Many leadership qualities have been observed throughout history, distinguishing the best leaders from merely effective ones. Some leadership traits were adopted by tyrannical leaders while others were exhibited by great leaders.

In both cases, the traits of those in charge correlated to their ability to accomplish their desired outcomes.

Just as importantly, those same characteristics of a good leader determined how much – or how little – their followers considered them to be effective leaders.

What is Leadership?

Leadership is the act of guiding a group of people or organization to a desired goal, result, or higher level. Memorialized throughout history, the greatest leaders have inspired millions of people and continue to do so even after their leaderships end.

One great leader was Mahatma Gandhi, who was born an ordinary boy with a passion and determination to excel. Once completing his Law degree in London, he spearheaded a nonviolent resistance to the successful campaign for India’s freedom from British rule in 1947.

As a lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, Gandhi’s leadership inspired civil rights movements across the world. His main leadership qualities included resilience, knowledge, and leading by example. Gandhi’s leadership attributes, such as resilience and leading by example, were pivotal in his success.

“The history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confidence, bravery, and tenacity.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Another leader with exceptional leadership qualities is George Washington.

Known as the founding father of the United States of America, the leader of the American Revolution, and the first US president of the US, George Washington’s vision has endured for more than 200 years.

A true visionary, President Washington used his foresight and strategic planning to lead his people (and country) to success.

“Remember that it is the actions, and not the commission, that make the officer, and that there is more expected from him, than the title.” – George Washington

Both Gandhi and Washington exemplified the responsibilities and impacts of being in a leadership position, demonstrating how to respond thoughtfully to challenges and exercise leadership qualities in every action.

What Makes a Good Leader Great? Essential Leadership Qualities

Great leaders find the balance between business foresight, performance, and leadership characteristics. They have vision, courage, integrity, humility, and focus, along with the ability to plan strategically and catalyze cooperation among their team.

Active listening and communication skills are pivotal in fostering trust and clarity within a team. By truly understanding and reflecting on the information shared by team members, leaders build a foundation of trust. Effective communication, encompassing both verbal and nonverbal cues, ensures that the team operates with clarity and cohesion.

Essential leadership qualities such as problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and decision-making proficiency are crucial for impactful leadership. A growth mindset encourages leaders to be resilient and adaptable, constantly seeking personal and professional development. Leadership development, through self-study, workshops, and courses, is key to honing these qualities and cultivating a unique leadership style.

Professional growth, achieved through personal development, mentorship, and coaching, plays a significant role in leadership development. It contributes to a leader’s ability to inspire and guide their team effectively.

Strong leaders, characterized by high emotional intelligence and the ability to inspire, demonstrate the importance of continuously striving to improve. They earn their team’s respect and assist with the workload to accomplish goals, showcasing the true impact of great leadership.

Most leaders reflect on their most effective leadership qualities and try to apply them on a daily basis.

And while they may already be great leaders and show great leadership traits, they continue to ask themselves how they can improve and think about what makes a good leader, especially as time continues to change.

They also look to the characteristics of other great leaders in history to understand and employ their tactics.

Great leaders understand that they are only as strong as their team and their team members. This is why many choose to lead by example. In doing so, they earn the respect of their team and followers, and may even inspire others to join the mission.

The ability to motivate and drive others to join in on a mission is a positive leadership quality that separates good leaders from great ones.

To help you become a better leader, here are my top 10 best leadership qualities that you can start putting into practice immediately. Reference them as a tool to help you develop your leadership style.

1. Vision

Great leaders have a vision… one that allows them to plan their moves strategically to reach their goals. A strong leadership vision allows leaders to plan their moves strategically to reach their goals.

They have a clear idea of where they are going and can motivate themselves (and their teams) to reach it. They practice idealization to visualize the long-term goals they hope to achieve and use their vision and strategic planning to advance toward them.

Those with great leadership qualities focus on the future while maintaining a positive attitude; they’re more concerned with the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of the past. This way of thinking allows them to think long-term and disregard solutions that would only create instant gratification.

Someone with effective leadership qualities always begins with understanding the “needs” of the situation by looking at the bigger picture. An effective leader can project forward 3-5 years and imagine clearly where they want to be and what it will look like when they get there.

Leaders can anticipate trends, well in advance of their competitors. They continually ask, “Based on what is happening today, where is the market going? Where is it likely to be in three months, six months, one year, and two years?”

They do this through thoughtful strategic planning.

This leadership quality separates them from managers. Having a clear vision turns the individual into a special type of person. Consider what your visions are and the quality of them to transform from a “transactional manager” into a “transformational leader.”

Remember: Managers direct, leaders inspire and guide.

2. Courage

One of the more important leadership qualities and characteristics is leadership courage.

Having courage means that you are willing to take risks to achieve your goals. While many people can dream big, only leaders and risk-takers understand that taking a risk and failing is still more productive than not taking a risk at all.

“Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” – Tom Krause

While no risk can fully assure success due to the uncertainty of life, each risk you take can act as a learning opportunity to get you closer to your goals. Having courage means getting up and trying again when you fall. All great leaders will have more failures than they do successes.

Among the seven leadership qualities, courage is the most identifiable outward trait. All great leaders can be defined by their courage and ability to take risks that others were too afraid to.

3. Integrity

In every strategic planning session that I have conducted for large and small corporations, the first value that all the gathered executives agree upon for their company is leadership integrity.

Each one agrees on the importance of complete honesty and transparency in everything they do, both internally and externally.

“We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.” – Michelle Obama

To dive even deeper though and to help you become a great leader, remember that the core of integrity is truthfulness. You may want to even want to take a moment and write the qualities of a good leader.

Having integrity and a reputation of being honest helps leaders gain the trust and respect of their colleagues and their teams.

As a leader, your decisions should be based on the betterment of the group, rather than self-gain. People should look to you for inspiration and aspire to follow in your footsteps. They should know that your moral compass does not waver.

4. Humility

Leadership humility gets results.

Larry Bossidy, the former CEO of Honeywell and author of the book Execution, explained why leadership characteristics, such as humility, make you a more effective leader:

“The more you can contain your ego, the more realistic you are about your problems. You learn how to listen, and admit that you don’t know all the answers. You exhibit the attitude that you can learn from anyone at any time. Your pride doesn’t get in the way of gathering the information you need to achieve the best results. It doesn’t keep you from sharing the credit that needs to be shared. Humility allows you to acknowledge your mistakes.” – Larry Bossidy

Being a great leader means raising your team up to succeed. This means admitting when someone knows more than you and giving them the opportunity to take initiative. It means being conscious of your power, but never letting it get the best of you.

Humility doesn’t mean that you’re weak or unsure of yourself. It means that you have the self-confidence and self-awareness to recognize the value of others without feeling threatened.

This is one of the rarer attributes – or traits – of good leaders because it requires containment of one’s ego.

It means that you are willing to admit you could be wrong, that you recognize you may not have all the answers. And it means that you give credit where credit is due – which many people struggle to do.

If your goal is to be a good or great leader, learn how to embrace humility.

5. Focus 

“Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps, they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them. – Jack Canfield

In order to be a good leader, one must have true leadership focus; focus on their goals, focus on the needs of their team, and focus on the bigger picture. This will allow you to strategize and plan for success.

Without focus, your efforts will be misguided. You may be led in different directions and never reach the goals you set out for yourself. When you focus on the mission at hand, you remain steadfast in your journey and do not waiver on your path.

