inabilities.

    A true leader sets the foundation and is loyal and committed to their decisions by living it. When your team sees that you stand by your own words, through action, they will respect you because you are leading with integrity. This is a way to get them to adapt to what should be done.

    A popular slang used to define this is, 'put your money where your mouth is'.

    Positive Influence and Inspiration
    Positive Influence
    As a leader, your duty is to positively influence your team. Many leaders aren't positive. They lead with negative energy. Leadership is more than getting people to follow your rules and listening to you. When you meet challenges with your team, how do you deal with those challenges?
    Do you scream and shout at your team? Do you make them feel unintelligent with your words?

    Are you a positive mentor? Are you empowering your team with information? As a leader, you should be preparing your team to be future leaders. You shouldn't be abusing them mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

    If you are a leader that has to retire or step down from a religious organization or any organization, and you meet challenges with finding a suitable replacement, you have failed as a leader. Why? Because great leaders train future leaders. They pass on the mantle.

    Many leaders don't train other people to be leaders because they are selfish. They don't want anyone to one day replace them.

    Followers should be proud to be associated with you and they should want to be around you, this signifies that you have a positive influence on them. They are growing and developing under your leadership.

    When you have a positive influence on your team, they will give you their best. You will consistently challenge them to grow and discover new heights of potential. As a positive leader, you will have the ability to create joy and happiness in the lives of your team, not misery and frustration.

    Positive Leaders don't hoard information they share information!

    The ability to inspire: True leaders have the ability to create an environment that is conducive to growth and development. This environment is a nurturing ground and it inspires the team/followers to maximize their greatest potentials.

    Have you ever been in the presence of a great leader, whose energy is so strong that you feel motivated and powered up? It is like a magnet just pulling you in and all of a sudden you have this burst of energy to do things.

    This is an important quality of leadership. You must be able to inspire and influence your team. Leadership is about influence. You can only influence your team if they trust and believe in you. True leaders don't use their power of influence for negativity or to manipulate their team, they use their power of influence for the greater good of the team.

    If you have a weak team, chances are you lack this quality. You don't have what it takes to pull out the potentials of your team. They don't trust you or have confidence in you. Leaders that talk down to their team, or degrade them, are not true leaders, they are false.

    True leaders know how to give feedback without criticizing their team. True leaders offer solutions to a problem and not just shine a light on the problem. Your team should not feel drained or oppressed after meeting with you.


    Making Sacrifices
    Are you willing to make sacrifices? Being selfless as a leader is having the ability to put the needs of your team above your own needs sometimes. This doesn't mean to sabotage yourself and to neglect yourself, but authentically caring about the needs of others.

    When you are passionate about something, you will do what it takes to make it work.
    Making a sacrifice is about giving up something that you love, (pleasure, entertainment, splurging, gossiping, etc.) now to benefit more in the future.

    When you make sacrifices your opportunities are limitless. When you do what is convenient you end up facing a lot of challenges and living a risky life.

    Nothing in life is free, not even the air that you breathe. Salvation is not free, it cost something, whether it be time or making the effort. A great leader cares about the team and would make the necessary sacrifices needed to accomplish goals.

    For example, as a corporate leader, your team member has a problem at home and it affects the quality of their job. You notice this and you ask about it. They confide in you what's happening in their life and ask for your compassion and understanding. You as the leader, may have to fill in for this team member by helping out with their duties and assignments. This might be inconvenient to you, but a sacrifice because you don't want to seem unsupportive or uncompassionate.

    Another example, a pastor is getting ready to have dinner with his wife at a special restaurant. They are ready and heading out the house and the phone rings. Sister Claudette from the church is sick at home and requesting some prayers. The pastor has a decision to make, will he proceed to dinner with his wife or go to Sister Claudette in her time of need? The position of leadership comes with a price tag, and a leader must understand his/her responsibilities and the sacrifices that will have to be made.

    The purpose of leadership is greater than the leader!

    Some sacrifices leaders make:
    - Time; being a leader takes up a lot of your time. You might find yourself not having enough time to spend with your own family.
    - Requires a lot of effort
    - Takes on the burden of other people
    - Study to gain knowledge to be an expert in your field
    - Having to give up what you need and want
    - Great responsibility and accountability

    In my own personal life, I have to make a lot of sacrifices. Developing courses and writing books, and sticking to my schedules so that I can be a better coach, author, and writer is a lot of work and it takes a lot of time. I could be doing many things that bring me pleasure such as watching the TV, going to the beach, spending lots of time with my children, going to the movies, etc. But I know the importance of what I'm doing and so I have to give up a lot of things to accomplish these goals.

    This has a lot to do with self-discipline. Being able to discipline those desires that are not in alignment with your mission.
    Many leaders don't want to make sacrifices because it is inconvenient.

    As human beings, we like to stick with the things that are convenient for us and what's familiar. Many people don't like to lose or give up stuff. These are the false leaders. They want to lead in convenience and what is feasible for them.

    When you make sacrifices for your team/ supporters:
    - They will remain loyal and devoted; they will stay with you through the ups and downs.
    - They will sing of your praises; the best marketing strategy is 'reviews' or word of mouth. When you act in good faith, people will talk about your good deeds.
    - They will respect and love you; When people respect and love you, they will always want to be around you, this is a good sign of true leadership.

    Giving up your needs and wants for the benefit of others isn't easy. It is a tough job. But these are the things that create a tighter bond between leaders and followers/team. If you don't care to develop a good relationship with the people you lead, why lead?