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What are the success habits that make up a great leader?

Written by: Karl Ruegg

Article Overview: Election Day has come and gone. The president has been elected, and I would like to share something important with you. We're going to put aside the faults of both major candidates and talk about something more important. Leadership. Have you ever asked yourself “What are the success habits that make up a great leader and what can we learn from them?”

What are the success habits that make up a great leader?

Election Day has come and gone. The president has been elected, and I would like to share something important with you. We're going to put aside the faults of both major candidates and talk about something more important. Leadership. Have you ever asked yourself “What are the success habits that make up a great leader and what can we learn from them?”

I'll list a few. Some of them are from General Colin Powell’s presentation “A Leadership Primer”, some are from other sources and my own leadership experience:

• Ignore the critics - Whoever wins will have 50% of the country dislike them.

• Outcome Driven - Both candidates were crystal clear about what their goal is.

• Teamwork - Each campaign had thousands and thousands of people all working together.

• Belief - Each candidate believes in themselves.

• Paying the Price/Whatever it takes – The day before the election, each candidate made 5+ stops around the country to campaign. They both “saw a deadline” and did everything in their power to finish strong.

• Sacrifice - Both candidates have given up a ton, time with friends, family, etc...over the last year.

• Persistence - When polls were against each candidate it would have been so easy for them to 'get down' on themselves, but they didn't and they persisted.

• Small Victories = Big Results - Every vote is important. Both candidates understood that you win an election one vote at a time.

• Don’t be afraid – Both candidates were not afraid to challenge the other candidate, even in their own backyard. Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and partners. But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their learning skills.

• Never neglect details – When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant. Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can’t be implemented rapidly and efficiently.

• Organizational charts – and fancy titles count for next to nothing. Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a work place that ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you. If people really followed organizational charts, companies would collapse.

• Ego – Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it. Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job descriptions. One reason that large organizations wither is that managers won’t challenge old, comfortable ways of doing things.

• Fit no stereotypes – Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission. Flitting from fad to fad creates team confusion, reduces the leader’s credibility, and drains organizational coffers.

• Be optimistic – Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. The ripple effect of a leader’s enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues.

• Try it – You don’t know what you can get away with until you try it. You know the expression, “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Well, it’s true. Good leaders don’t wait for official blessing to try things out. They’re prudent, not reckless.

• Dig deeper – Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It’s an excuse for inaction.

• Organizing and Planning – Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.

• Pick great people – Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done. To learn how to pick the best people visit: www.Hire-Winners.com

• Keep it simple – Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand, follow and implement. KISS – Keep it Simple, Stupid!

• Decisiveness - It's so important to have a leader who makes good decisions. Acquire information until you have at least a 40% chance of being right, then go with your gut feeling. Don’t wait to get 100% data to make a decision. That only breeds “analysis paralysis”.

• On site is right – The leader in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise. Too often, the reverse defines corporate culture. This is one of the main reasons why leaders like Ken Iverson of Nucor Steel, Percy Barnevik of Asea Brown Boveri, and Richard Branson of Virgin have kept their corporate staffs to a bare-bones minimum – how about fewer than 100 corporate staffers for a global $30 billion-plus ABB?

• Have fun – Have fun in your leadership position. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take a break when you’ve earned it. Spend time with your family. Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

• Lonely at the top – Being a leader is being at the top. At the top the air gets thinner, and you will have less real friends. Harry Truman was right. Whether you’re a CEO or the temporary head of a project team, the buck stops here.

• Not buffaloed – Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world. Small companies and start-ups don’t have the time for analytically detached experts. They don’t have the money to subsidize lofty elites, either.

• Embracing problems – The day people stop bringing you problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

• Being responsible – sometimes means pissing people off. Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It’s inevitable, if you’re honorable.


Success isn't rocket science. Read the success habits again above. Do you realize what you need to do right now?

PEOPLE FORM HABITS AND HABITS FORM FUTURES.

• You need to take on at least ONE of the success habits above or choose your own habit and START 'BEING IT' today.

• YOU need to START being a LEADER in your own life.

• YOU need to START TODAY.

Remember: Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.

P.S. One of my clients shared General Colin Powell’s presentation “A Leadership Primer” with me and it really struck a cord with my experience as a leader. I would love to share it with you and hear your opinion. If you would like to download the complete version of General Colin Powell’s “A Leadership Primer” for free, just visit www.CoachKarl.com/contact.html

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Thank you for the wonderful feedback regarding my last article. What thoughts would you like to share? I am eager to hear from you. Your success is my passion!

Coach Karl, MBA
Master Success Coach
Email: Karl@CoachKarl.com
Web: www.CoachKarl.com
Phone: (361) 549-3790

Related Articles
  Create New Success Habits!
  What does a good leader need or look like
  Create Habits That Will Serve You Well
  “Essential Habits and Principles for Great Leadership”
  Where Are Your Habits Leading You?

Article Tags: change, change management, leader, leadership, leading change, management, overcome challenges



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