Similarly, when you focus on your strengths and the strengths of those around you, you are able to utilize your collective power to achieve and succeed as a team.

Great leaders are action-oriented and create strategic plans focused on the strengths of the organization, allowing for efficient and effective movements.

Your job as a leader is to ensure that you, and everyone around you, remain focused on the goal. This means making sure everyone makes the most valuable use of their strengths and their time. This is essential for the performance of your team.

6. Cooperation

“If your imagination leads you to understand how quickly people grant your requests when those requests appeal to their self-interest, you can have practically anything you go after.” – Napoleon Hill

One of the most important leadership qualities is leadership cooperation. Cooperation is the process of working together to reach the same end.

Good leaders have the ability to get everyone on the team on the same page in order to get something done.

This ability is critical to your success as a leader because it will create a helpful and collaborative environment within your team that allows for the best work.

Your ability to keep yourself and your team in cooperation with each other is essential to the smooth functioning of the organization.

Gain the cooperation of others by committing to getting to know your team and understanding each one’s personal strengths. Remember that the more of an effort you make to understand them, the more they will feel heard and acknowledged.

And when someone feels understood, they are more likely to cooperate. Everyone wants to feel like their thoughts and ideas are being listened to.

7. Clear Communication 

Another characteristic of a good leader is the ability to effectively and persuasively communicate, underscoring the pivotal role of leadership communication in leadership. Effective communication skills are crucial as they lead to clarity, foster collaboration and trust, and are essential for impactful leadership.

This involves articulating vision, providing guidance, active listening, and understanding nonverbal cues. Clear communication begins with the ability to stop, listen, think, and proceed slowly.

Being able to communicate clearly with your team will create an open dialogue that allows your team to ask questions, voice concerns, and problem-solve. When people understand the assignment clearly and can openly communicate about it, there will be fewer errors and issues overall.

Many great leaders are also excellent public speakers. Practicing public speaking is a great way to learn how to communicate clearly and effectively.

You will not only improve your vocabulary, but you will also gain confidence. Practicing public speaking can also be a way to create effective dialogue with your team and organization.

8. Honesty

When you ask yourself how to be a better leader, never forget leadership honesty. It allows you to gain trust with your team and keep the focus on the vision. When leaders are dishonest and ingenuine, it becomes difficult to keep everyone moving in the same direction.

Your team will lose trust not only with you but with your efforts. This will create a chaotic environment full of gossip and drama.

“Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.“ – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Being honest is important in both positive and negative situations. If someone does a great job, do not be afraid to give them praise. If someone makes a mistake, it is also important, to be honest (and kind) with your feedback.

Communication and humility are also inherently tied to honesty and transparency. Having self-awareness allows you to be honest with both yourself and your team.

This also applies personally. It’s difficult to admit when we are wrong, or when we do not have the answer to something.

But being honest about your abilities and mistakes will keep you grounded. The first step in making a change is being honest with your mistake and turning it into a learning opportunity in order to succeed in the future.

9. Empathy

Another one of the biggest qualities I’ve found in great leaders is leadership empathy and kindness.

As leaders, we may be hyper-focused on our own goals and what’s at stake. But, if we are looking for how to be a better leader, we must also understand that without our team, goals cannot be reached.

Knowing that, it’s important to check on your team and make sure they feel understood. A team that feels heard will be much more willing to cooperate and participate.

“Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” – Oprah Winfrey

To be truly empathetic means to have the ability to put yourself into someone else’s shoes, recognize if they are feeling burnt out, and enact ways to provide support. Without empathy, you’ll find yourself pushing people to succeed without giving them the tools to do so, which will only push them away.

Great leaders can understand and empathize with their team to reach their goals together.

10. Ability to Delegate

The ability to delegate is also a strong quality that makes a good leader, highlighting the importance of leadership delegation.

“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.” – John C. Maxwell

For leaders to stay focused on their vision, they must be able to delegate their tasks. Not only does delegating take room off your plate so you can focus on the bigger picture, but it also empowers your employees to take on bigger responsibilities.

Delegating tasks shows your employees that you trust them and their work. This will motivate them to produce high-quality work to keep your trust and respect.

Great leaders can successfully delegate tasks and goals to other members of their team based on their strengths. This is why it’s so important to get to know your team. Strategically delegating allows you to put the right work in front of the right people.

This can be seen in the 80/20 rule: 20% of the people produce 80% of the work.

Recognize the hard workers on your team and utilize them in the best and most efficient ways to reach your collective goals.

Good Leaders Can Be Made

I hope you use this list of my best leadership qualities as a guideline for how to become a better leader.

Consider writing them down and listing specific ways you can utilize these attributes within your own life and with your team. You may also allow this to be a tool for you to reference when making decisions.

Consider enrolling in leadership development programs to further enhance your skills and become a better leader.

To strengthen your leadership skills and become the best leader you can be, download my goals-setting guide. In this 14-step plan, you will identify areas of opportunity and learn how to think ahead and achieve your goals effectively.

This guide will ultimately act as a tool that you can use to set strategies in motion for goal-setting and optimizing your success to help you become the leader you were destined to be!

Qualities of Great Leaders

Great Leaders Inspire 

As a leader, your ability to inspire people will help motivate them to reach goals in the workplace as well as their individual career goals and personal goals. Many great leaders inspire others by leading by example.

Giving encouragement and praise inspires those you lead to persevere through challenges, create loyalty to the team or organization, and strive to produce their best work.

1. “Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” Brian Tracy

2. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams

3. “Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration — of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.” Lance Secretan

4. “Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” Sam Walton

5. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” General Dwight Eisenhower

6. “Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led.” Ross Perot

7. “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” John C. Maxwell

8. “Earn your leadership every day.” Michael Jordan

9. “Good leaders organize and align people around what the team needs to do. Great leaders motivate and inspire people with why they’re doing it.” Marillyn Hewson

10. “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts. It is about one life influencing another.” John C. Maxwell

12. “There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust.” Klaus Balkenhol

13. “A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.” M.D. Arnold

Great Leaders Teach

To be a good leader, help people acquire the skills they need to accomplish what you are asking of them. Give your staff or team members opportunities to take courses, attend seminars, and earn certifications that will help them become more qualified in their position or profession.

Organize senior or more experienced staff to mentor others, allowing one to develop leadership skills and the other to gain valuable knowledge. Giving others the tools they need to succeed will not only empower them to flourish but the team or company will prosper as well.

14. “A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.” Jim Rohn 

15. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur Ward.

16. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy

17. “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Ralph Nader

18. “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” Peter Drucker

19. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

20. “If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.” Jim Rohn

21. “Learning is not a one-time event or a periodic luxury. Great leaders in great companies recognize that the ability to constantly learn, innovate, and improve is vital to their success.” Amy Edmondson

22. “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” Albert Schweitzer

23. “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

24. “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” George Patton

25. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell

26. “Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention, and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.” Edward de Bono

Great Leaders Raise the Bar

When we are satisfied with our past accomplishments, we cease to grow. Encourage those you lead to progress by setting high yet reasonable expectations. Give others challenges that will put them out of their comfort zone and reach for the next level of success. Great leaders celebrate and reward the achievements of those they lead while also encouraging them to continue to reach higher.

