My kind of leader
A FULL year before the national elections, I gently reflect on my own assessment on what qualities I want the next set of leaders of our country to have. My baseline method of measurement is always “the five things rule.” My five things are neither the usual “three things easy to remember” or the “ten things easy to forget,” but an easy “five things rule” that for me works simply fine and is a truly and practically realizable list. So, here goes — the five qualities that I feel an effective leader should have. At this point, I am just putting it out there that other people may have their own list as well and I respect them for that.
The first quality I would like to talk about is that I want my leader to be a naturally humble person. It is such a refreshing and attractive proposition for a person who is humble to engage my approval in almost anything. It’s like a magnet for me to scan a room and pick the humblest and almost bordering on reserved person in a panel or group of identified leaders and engage him or her on the simplest topics, on his or her stand and or value proposition on issues of concern. People who are reserved calculate the impact of their pronouncements before making a go at these either in a statement or as an action agenda.
So, besides being calculated, it is without a doubt that he or she will only come up with a statement knowing that this marks them (and they know that), and thus you can hold them liable for it.
The second trait is that he or she must be an agile leader. A traditional leader engages in a top-down, authoritarian or command-and-control approach of getting things to work and that is usually in a setup where there is a need for mostly repetitive tasks. Authority then and decisions are made from the top of this model. Power is vested on the individual at the top of the organization. This setup usually forces a leader to stockpile the resources, even information, on himself or herself and thus forms an environment of greed and negativity. Today that information and/or knowledge is everything; sharing knowledge is empowering, creating evolutionary teams and environments that are conducive to creative solution-making to form unimaginable scenarios of hope in action and prosperity in realization. An agile leader is the hand you hold, and the ear is always open to assure and reassure you or that the team is on the right track. There is no ego here, just trust as a persona. The openness allows the teammates to communicate and thus results in fewer mistakes and more results. If it isn’t enough, the agile leader is the team’s cheerleader. Agile leaders are “woke,” people who are either naturals (believe it or not, some are) or a transformed individual who has stopped being a “know it all” but has assumed a stance of a learn-it-all and share-it-all so as not to be obsolete and useless.
The third trait of a leader I am looking for is a person who is meticulous. I say this because they say how you do the small things is how you do everything. So, if in the smallest things or tasks he cannot be trusted to perform well, then it’s an automatic assumption he may not be able to perform the bigger tasks.
The fourth trait I know is a trait that is unusual — it is for someone who thinks with his or her heart and loves with his or her brain. This is a compassionate leader evolved. I say evolved because once you love with your brain it means your level of objectivity is at its best.
Lastly, everyone knows that leaders are not simply leaders because of their titles; leaders are people who assume the role to influence other people to create a change (positive of course and for the benefit of the majority). So, the last thing I am looking for in a leader is someone with an abundant mentality. This mindset, they say, believes that the world has enough for everyone, and that there is a lot to go around, that there is always a lot of room at the “top” and that we are beneath no one and superior to no one. To exude generosity in abundance comes from only one place: a big heart that is felt in everything a good leader does.
What is your list of expectations for your incoming leaders besides what he or she has done in the past or what his or her educational attainment is? I am sure what you will look for reflects on how you want your future to be governed, especially those of your loved ones. So, think well.