The Anti-List of Leadership Qualities

NO, this is not another list of qualities you must have in order to be a great leader.  There are numerous books, articles and blog posts written about the qualities that make up a leader… they drive me crazy.  Whenever I see these I cringe.   They seem to describe this fantastical immortal persona of which none of us will ever be worthy to eat the crumbs off their cloud of perfection, let alone achieve their glorious state of existence.

These lists, if looked at the wrong way, can be demoralizing as we measure ourselves against them.  To the small business owner, manager, executive or well….human being, these lists can be, misleading and squash one’s own leadership traits and styles into a mold that may not work for them or their organization.

There are many different kinds of leaders with often opposing traits.  I will not mention any names, but there have been great leaders, in the technical sense of the word, that have been downright immoral, even evil, yet have carried the many of the qualities that many would accept as being attached to a great leader.  On the adverse side of that there have been many great leaders that posessed many negative qualities that would normally be attached to a leader.

Additionally there are many leaders that have leadership qualities that might seem contradictory to many of the accepted leadership qualities that exist, yet they lead thriving organizations and employ thousands of people.  If a leader were to be dishonest in their personal affairs, have poor tact, be selfish, overly assertive, yet employ tens of thousands of successful people and produce a product or service that benefits society, does that mean they are a bad leader?  While reversing those attributes to be more positive “might” make them a better leader, they are still successful and may even carry great respect among the individuals they lead.

I saw an article that listed enthusiasm as a necesary quality of great leaders.  Would that attribute be helpful for a funeral director?  I read an article that listed openness as a necesary quality.  Would that serve as a benefical quality to a goverment military leader?  I saw another article that listed patience.  Would that serve the director of a hospital emergency room?

Another aspect of leadership qualities is that they can be thrust onto non-leaders who are then labeled as leaders.  I recently watched a video on the Internet about leadership and it featured Tiger Woods as a great leader because he had vision and determination.  Huh?  Just because an individual possesses important qualities of success, does not mean they are a leader.

I think a person can be a great leader with the right quality at the right time for the right organization and still be failing with many other leadership traits.  An effective leader, focuses on his/her strengths and surrounds themselves with people that can fill in the weaknesses.

So the next time you see a leadership quality list, I would challenge you to focus on strengthening what you are good at and then to selectively pick the attributes that you feel will be beneficial to your organization and then work on improving them.  Don’t be overwhelmed because you are not a perfect Boy Scout.  Focus on what you do have and make sure what you have is what the organization needs.

I’d love to hear your thoughts below.