27. “Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.” Brian Tracy

28. “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders, and continually develops them.” John Maxwell

29. “Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar.” Orrin Woodward

30. “Leadership is not something that is done to people, like fixing your teeth. Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” Bill Bradley

31. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Ronald Reagan
32. “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” Peter Drucker

33. “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” Rosalynn Carter

34. “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates

35. “A star wants to see himself rise to the top. A leader wants to see those around him rise to the top.” Simon Sinek

36. “If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” Bruce Lee

37. “As a leader, you should always start with where people are before you try to take them where you want them to go.” Jim Rohn

38. “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” Bill Bradley

39. “Leaders set high standards. refuse to tolerate mediocrity or poor performance.” Brian Tracy

Great Leaders Are Courageous

If you want to get different results from what you are getting now, you must change something. Change requires taking risks by stepping out into the unknown. And that requires courage. The best leaders take risks and develop the courage to do so. Once you develop that habit of courageously trying the unknown, you will most often find the experience is not as bad as you feared it would be and the results are worth the effort.

40. “Entrepreneurial leadership requires the ability to move quickly when opportunity presents itself.” Brian Tracy

41.”Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” Harry S. Truman

42. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

43. “The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action — an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign — even as the rest of the world wonders why you’re not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special.” Bill Taylor

44. “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” W. Clement Stone

45. “Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” Mary Tyler Moore 

46. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela

47. “Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.” General Colin Powell

48. “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.” Martin Luther King, Jr. 

49. “Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.” James Freeman Clark

50. “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” William Falkner

51. “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” Eleanor Roosevelt

52. “The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free.” Oprah Winfrey

Great Leaders Have Integrity

53. “Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word.” Brian Tracy

54. “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

55. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. Oprah Winfrey

56. “Respect is the key determinant of high-performance leadership. how much people respect you determines how well they perform.” Brian Tracy

57. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln

58. “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” Bob Marley

59. “Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

60. “Superior leaders are willing to admit a mistake and cut their losses. Be willing to admit that you’ve changed your mind. Don’t persist when the original decision turns out to be a poor one.” Brian Tracy

61. “The glue that holds all relationships together–including the relationship between the leader and the led–is trust, and trust is based on integrity.” Brian Tracy

62. “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” Harvey Mackay

63. “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” Warren Buffet

64. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

65. “The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.” Brian Tracy

Great Leaders Translate Vision

Good leaders focus on the possibilities of the future instead of the problems of the past. As a leader, have a vision for what you want to achieve, and create goals as your stepping stones to get there. Great leaders also keep an eye on trends and make educated predictions of future opportunities that will put them ahead of the competition. 

66. “The key responsibility of leadership is to think about the future. No one else can do it for you.” Brian Tracy

67. “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” Reverend Theodore Hesburgh

68. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Warren Bennis

69. “The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good.” Brian Tracy

70. “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” Arnold Glasow

71. “Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” Reed Markham

72. “Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality.” Warren G. Bennis

73. “A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.” Brian Tracy

74. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” Bill George

75. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

76. “People who take a long view of their lives and careers always seem to make much better decisions about their time and activities than people who give very little thought to the future.” Brian Tracy

77. “No one is going to make you a leader. Take the reins, create your own opportunity, and build the career that you deserve.” Devin Bramhall

78. “Leaders never use the word failure. They look upon setbacks as learning experiences.” Brian Tracy

Great Leaders Delegate

Whether you are a business owner, an executive for a company, or hold a leadership position at your job, the most efficient and effective way to achieve great things is to delegate. Delegating tasks and authority to others helps them grow professionally. It also gives you more time and energy to devote to the things that will advance your professional and personal goals while helping others do the same.

79. “When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders.” Craig Groeschel

80. “Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.” Diogenes of Sinope

81. “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Tom Peters

82. “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” Jack Welch

83. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” Jessica Jackley

84. “When you delegate work to a member of the team, your job is to clearly frame success and describe the objectives.” Steven Sinofsky

85. “Don’t be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.” Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense

86. “The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then guide the horse with loose reins and seldom use the spurs.” Sandra Day O’Connor

87. “If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.” John C. Maxwell

88. “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.” Ronald Reagan

89. “No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.” Andrew Carnegie

90. “Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it … Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.” David Ogilvy

91. “If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.” Richard Branson

Great Leaders Mobilize

Good leaders make things happen — both by taking action themselves and by motivating others to take action. The greatest leaders mobilize others to do the small and simple things that will accumulate to create great things. Having a good idea is the beginning of progress, but only by taking the necessary steps to make it happen will you and those you lead achieve success. Success comes from doing.

92. “Leaders are innovative, entrepreneurial, and future-oriented. They focus on getting the job done.” Brian Tracy

93. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” John Maxwell

94. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.” Lao Tzu

95. “It only takes one person to mobilize a community and inspire change. Even if you don’t feel like you have it in you, it’s in you. You have to believe in yourself. People will see your vision and passion and follow you.” Teyonah Parris

96. “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” Carl Jung

97. “Always choose the future over the past. What do we do now?” Brain Tracy

98. “Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” Napoleon Hill

99. “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” Stephen Covey

100. “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” Vince Lombardi

101. “The key to success is action.” Brian Tracy

102. “What you do has far greater impact than what you say.” Stephen Covey

103. “The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision.” Ken Blanchard

104. “Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” Brian Tracy

Great Leaders Have Empathy

In order for people to truly follow you, especially in times of adversity and uncertainty, they must know you care. We all need to feel valued, understood, and cared for. As a leader, one of your greatest qualities will be the authentic concern you have for the lives of those who work for you. Take time to get to know them, what is important to them, what their needs are, and what their concerns are. You will find productivity will increase, and integrity and loyalty will prosper.

105. “The best leaders have a high consideration factor. They really care about their people” Brian Tracy

106. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

107. “If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings — and put compensation as a carrier behind it — you almost don’t have to manage them.” Jack Welch

108. “The three ‘C’s’ of leadership are consideration, caring, and courtesy. Be polite to everyone.” Brian Tracy

109. “Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.” Pete Hoekstra

110. “Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” Oprah Winfrey

111. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

112. “The outward expression of empathy is courtesy.” Stewart Butterfield

113. “The effective leader recognizes that they are more dependent on their people than they are on them. Walk softly.” Brian Tracy

114. “Stay connected to feel empathy, compassion, and understanding for yourself and others.” Vanessa Tucker

115. “Measure your impact in humanity, not in the likes, but the lives you touch; not in popularity, but in the people you serve. I found that my life got bigger when I stopped caring about what other people thought about me. You will find yours will too. Stay focused on what really matters. There will be times when your resolve to serve humanity will be tested. Be prepared. People will try to convince you that you should keep your empathy out of your career. Don’t accept this false premise.” Tim Cook

116. “Emotional intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the majority of our daily actions. Research suggests it is responsible for as much as 80 percent of the “success” in our lives.” Joshua Freedman

117. “Practice Golden Rule Management in everything you do. Manage others the way you would like to be managed.” Brian Tracy

Putting Effective Leadership Quotes Into Action

Which of these leadership quotes have caused you to pause and ponder their value in your current circumstances? Write them down in a place where you can see them often and these quotes as inspiration to move forward in your journey to becoming and remaining a great leader.

I also invite you to use my 14-Step Goals Setting Guide to identify the key areas of opportunity currently in front of you and create a plan of action to achieve your greatest goals.

In recent years, more people have started to work with a life coach or have trained to become one.

