Top 10 Qualities That Make a Great Leader - part 2 of 2

By Tanya Prive

Commitment

If you expect your team to work hard and produce quality content, you’re going to need to lead by example. There is no greater motivation than seeing the boss down in the trenches working alongside everyone else, showing that hard work is being done on every level. By proving your commitment to the brand and your role, you will not only earn the respect of your team, but will also instill that same hardworking energy among your staff. It’s important to show your commitment not only to the work at hand, but also to your promises. If you pledged to host a holiday party, or uphold summer Fridays, keep your word. You want to create a reputation for not just working hard, but also be known as a fair leader. Once you have gained the respect of your team, they are more likely to deliver the peak amount of quality work possible.

You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success of the company, and keep the energy levels up. Whether that means providing snacks, coffee, relationship advice, or even just an occasional beer in the office, remember that everyone on your team is a person. Keep the office mood a fine balance between productivity and playfulness.

If your team is feeling happy and upbeat, chances are they won’t mind staying that extra hour to finish a report, or devoting their best work to the brand.

Creativity

Some decisions will not always be so clear-cut. You may be forced at times to deviate from your set course and make an on the fly decision. This is where your creativity will prove to be vital. It is during these critical situations that your team will look to you for guidance and you may be forced to make a quick decision. As a leader, it’s important to learn to think outside the box and to choose which of two bad choices, is the best option. Don’t immediately choose the first or easiest possibility; sometimes it’s best to give these issues some thought, and even turn to your team for guidance. By utilizing all possible options before making a rash decision, you can typically reach the end conclusion you were aiming for.

Intuition

When leading a team through uncharted waters, there is no roadmap on what to do. Everything is uncertain, and the higher the risk, the higher the pressure. That is where your natural intuition has to kick in. Guiding your team through the process of your day-to-day tasks can be honed down to a science. But when something unexpected occurs, or you are thrown into a new scenario, your team will look to you for guidance. Drawing on past experience is a good reflex, as is reaching out to your mentors for support. Eventually though, the tough decisions will be up to you to decide and you will need to depend on your gut instinct for answers. Learning to trust yourself is as important as your team learning to trust you.

Ability to Inspire

Creating a business often involves a bit of forecasting. Especially in the beginning stages of a startup, inspiring your team to see the vision of the successes to come is vital. Make your team feel invested in the accomplishments of the company. Whether everyone owns a piece of equity, or you operate on a bonus system, generating enthusiasm for the hard work you are all putting in is so important. Being able to inspire your team is great for focusing on the future goals, but it is also important for the current issues. When you are all mired deep in work, morale is low, and energy levels are fading, recognize that everyone needs a break now and then. Acknowledge the work that everyone has dedicated and commend the team on each of their efforts. It is your job to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the hard work.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

THE SEVEN POWERS

Dr John Demartini discusses the seven areas that people and nations need to fulfill in order to succeed and avoid being over-powered by others.

There are seven areas of life that we are here to fulfill:
•    Our spiritual mission;
•    Our mental genius/creativity;
•    Our vocational success, achievement, service;
•    Our financial freedom/independence;
•    Our family love and intimacy and continuance of procreation;
•    Our social influence and leadership; and
•    Our physical health, stamina, strength and well-being.

Any of these seven areas that we as individuals don’t empower will become overpowered by others. So any area of life that we don’t empower, somebody else will overpower. We are not victims of their over-empowerment, we are simply not empowered and it is their over-powerment that in turn initiates and catalyzes our drive for inner-empowerment.

I have yet to meet anyone who did not want to expand their powers in each of these areas. No one gets up and honestly says that they want to shrink in power.

As Nietzsche proclaimed, we all have the will to power. Just as we as individuals have these yearnings for these powers, so do collective societies and nations. But now their descriptions also have to expand. Our individual spiritual mission now becomes the dominant, spiritual/religious ideologies of a nation. Our mental genius becomes our educational system. Our goals for achievement and success become our GDP, our corporate entrepreneurial and national business development. Our economics become the wealth of our nation, income per capita, again the stability of our national economics and the assets. Our family stability is our marriage and divorce ratios and our fertility / mortality rates. Our social influence is our influence on other nations around the world and our leaderships and our physical health and wellbeing becomes our healthcare systems, policing systems and military strength. 

Now if a nation does not empower any of theseseven areas, that area can be overcome and overpowered by other nations or groups. This applies to nations just as it applies to individuals. The will to power and empowerment, although assumed to be about race, creed, colour, age or sex isn’t in fact limited by these factors. There is always somebody from each race, creed, colour, age or sex that empowers their lives and is not overpowered. 

It’s all about empowering. 

Empower your life

The first step in empowering each of these areas is education. Success leaves clues and those individuals as well as those nations that have risen in power need to follow these clues. Awakening to and owning these traits and, developing and furthering these traits, and awakening these traits in each of the seven areas of life can both empower individuals and nations. 

If we blame outer circumstances for why we are not empowered, we will hinder our empowerment, but if we start acting and doing the things that are proven to empower, we rise in power. Instead of having individuals or nations sitting in the shadows of other individuals or other nations, it’s wise for individuals and nations to recognise that nothing is missing in them,particularly in their areas of competitive advantage and that they are just not acknowledging, awakening or honouring the powers they have. Once they awaken these powers and recognise them, through awareness and education, each competitive advantage that each individual or nation has, can shine.

If we as individuals and nations concentrate on what we do have, and recognise our power and use it wisely, we will not become overpowered. 

Empowerment is not provided from the outside; empowerment comes from within. The moment the individual or nation realises that nothing is missing inside them and they value themselves, so does the world. Empowerment is not what corrupts, it’s the fear of being overpowered that corrupts. 

The anticipation of loss of power corrupts, not the gain of power.

Source: https://drdemartini.com/writings_and_insights/the_seven_powers#content_top