Defining a Good Leader

This past summer I gave a keynote address on leadership to a large group of mayors and city managers. Halfway through the program, I put them in groups of three or four and asked them all to come up with the five most important character qualities of a leader that they would follow anywhere.

One by one each group read out loud the first item on the list. "Someone who's honest." "A leader who can be trusted." "Tells the truth." "Follows their conscience." "Someone I know ain't going to speak with a forked tongue." "Integrity." This went on and on in different variations, but the point was clear. People want to follow those with some sort of a commitment to a belief system of ethics. Contrast this with what you read about in the Wall Street Journal everyday. CEO's proclaiming innocence and then getting found out through plea deals of former subordinate employees. There is indeed a crisis of leadership within our society.
On my first day as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, I learned what are known as the "Five Basic Responses." This is all you are allowed to say when an upperclassman addresses you during your first arduous year of structured adversity, known as "plebe year."

"Yes, sir/ma'am."
"No, sir.."

"Aye aye, sir."

"I'll find out, sir." --used if they ask you something you don't know the answer to.

And the final one, "No excuse, sir." This response was given to an upperclassman when they asked why you didn't clean your room that day. You would like to tell them that you didn't have time because you spent all night studying your differential equations class because if you fail this exam, you'll get kicked out of the Academy. But you suck it up, and take the hit. "No excuse, sir!" you say, confidently accepting full responsibility for your inaction to clean your room.

This environment of radically brutal personal accountability teaches the future leaders of the fleet one of the critical lessons of leadership that most people would rather not learn: you are completely responsible for all that happens on your watch. You offer up no excuse, but take full responsibility for everything that happens while you are in charge. It’s what your followers are craving. The only way you can lead and become worthy of having followers is to become "followable." By taking on the character qualities of leadership authenticity, you will have real followers who will seek to you for guidance, encouragement, leadership, and real substance worth following.

Take these three action steps in your own evaluation of your leadership skills:

1. How do I see myself as a leader? Write in your journal a description of where you are currently in your leadership skills, and where you see yourself eventually growing. Write as descriptively as possible.
2. Ask yourself this question: What action steps do I need to take to become a leader worthy of followers?

3. Commit to a reading program of books on leadership. Visit your local bookstore and you'll see at least a hundred choices for you. Commit to reading only two pages a day.
Bonus tip: Have a weekly book review of books on leadership by your team. Read a chapter each week, and assign a verbal book report for each chapter by one of your teammates, rotating chapters among teammates. Go through a chapter each week and make it a fun exercise. Hold your discussion meetings during lunchtime on Fridays, and order pizza to make it fun.

By studying what leadership is and how you can implement it into your life, you will eventually become a leader who anyone would consider followable.

Scott Love shows managers and sales people how to manage their risk and win the game of business. He is a professional speaker and can be reached at 828-225-7700 or on his website at www.nolimitachievement.com