Are you seeking clarity in life or need a new direction for your career?

A life coach can help you achieve those goals, and I want to break down how a life coach contributes to personal growth, what it takes to become one, and the different areas of specialization within the life coaching field.

What is a Life Coach?

A life coach is a catalyst for your transformation. They’ve mastered the principles of success and they’re ready to share that knowledge. They help guide clients in implementing these principles in their careers or personal lives.

For example, when you’re in a job that drains you, a job where you’re just going through the motions, a life coach is the one who lights the path to a career that resonates with your true purpose.

It’s not just about finding any new job, it’s about discovering that sweet spot where your passion meets your skill. And that’s where a life coach comes in.

They don’t just identify the industry where you’ll excel, they stand by your side as you carve out your new path, helping you craft an achievable plan.

It’s a life change. And with a life coach, you’re not just prepared for this journey – you’re destined to succeed in it.

A Life Coach’s Role in Personal Development

Life coaches help you on your journey towards personal and professional success. They’re trained to enhance your personal or professional life, whether that be in relationships, your career, or your daily routines.

You can overcome emotional and mental health challenges, navigate life transitions, and boost overall well-being through their life coaching practice, which ultimately can help treat mental health conditions.

Enhance Self-Awareness

Your journey to self-discovery begins with self-awareness. Life coaches play a crucial role in facilitating this process as it involves leading clients through reflection, thus playing a pivotal role in internal growth. Their strategy often involves posing reflective inquiries to enhance a client’s self-awareness.

Respecting client autonomy, they refrain from imposing their perspectives or solutions. Their role is to aid clients in introspection, clarity achievement, and conscious decision-making.

Goal Setting and Planning

Life coaches can guide you in setting precise objectives and creating practical strategies to attain them. A life coach can assist you in setting professional goals, such as achieving a better work-life balance or determining a career path, guiding you toward your desired destination.

Becoming a Life Coach

To become a life coach, it requires completing training programs, obtaining certification, and gaining experience. There are many different types of certifications, and it all depends on your area of expertise.

Training Programs and Certification

There are many options when it comes to obtaining your life coach certification. Some teach you how to lead entire workshops for others, while others certify you to teach others to speak in public, and others teach you how to coach others to increase their sales.

Becoming a certified life coach provides you with the necessary skills and knowledge needed to guide clients effectively.

Building Experience

To enhance your life coaching expertise, experience is key. Effectively building experience is a vital step toward becoming a competent life coach that others will happily follow.

Life Coaching Specializations

If you’re looking for a life coach, know that there are different fields that they specialize in. You can find a life coach for your career, business, relationships, finances, academics, or health and wellness.

Let’s take a look at the most popular life coaching specializations.

Career & Business Coaching

Career and business coaching are vital specializations in life coaching, aimed to help those seeking to elevate their professional lives. These coaches focus on helping you gain crystal-clear clarity about your career goals and business objectives.

They offer tailored strategies to help you navigate the complex business landscape, whether you’re climbing the corporate ladder or steering your enterprise.

These coaches play a crucial role in enhancing your self-awareness and confidence, ensuring you’re equipped with the mindset and skills needed to tackle professional obstacles. They guide you in identifying and overcoming the challenges that hinder your career progress, empowering you to unlock your full potential in the business world.

Wellness & Personal Coaching

Wellness and personal coaching is another common specialization, that supports you in improving your overall well-being in your personal life. This specialization is about more than just physical health, too. It encompasses mental, emotional, and social wellness.

Life coaches who are experts in this field assist in nurturing healthier relationships with yourself and others, fostering a sense of balance and harmony in your personal life. They guide you in making informed, health-conscious lifestyle choices, promoting habits that contribute to your overall vitality.

These coaches often employ techniques to boost self-esteem, manage stress, and cultivate a positive mindset, ensuring that you’re not just surviving, but thriving in your personal life.

10 Qualities of a Great Life Coach

Effective life coaches possess essential attributes such as maintaining a positive attitude and challenging clients to grow. See what key qualities are necessary to become a life coach or what to look for when searching for one.

1. Maintain a Positive Attitude

Your positive attitude needs to be inspiring to inspire your clients by your belief in them.

2. Be Passionate

Be passionate and empathetic with a desire to help others – this trait allows you to understand your client’s emotions and barriers to success.

3. Have Great Listening Skills

Listening to clients is what life coaching is all about. Understanding subtle tells and messages helps in understanding your client’s issues

4. Be Non-Opinionated

As a coach, your job is not to give client advice, it is to facilitate client’s finding solutions to barriers to success in their career or personal life.

5. No Judgements

The world is filled with people who hold different opinions that you don’t agree with. But, in their view of the world, these opinions might be accurate.

6. Cultivate Curiosity

Curiosity fosters your ability to ask your clients questions that help them understand their feelings and how they impact their success.

7. Be Challenging

The very best coaches challenge their clients so they gain a deeper understanding of their issues. A coach challenges clients in a way that causes them to face the reality surrounding them with clarity, focus, and honesty.

8. Be Observant

Great coaches learn much by observing clients and sorting out the subtlest signs of worry, uncertainty, and trepidation.

9. Communicate With Clarity

To be an excellent coach you must communicate well on many levels such as body language, vocabulary, and more.

10. Stay Honest

Preserve your integrity. Your coaching relationship with clients depends on trust.

Life Coaching vs. Other Helping Professions

In the realm of personal development, life coaches, therapists, and counselors perform different roles, let’s dive into their differences.

Therapy and Mental Health Care

A therapist primarily focuses on healing and treating mental health conditions. They work to uncover and address past traumas and deep-rooted psychological issues, facilitating healing and recovery. Their approach often involves long-term engagement, delving into the complexities of emotional and mental health disorders.

Life coaches, in contrast, are like forward-looking guides. They concentrate on assisting individuals with personal development and goal achievement. Unlike therapists, they focus on the present and future, helping clients to set realistic goals, develop actionable plans, and cultivate a positive mindset to propel forward movement in life.

Counseling and Short-Term Support

Counselors provide immediate, short-term, focused support for specific issues. They are the first responders to mental and emotional distress, addressing immediate concerns such as stress, anxiety, or life transitions.

Counselors provide a supportive space to explore and understand these issues, offering practical tools and strategies to manage them effectively. Their role is often circumscribed to dealing with those who need to navigate through current challenges or crises.

This approach is different from life coaching, which is more about building and navigating towards a long-term vision, and from therapy, which often involves a deeper exploration of past experiences and long-standing patterns.

Benefits and Limitations of Life Coaching

Life coaching offers numerous benefits but also comes with its own set of limitations and boundaries.

Personal and Professional Growth

Life coaching promotes personal and professional development by helping clients set and achieve goals. In the personal realm, it can lead to increased self-awareness, improved personal relationships, and a stronger sense of life purpose and fulfillment. You can learn to identify and overcome personal barriers, enhancing your overall quality of life.

In the professional arena, life coaching helps clarify career aspirations, develop leadership skills, and navigate workplace challenges. It’s particularly beneficial for those facing career transitions or seeking to enhance their professional performance. By setting and achieving targeted goals, you can experience significant advancements in your career.

Recognizing the Boundaries

On the the other hand, life coaches must recognize the boundaries of their own coaching business, understanding that they are not a substitute for mental health treatment provided by a mental health professional or other licensed mental health professionals.

