Traits of Great Leaders

Ever wondered what truly makes a leader great beyond the usual credentials? Join me as I promise to reveal the remarkable traits that define transformative leadership. Through captivating anecdotes and reflections, I unravel how authenticity, truthfulness, and compassion can powerfully inspire and foster growth in those we lead. Imagine a leadership style where trust and integrity are non-negotiable, while humility keeps us grounded and approachable. We'll explore the importance of nurturing others, setting realistic expectations, and having a visionary outlook that sees beyond the present. Discover how embracing forgiveness and learning from mistakes can create a thriving culture of understanding and progress.

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Traits of a Great Leader
• 8:26 Leadership Reflection and Appreciation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.

Speaker 2: 0:35

Greetings and salutations. This is Lyndon Wolfe, and you have happened upon my audio memoir here for the Mem memories. I say this often but I'll say it again it's not a podcast. It's to share things about who I am, what I've experienced, my opinions, my thoughts in general with people that know and love me Again, more people know me than love me, but I want to leave some kind of memoir behind and people probably wouldn't read what I write, but maybe they'll listen to it in really small, concise excerpts. Glad you joined. I hope you come back and come back often.

Speaker 2: 1:16

We're going to talk about leadership today. We're going to talk about the traits of a great leader. I was recently asked to speak to a high school class on the subject of leadership, even though my speaking on the subject is not unusual, including related professional organizations and even podcasts, asking what credentials I have in this space is a fair question. The irony is that I consider humility to be a key trait of great leaders, so I'm suggesting this brief bio is purely academic protocol. Well beyond my 40-year-plus managerial career, the last 12 of which have been at an executive level, I currently lead a team of 12 domestically spread across the United States. Indirectly, another group is located across the globe in six countries other than the US, including Mexico, south Africa, canada, pakistan, india and the Philippines. I call our conference calls the United Nations. Call Staffing World, an industry professional organization. Staffing World, an industry professional organization, named me one of the 100 global leaders to watch in the $1.5 trillion staffing industry in 2022. My team steward about $100 million in revenue and manage six separate products. Academically, I have a MicroMasters in Leadership from the University of Queensland in Australia, a certificate from Harvard in Remote Leadership. In total, I can put 21 letters behind my name, but that would be way too exhausting to type.

Speaker 2: 3:00

So what are my thoughts on my leadership credentials? Meaningless hogwash. Let me say that again with emphasis Meaningless hogwash. You can't capture leadership with these kinds of credentials alone. I judge my leadership skills based upon what I'm doing with my current team and whether or not I have the intangibles or personality traits of a great leader. Whether or not I have the intangibles or personality traits of a great leader. If I exhibit these traits, I will invariably be a worthy leader.

Speaker 2: 3:31

What do I consider to be those traits? Well, there it goes Authentic. One of the greatest gifts God gave you is that you are unique. Don't camouflage or ignore it. Embrace it, even flaunt it. Nobody falls a plastic, fake, disingenuous suit. Ken and Barbie make great and profitable, by the way, toys, but do you buy into that persona when you choose to wholeheartedly submit to someone's leadership? I think not. Admit to someone's leadership, I think not Truthful.

Speaker 2: 4:10

The most loving and helpful thing you can do, even when it stings, is to tell the truth. Trust is the glue that binds all relationships and truth is the epoxy. People only follow those who demonstrate integrity of word and way. If your words can't be trusted, even when it's uncomfortable and, but you know, simultaneously compassionate, then there is little to bind us to the kinds of followers that we need, and that's critical. We need to be great leaders.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Humble Arrogance is the ultimate turnoff. Although tech masterminds and politicians tend to have massive egos, leading everyday people requires that we don't have an inflated view of ourselves. Well-motivated and loyal types of followers aren't drawn to a leader who has his portrait as the backdrop on his mobile phone and video conference setup. Compassionate, truly, genuinely caring about the circumstances and condition of others. Be sensitive without losing your common sense. Seek to move people from victims to victors, but realize, like all of fallen humanity. We, as leaders, are just as prone to trials, tribulations and poor circumstances as those we lead. Be gracious as you would want to receive grace, nurturing, relish, savor and rejoice in people growing, developing and thriving. Pour into others as your mentors have poured into you. No greater joy can be found for a true leader than to see people grow.

Speaker 2: 5:53

The best leaders I've ever submitted and committed to never portrayed themselves as leaders, but someone wanting me and my team to reach our full potential. No elevated chest thumping, but an on-my-level and in-my-world helping-me-get-better attitude. That kind of posture Reasonable Without lowering the bar of excellence and continuous improvement. No one wants a leader who demands the unrealistic. Stretch people, but don't put them on a torture rack and shackle their motivation to reach their potential. If you expect people to climb Mount Everest on their lunch break and come back reinvigorated for peak performance, I suggest that you should be the follower and they should be the leader.

Speaker 2: 6:40

Visionary, strategically, guide people on a hopeful and achievable path from where they are to where they can and should be. Draw the outline of the journey's possibilities, but let them fill in the picture. Help them see possibilities more than problems, the future more than the past or present. Someone who shows me is a visionary leader that the simple truth that looking ahead to where you want to go as you walk is much preferred to looking down and losing your way, forgetting graciously but practically allowing people to make mistakes and then patiently wait for them to tell you what they've done, why they did it and what they learned. Never punish contrition and repentance. God doesn't, and neither should we. Who wants to follow the leadership of an executioner? No, we want the freedom to work without a foreboding of condemnation or a censorious environment.

Speaker 2: 7:45

Simply said, who we are more determines our leadership gifts than what we are. The internal always shapes the external. In leadership, character is what creates competency. Do you want to be a great leader? Look within. Do you have these traits or other traits that you've identified? Are you looking for a great leader? Look for the intangibles. Throw away the resume and explore who they are. In my opinion, if you find the traits I've listed, after 60 plus years of leading and being led, I think you have what you're looking for. This is Lyndon Wolfe, and you visited here for the memories. So glad you did, and I pray that, as we have talked about leadership and being led, that there is that kind of leader in your life, or you can look back and see the kind of leadership that helped shape and mold you into the person you are and that you want to become that type of leader so that others can benefit from not only you but all those that have poured into you. God bless.

Speaker 1: 9:00

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