They should be aware of their limitations and know when to refer clients to mental health professionals for issues that are beyond their scope of practice. This ethical and professional understanding ensures that you receive the appropriate care and support for your specific needs, whether that’s navigating life’s challenges or addressing more complex mental health needs.

Finding the Right Life Coach for You

When looking for your own life coach, find one who aligns with your goals and can provide the necessary support and guidance. Finding the right one is crucial for personal growth and success.

And if you want to jump ahead on your personal development and learn how to achieve your goals & optimize your success, with or without a life coach, then download my free Personal Development Plan Template.

This will help you identify areas of potential in your life and map out your goals more efficiently so you can achieve greater success.

Do you know what a thought leader is? Chances are, you follow several thought leaders in your industry or in other spaces you’re interested in. But have you ever considered becoming a thought leader yourself?

There are a lot of benefits to being a thought leader. You can set your own schedule, and people will value your time. However, this career path isn’t for everyone — there are drawbacks to being a thought leader, too.

This blog post breaks down helpful information on thought leaders, including how to become one if you think this is the right move for you. Read on to learn everything you need to know about thought leadership. 

What Is Thought Leadership?

A thought leader is a person (or a company) who is recognized as an expert in a certain field. Thought leaders are the go-to people in their space.

If you are a thought leader, people are looking to you in every situation, wanting to hear your opinion and input.

Thought leaders have a powerful position in society.

They’ve worked hard to reach their position, going through years of education and experience to gain people’s trust. And because of their innovative ideas and positive relationship with others, they’re poised to make a major impact in their area.

You probably already follow multiple thought leaders, even though you might not know it. One good example is Neil Patel. Patel is well-known as a digital marketer and entrepreneur. He’s one of the top voices in the digital marketing space.

Other names you might recognize include customer experience and digital marketing specialist Jay Baer; author and businesswoman Arianna Huffington; and Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week. These are all good examples of thought leaders.

Benefits of Being A Thought Leader

There are a few key reasons why being a thought leader can help you (and your personal brand). Here are some of the benefits you’ll be able to enjoy once you are established as a thought leader in your industry.

Your Time Is Valued

When you’re seen as a thought leader, people will pay more for your time. You’ll be able to earn money just because people want to hear your thoughts or pick your brain on a certain topic. Making money just for your thoughts is a pretty easy way to earn some cash.

People respect the opinion of thought leaders. They’ll want to know what you have to say because you are seen as an expert. This is a good feeling — and it’s also a good feeling to generate income by sharing your opinion.

You Set Your Own Schedule

Successful thought leaders are often entrepreneurs. They act as their own bosses, with nobody else above them.

Among other benefits, this gives thought leaders major flexibility in their schedules. They have the freedom to live out the other aspects of their life — such as travel, family, or pursuing hobbies — however they want.

Once you’ve put in the work necessary to become a thought leader, you can essentially live your life as you please.

You’re the Expert

Thought leaders are seen as the smartest person in the room. People pay attention to thought leaders. They want to know what you have to say because they genuinely look up to you and value your words. You’ve proved that you know what you’re talking about. And now you get to enjoy the feeling of being the go-to expert.

Drawbacks to Being A Thought Leader

It’s true that being a thought leader has a lot of benefits. However, there are drawbacks to this career choice, too.

You’re Constantly in the Spotlight

As a thought leader, everything you say and do is being watched. This adds a lot of pressure to your life. If you slip up and say or do something that’s not in your best interest, this could reflect badly on you, potentially causing major ramifications. 

You Have to Stay Relevant

There are always going to be other thought leaders coming into your space. That’s why it’s so important for you to stay relevant — which can be a lot of work.

Thought leaders have to put in the effort to keep up with everything that’s going on. Thought leadership is a constant occupation. You’ll need to keep up with your audiences wherever they are, staying tuned into whatever subject you’re the expert on.

5 Ways to Help You Become A Thought Leader

Now that you know the pros and cons, you can make an informed decision on whether being a thought leader is the right choice for you. Ready to move forward? Here are five steps you can take to move toward becoming a thought leader in your field.

Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

The biggest thought leaders are also good presenters. They can communicate well, and they regularly give speeches to share what they know with other people. So if you want to become a thought leader, honing your public speaking skills is a great place to start.

Improve your public speaking by improving your confidence. If you don’t feel like you are a very confident speaker, try using visual aids to help get your point across. Present to a trusted audience first. And cut out filler words such as “so,” “like,” “um,” and “yeah.”

It’s also important to work on your stage presence. Engage your audience through a question or a joke. Use the entire stage, walking around so you can better speak to different areas of the audience. Your visual aids and how you dress will also make a difference in improving your stage presence. 

Ultimately, the best way to become a better speaker is to practice. Book as many gigs as you can. Speak to a variety of audiences in a variety of settings. The more you speak, the better of a speaker you will become. 

Write A Book

If you have a lot to say on a certain subject and you know what you’re talking about, write it down and share it with the world. Publishing a book takes elbow grease. But it’s an extremely helpful step toward becoming a respected thought leader.

The first step to publishing a book is to actually write the book. Think about a topic you’re passionate and knowledgeable about. Then create an outline and start writing. You can find online resources to guide you through this process if needed.

Once your manuscript is ready, you have two options for publishing: traditional publishing, or self-publishing.

There are pros and cons to both. Traditional publishing is more difficult to break into, but much of the process is then handled for you.

On the other hand, while anyone can self-publish a book, you’ll have to do more work to market your title.

Whichever route is best for you, publishing a book is a great way to become a thought leader.

Publish Quality Content

Publishing content on platforms like a blog, a YouTube channel, or a podcast is a great way to promote yourself. When you put out content in a certain industry, this flags you as an expert in that space, helping you niche down and speak to a specific group of people.

As you put out content, it’s important to make sure you’re intentional with the type of content you share. All of the content you put out should have a purpose behind it. What’s more, it should be high-quality, signaling that you’re a professional that people can trust.

Your content should go everywhere online — your website, your social media platforms, and any other channels you can think of. Create a long-form piece of content such as a blog post and then work off of that content, repurposing it as snippets for platforms that need short-form content instead.

Network

Attending networking opportunities can advance your thought leadership career. Whether in person or online, networking events are an excellent way to connect with people who might be able to make use of your thought leadership skills in the future. 

Mastermind groups are another good tip when it comes to how to become a thought leader. Masterminds are composed of people in the same space who meet to learn from each other and help each other grow. These groups are great ways to gain accountability, peer brainstorming, and continued learning opportunities — all of which will be helpful for thought leadership.

Reach Out to Journalists

Get your name out there by reaching out to journalists, and offer to add your expert opinion to stories. You can register with a platform like Connectively. These platforms match experts with reporters or writers looking for quotes. You can also reach out to reporters, journalists, or magazines individually, sending cold emails asking if they need an industry source. Being quoted as an expert is a major way to be viewed as a thought leader.

How to Become A Thought Leader

Becoming a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight. But if you foster your social media presence, publish high-quality content, and seek out speaking engagements to share your innovative ideas, more people will start to take note of your industry presence. Eventually, you’ll be poised as a thought leader ready to take the business world by storm.

Start working towards becoming a thought leader today by downloading my free guide to Getting Your Ideas Across!

Feeling appreciated fuels motivation, and the ability to make others feel as if their efforts and contributions are truly appreciated is a big part of what makes a good leader. Employee appreciation may seem easy enough, but the truth is that it’s often easier said than done.

The general consensus among employees tends to be that their bosses don’t truly appreciate them, and you’ll have to overcome that general consensus to prove otherwise.

To help you hone your leadership qualities so that your team will feel more appreciated and, in turn, be more motivated, consider implementing these five steps.

1. Genuinely Care

One of my favorite leadership quotes says:

“The best leaders have a high Consideration Factor. They really care about their people”.

You see, it’s not enough to compliment your employees when they do good – if it’s not genuine, they will see straight through it.

Before you can get to the point where your team feels appreciated, you have to get to the point where you really do appreciate them.

If you can learn to truly care for and appreciate your team – even if it takes time and practice – they will take notice.

2. Look at Your Leadership Style

There are a number of leadership styles that you may choose to employ, each one with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

However, some leadership styles lend themselves more to making your team feel appreciated than others.

One of my favorites is a leadership style called Golden Rule Management, which simply states that you should treat your employees the way you would want to be treated if you were in their position and they were in yours.

Undoubtedly, this will include giving genuine appreciation where appreciation is due.

3. Engage in Everyday Conversations

One of the most important things for leaders to keep in mind is the fact that the people under them are ordinary, everyday people.

They’re not robots built to perform a task, and each one of them has aspirations, passions, struggles, and more that exist outside of their day job.

One of the easiest ways to show you truly appreciate your employees is to engage with them in conversation about these topics.

Really, all you have to do is spend a little time talking to your employees the same way you would talk to a neighbor or any other acquaintance.

If you do this, you’ll show that you see your employees as more than people who are just there to perform a task.

4. Communicate Your Goals

Employees like to know that they are playing an important role in moving the company forward.

However, it’s hard for an employee to see how they are playing a role in the bigger picture if they have no idea what that bigger picture is.

This makes it important to clearly communicate goals to your employees and let them know how what they are doing is helping the company reach those goals.

That not only applies to the short-term goals you set for individual employees but also long-term goals that they may only play a part in helping reach.

The better your employees understand how their efforts are making a difference, the more appreciated they will feel.

5. Challenge Your Employees

Some leaders feel that intentionally challenging their employees will have a negative effect on their morale.

The reality is, though, that nothing could be further from the truth.

Few people enjoy doing mundane, mindless tasks, and the chances are that the people who work under you have worked for years in their career, furthered their education, and learned secondary skills, all so they are better equipped to tackle more and more complex challenges.

For those who have put in the work to better themselves, nothing is more rewarding than getting a chance to flex their capabilities by tackling a challenge, and you can guarantee that, if they are able to overcome the challenge you give them, they’ll come out of it feeling more appreciated than ever.

Are you setting the right example for your team? If you want to learn how to communicate with confidence with your team download my free handbook. 

One of the best leadership qualities that a manager can have is the ability to build up self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-respect in others. As a leader, your choices affect your entire team, especially your leadership mistakes.

However, we’ve all had bad bosses who do just the opposite. Today, I am going to identify 3 of the biggest leadership mistakes people make and provide some solutions.

Perhaps some of you have made some of these leadership mistakes in the past. The good news is, we can all learn what makes a good leader by taking a look at these missteps and correcting them.

By focusing on building self-esteem, you can help your team reach peak performance.

Each person has unlimited potential and can flourish in the right environment once that potential is tapped into. They have huge reservoirs of creativity that can be unleashed to solve problems, overcome obstacles and achieve business goals.

This includes you!

Raise Your Team’s Self-Esteem

The leader is the most important person in any organization.

The leader sets the tone by the way he talks, behaves, responds to others and treats people on a day to day basis.

People tend to “follow the leader” in that they imitate or mimic the behavior of the leader toward others. When you lead by example and treat other people with courtesy and respect, the rest of the group will follow.

A kind word from you to one of your staff members can make them feel happy all day. An angry word can make them feel frustrated, afraid and insecure for the rest of the day.  You must be careful.

There are specific behaviors that you can practice each day in any interaction to raise your team’s self-esteem.

When you deliberately take the time to build self-esteem in other people, you simultaneously eliminate the fears that hold people back from doing their best. A peak performance work environment, like flowers in the spring, blooms naturally around you.

Three Leadership Mistakes People Make

They Criticize Others

The first leadership mistake that managers make is that they criticize others.

Refuse to criticize anyone for any reason. When people make mistakes, you focus on the solution. Focus on what can be done rather than who did it and who is to blame.

This is the mark of the superior leader with admirable leadership questions

We all know that destructive criticism is harmful. Personally, we all hate to be the recipients of destructive criticism. It can make us angry for days, and even years.

Destructive criticism attacks our self-esteem, hurts our self-image and hinders us from reaching peak performance. It makes us angry and defensive.

If it is so hateful to us, why would we ever do it to someone else?

They Complain

The second leadership mistake people make is that they complain for any reason.

Complainers are always looking for something or someone to complain about.

They tend to associate with other complainers. They talk together at work and socialize after work. They go out for lunch and coffee breaks together.

Complaining becomes a natural way of life for them.

But there is a major problem with both criticizing and complaining. In both situations, you are positioning yourself as a victim. When you complain you actually weaken yourself.

You feel inferior and inadequate. You feel angry and resentful. You feel negative and unsure. Your level of self-esteem and self-respect will decline as you complain about anything to someone else.

If you are not happy about something, as the manager, you are entitled to bring it to the attention of the other person.

You are responsible for putting it on the table and discussing it. These are admirable leadership qualities that you must learn to develop.

If you are not happy with a behavior or an outcome, your job is to actively intervene to correct the situation. You can do this by being objective about the difference between what you expected and what has actually happened.

You then invite input on how you and the other person or persons can solve the problem or improve the situation. But you never complain.

They Condemn Others on Their Team

The third leadership mistake people make is condemning anyone for any reason, inside or outside of your company.

When you condemn other people, you demoralize the listener, and the self-esteem of the other person will be severely lowered.

When you condemn people outside the company, someone will eventually tell them what you have said. Usually, a distorted version is told and will come back to haunt you.

This seems to be a law of nature, and completely unavoidable.

These recommendations are equally as important when you are talking about competitors or customers in the marketplace. Never criticize your competitors.

Admire them if they are more successful in some areas than you are. Then, look for ways to produce even better products and services, and sell them even more effectively.

Never complain about people and problems outside your business. Instead, use that same amount of mental energy to find solutions. Resolve the problems that led to the complaints in the first place.

The Best Leaders Create a Positive Environment

When you develop positive leadership qualities, your general attitude diffuses a warm light and fills the entire workplace.

You create an environment where people are relaxed and feel good about themselves and their work. You will raise the self-esteem of everyone in the workplace.

Before we wrap up, I’d like to leave you with a thought to share with you friends and followers:

“Empower others to perform at their best by continually reminding them how good they are and how much you believe in them.”

Now I’d love to hear from you, so my question today is: Have you ever had a boss that made these mistakes? Have you ever made them as a leader?
Leave a comment below, and I’ll be sure to follow up with you

Find out your areas of strength and how to leverage them to increase the success of your team. Take my “Leadership Questionnaire” to create a company your customer will value and recommend to others.

One of my students recently asked me, “How can I be a confident leader in uncertain situations? Does it come from your personality or is it learned?”

My simple answer to that is…

Yes. Having certain personality traits does help your self-confidence. But, self-confidence is a habit that can be learned.

Maintaining your self-confidence as a leader in unsure or defensive situations does not have to be difficult. You just have to know how to go about the situation in the right way. What makes a good leader is being confident and the practicing the right habits.

High Self-Esteem is Essential

The first habit you should practice to maintain an unshakeable self-confidence in any situation is having great self-esteem.

The best definition I’ve heard of self-esteem is, “how much you like yourself.”

When you like and respect yourself, you always perform and behave better than if you did not.

The more you like yourself, the more confidence you have. The more you like yourself, and believe in yourself, the more efficient and effective you are in each area of your life.

Self-esteem is the key to handling yourself the best way possible as both an individual and a leader.

Live Life Consistent With Your Values

Living your life consistent with your deepest values is essential for high self-esteem.

People who are clear about what they believe in and value, and who refuse to compromise their values, like and respect themselves. People who are unclear about what is really important to them have a much harder time.

The “Law of Reversibility,” says that feelings and actions interact with each other. If you feel a certain way, you will act in a manner consistent with what you’re feeling. However, the reverse is also true.

If you act in a certain way, your actions will create within you the feelings that are consistent with them.

This means that when you act as if your time is extremely valuable, you feel like a more valuable and important person.

Practice Courageous Leadership

Another way to build up self-confidence for handling any situation is to continuously practice courageous leadership qualities.

All of life is a risk of some kind.

Whenever you engage in any action where the outcome is uncertain, for any reason, you are taking a risk.

You take a small risk when you drive to work or walk across the street. You take a larger risk when you start a business or invest a sum of money.

You take a risk whenever you venture into the unknown. Your possibilities and probabilities cannot be determined to an exact degree.

The issue, then, is not whether you take risks. The issue is how skillful you are in taking them. Being confident and courageous in taking the right risks for the right reasons puts you in pursuit of the right goals or objectives.

Take Intelligent Risks

The goal is to become better at analyzing and assessing risk, and then avoiding as much of the risk as possible. Once you are, the more competent and capable you will become at maintaining your self-confidence in uncertain situations.

One of the very best ways to develop your ability to take intelligent risks is to consciously and deliberately do the things you fear, one step at a time.

You don’t have to leap out of an airplane without a parachute. Simply practice resisting your natural tendency to slip into a comfort zone of complacency and low performance.

Take any fear that you may be experiencing and treat it as a challenge or as an opportunity to grow and to become a better person. Face the fear, control the fear, master the fear, and continue to move forward regardless of the fear.

This is the mark of a confident and fearless leader.

Admit to Your Shortcomings

Lastly, being a self-confident leader doesn’t mean you’re always right or even have to be right in the end.

Leaders need to be courageous, but they also need to be open to the idea that they could be wrong. There are many leaders who eventually fail because they refuse to question their own assumptions or conclusions.

Don’t get caught up in your ego.

It makes you a much more courageous and confident leader when you admit to your shortcomings. If you made a mistake or a bad decision, be honest with yourself and with others to admit your wrong doings.

There’s a difference between being confident and blind.

Maybe you are not wrong. Opening yourself up to that possibility, though, is going to make you a more confident leader. It will open your mind to new ideas or new thinking or new solutions to the uncertain situation.

Grow Through the Insecurities

Remember, new opportunities and experiences can be just as exciting as they are scary. Growing through the insecurities is what shapes you into a confident leader. You just have to continue practicing the right habits.

Now I’d love to hear from you, so my question today is: What is one habit you will practice to build your leadership skills? Leave a comment below, and I’ll be sure to follow up with you.

All strong achievers have one characteristic overwhelmingly in common: they are self-confident. Discover your current level of self-confidence and how to take action toward building greater confidence in yourself by downloading my free “Self-Confidence Assessment” today.

Public speaking is the most effective way to share your ideas with the world. It takes confidence, passion, and authenticity to share a message that influences and resonates with an audience.

How does one attract eager audiences around the world?

It starts with the commitment to make as many speaking engagements as you possibly can. Get your name out there.

In addition, I have compiled a few other tips to work your way to an international speaking career with paid gigs around the world.

Become Knowledgeable in One Specific Subject

I have spoken in over 70 countries around the world in the last 30 years. I have been translated by about 50 different professional interpreters. Because of all that, I have been titled the most prolific speaker in the history of the world.

When I started off in the first 10-15 years, I was focused in North America.

The first thing you want to do is start where you are.

Pick a subject that you really care about and that you think is important for people to know about. Become very knowledgeable in that subject.

Then, begin to offer speeches or small workshops to people within your circle, and at no charge.

Build Up Your Experience and Credibility

In my early beginnings, I would often ask if I could speak for free or at minimum cost to get experience and credibility. Sometimes if people don’t know you or your reputation, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up.

There is a basic rule that says, “Before you get paid for speaking, you have to give 300 free talks.”

It may actually take you 100 or 500. But the point is, keep offering free talks until somebody comes up and asks, “How much would you charge to give that talk to my people or my company?”

Professional motivational speakers have one central focus: We’re always thinking in terms of how to get more speaking engagements.

Focus on One Country Outside of the U.S.

Once I established myself in North America, I made a bridge to Germany. It was the starting point to my speaking internationally.

That brings me to my next point – put your stake in the ground of a country outside of the U.S. to kick off your international speaking career.

The most powerful word in getting speaking engagements is “Ask.”

Always Ask for Opportunities

The future belongs to people who confidently ask for what they want. Especially those that ask to speak to an international company or organization.

You can call them up and explain that you specialize in a subject and that you’d love to speak to their organization.

Ask them for the opportunity. Ask them for more information. Ask them if they use speakers and when they will be using a speaker again.

The more you ask, the more answers you get. And eventually, the more you will get asked to speak for them.

Learn the Language

Next, you should learn their language.

After my first few gigs in Germany, I immediately started taking German classes and tutoring. It was an opportunity to develop a tremendous business around my seminars, programs, and books.

Not surprisingly, I ended up booking 5-15 talks every year in Germany. Today, I can speak almost fluent German.

Pick a Country that is a Global Epicenter

Make sure you pick a country that is a global epicenter.

Germany is an epicenter in Europe. This means people from other countries would travel to see my speaking engagements.

Due to my success in Germany, I began speaking in Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Then through all of Serbia, then Italy, and people began to book me into the Middle East and Nordic countries.

Get to Know Your Audience

85% or more of all speakers are hired because someone else recommended them.

Someone who heard them speak said, “This is a great speaker.” The more people who say that you did a great job when you spoke somewhere else, the faster and easier it is for them to hire you.

For this reason, be sure to stay around after you’ve given a speech or talk to network with your audience.

Offer to speak again to others, maybe even on different subjects.

It’s amazing how much business comes when you stay around, have a drink, and talk to people. You are more likely to have people ask for you to come and speak to their organization.

Start Today

That’s it! That is how to get paid to speak around the world. Remember to always ask; for opportunities, for information, or for recommendations. One good recommendation can jumpstart your international speaking career.

For a more in-depth guide to the speaking industry, checkout my Ultimate List of Public Speaking Tips.

“The reason why successful people are successful in speaking is because they have a burning message that they want to share, that people can really benefit from.”

Do you have a burning message to share with others, but you aren’t sure how to get speaking gigs, or get your name out there?

Click the button to download my FREE ebook, Your Blueprint To Public Speaking.

The job of the leader is to get things done by leading others to success. It is important to develop leadership styles that suit different situations. The style used depends on the needs of the team.

Great leaders choose leadership styles based on the circumstances and the end goal. Here are the 5 leadership styles you should develop to inspire your team to deliver their peak performance.

Leadership Style 1: The Structural Leader

The first leadership style is Structural.

Everyone knows exactly what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and to what standard. You accept complete responsibility for your staff. You choose them, you assign them, and you manage them with the expectation of excellence.

This style allows you to make quick decisions without the input or challenge of others.

The structural leadership style can allow for more transactional activities to occur. For example, rewarding or punishing team members based on their performance of your goals.

Use this style when your team is already motivated and are experts who need little direction.

However, using this style does not leave much room for flexibility. Using it too much or on a team that isn’t already motivated can lead to them to feeling overwhelmed or stifle innovation.

Leadership Style 2: The Participative Leader

The next leadership style is Participative.

You make your team feel that you really care about them by putting them first.

You practice the “Friendship Factor” with them, which is made up of three components: time, care, and respect.

You treat them with the same respect, patience, and understanding.  The same way you would treat a family member or friend. You express care and concern for them and their problems. This fosters a feeling of bonding, belonging, and ownership to the organization.

This style boosts your team’s morale by allowing them to take part in reaching a consensus on decisions and goals. Their opinions and voices feel heard, which will help them buy into changes easier. It also works best when you need fresh ideas or new perspectives.

Use this style during stressful times or when trust needs to be built. Excessive reliance on praise can cause mediocre performance and a lack of clear, strong direction for the company.

Leadership Style 3: The Servant-Leader

The third leadership style is Servant.

This makes the Participative style more one-sided, where you see your job as a means to serve your team just as they are there to serve you and the company.

You practice the Golden Rule — you manage other people the way you would like to be managed. You ensure everyone understands their job fully and has all the tools they need.

If they don’t, you offer plenty of learning, training, and improvement opportunities.

This style elicits peak performance because your employees are learning vital skills that will both improve their performance and character. Their participation, ideas, and feedback truly feel like they matter.

Use this style with a diverse team, where personalization in management is required for each member. Servant leadership is a great style to start off with to gain a great deal of respect, trust, and loyalty. The style also builds a strong culture since it tailors to the team’s needs.

But if you don’t balance this style very well, this could lead to your team fully running the show.  It could create a lack of authority and limit direction and vision.

Leadership Style 4: The Freedom-Thinking Leader

The next leadership style is Freedom.

You give your people the freedom to perform. Once you assign a task, you try to stay out of the way only to comment and help when needed.

You take on more of an authoritative role by pointing the team towards a vision or goal. However, similar to the Servant style, you leave the means up to each member.

This style inspires an entrepreneurial spirit with a clear goal in your team members. Especially if they need a new vision due to changes within the company.

Use this style when you have tremendous expertise and have a team of highly experienced employees who don’t require a lot of supervision.

The freedom style won’t work best when your team members are better experts than you or need more supervision. This can lead to poor production, lack of regular feedback, and lack of control.

Leadership Style 5: The Transformational Leader

The last leadership style is Transformational.

This one is my personal favorite. Transformational leaders affect people’s emotions by painting a big, exciting picture of the future.

You transform people by tapping into their hopes, dreams, and ideals. You motivate employees by motivating yourself. You enhance productivity through high transparency and communication.

This style uses vision and the future to get your team excited and committed to a project. It doesn’t only require the ownership of your team to accomplish goals, it also requires your involvement as a leader. You lead by example by being excited and committing yourself to everything you say and do.

Use this style to focus on building lasting personal strengths. These strengths make your teammates more successful and confident in you, themselves, and the company.

Unless you lack proficiency or your team is defiant and unwilling to change or learn, this style will inspire work, alleviate fears, and help you overcome obstacles together.

Use These Styles to Bring Your Team to Success

And there you have it, in summary— the 5 different leadership styles.

To recap…

These are the five leadership styles:

1. The Structural Leader
2. The Participative Leader
3. The Servant-Leader
4. The Freedom-Thinking Leader
5. The Transformational Leader

Remember, the process of developing valuable leadership qualities is simple, but not easy. Nothing worthwhile is easy.

The good news is that by developing these styles, you will notice a change in your employees’ work. The 5 styles will bring your team to great success, increase productivity, and inspire peak performance.

Before we wrap up, I’d like to leave you with a thought to share with you friends and followers: “Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.”

Now I’d love to hear from you, so my question today is: What is one skill you use to be an effective leader?

Leave a comment below, and I’ll be sure to follow up with you.

What kind of leader are you? Download my free “Leadership Questionnaire” PDF to find out how to effectively lead your business and team to success.

Most people have a general idea about what they want for their lives. The capacity to relay that vision to others is the challenge. This is something that sets apart a leader from the rest.

The main quality that all leaders share is that they have a clear and exciting vision for the future, and the ability to communicate that vision.

Only a leader can think about the future and plan for the future each day.

Communicate Your Vision

Excellent leaders take the time to think through and develop a clear picture of how life will look in one, three and five-year increments.

Leaders have the ability to communicate this vision in such a way that others “buy in.” Eventually, others see this vision as belonging to them.

Motivate People to Give Their Best

It is the vision of the future possibilities, of what can be, that arouses emotion and motivates people to give their best.

The most powerful vision is always qualitative, aimed at and described in terms of values and mission. It is not a quantitative vision, described in terms of money and numbers.

Money is Important

Of course, money is important. The decision and commitment to “be the best in the business,” though, is far more exciting.

Keep Your Cool

Another key to leadership success is for you to “keep your cool.”

A study at Stanford Business School examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions, especially the position of Chief Executive Officer. The study concluded that there are two important qualities required for great success.

First, the ability to put together and function as part of a team.
All work is ultimately done by teams. A manager’s output is the output of the team. The ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and finally, get the job done, is central to success in management.

Practice Patience Under Pressure

The second leadership quality required for rapid promotion is the ability to function well under pressure, especially in a crisis.

Keeping your cool in a crisis means to practice patience and self-control under difficult or disappointing circumstances.

All Eyes On You

The character and quality of a leader are often demonstrated in these critical moments under fire. In these moments everyone is watching, observing and taking notes.

Rudyard Kipling once said, “If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that’s in it.”

Your job as a leader is to have a clear vision of where you want to go. Keep your cool when things go wrong, as they surely will.

Create Your Own Dream Future Board

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, project forward 3-5 years and imagine your ideal future vision. What does it look like? What steps can you take right now to begin turning your future vision into your current reality?

A great tool to help visualize your future and focus on your goals is a vision board.

Also known as a dream board, the concept involves placing images of your ideal life, belongings, goals and affirmations onto a board or book.

Once created, you should look at it as often as possible to activate your reticular activating system. Notice the resources and opportunities necessary to make your dreams become part of your reality.

Doing so will also activate the Law of Attraction!

Second, resolve in advance that, no matter what happens, you will remain calm and cool. You will not become upset or angry. You will take a deep breath and focus on the solution rather than on the problem.

Leave a comment below stating one of your future goals and I’ll be sure to follow up with you!

Great leaders know how to think effectively, make good decisions, and take purposeful action by developing good habits. Download my free report on “The Power of Habit” and learn how today.