Ten Hallmarks of

Great Leadership

To Be
World
Class
The Twin Peaks of
“Competitive Greatness”
and “Excellence in
Character”

by Steve Szekely

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc.

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

To Be World Class
The Twin Peaks of “Competitive Greatness”
and “Excellence in Character”

1. Be Morally Strong (the Compass)

2. Care and Serve (the Servant)

3. Be Sensitive to Human Need (the Heart)

4. Provide Vision and Hope (the Beacon)

5. Get Them to Believe in Themselves (the Rock)

6. Infuse Energy and Passion (the Fuel)

7. Create! (the Springboard)

8. Challenge and Courage! (The Encourager)

9. Get Out in Front!! (the Leader)

10. Grow Other Leaders (the Builder)

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

I love Leadership because I love Life, and I love good people.

I love to pour myself into the good people around me.
F
I love to build good people. Especially in competence,
confidence, and most importantly, character. I love to help
good people do great things.
F
I love Life because I love learning . . . I love to think, feel,
believe, search, discover, grow and serve.
F
I love life because I want to make a difference for good.
F
To be a good leader, I feel you must first love life and people,
Because this comes from the heart.
F
And true Leadership comes from the heart.

Life is Leadership, and Leadership starts within.

Let these words be my guide; Faith, Integrity,

Service, Leadership, and Heart

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The First Hallmark of Great Leadership

Be Morally Strong
(The Compass)
Hold for yourself only the highest and most unwavering standards of morality and
ethics. Be a person of principle, and show in deed that you are self disciplined enough
to live by those principles, strongly and without compromise. Know yourself to the
extent that you have identified those non-negotiable principles that you must live by,
and in fact, are willing to fight for. Count the cost of your convictions and be courageous
when the time may come to pay the price, take the risk, or make the sacrifice to stay
true. Know your own ‘Code of Honor’. Live it consistently. One can never take a vacation
from integrity.

It takes years to build and earn, but only moments to destroy. Live continuously
by the values of trust and truth, honor and honesty, respect and responsibility,
dignity and discipline, and especially kindness and compassion.
Demonstrate integrity in all your actions. Let your fairness, openness, authentic
sincerity, and honesty be a constant reflection of your integrity.
Often engage in thoughtful introspection where you take stock of yourself
and ask, “How can I become a person of better character?” Never stagnate!
Carve the rock of your character from the stone of life. Always strive to be
a better and more complete person, especially in value and goodness. And
remember, we improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. Our fiercest
battles are from within. By pushing ourselves and denying ourselves we
forge our mettle. There must be these contests, and you must win. The
battle, the adversity, makes us stronger and wiser, filling our cup so we can
later pour into the cups of others. The value in who we are today was not
forged by the easy times, but by the times of trial we battled and overcame.
It’s the battle scars that make us and define us. The most worthy battles are
those that test our convictions of morality and integrity, those in which we
stay true to ourselves and what’s right, and those in which we earn the trust
of the good people around us.
Living by Godly principles will build deep and solid strength of character.
It also will build wisdom, because real wisdom is based on knowing right
from wrong, living by conscience, and learning from the hard won battles of
conscience. This too, is the true spring of self-confidence.
Finally, remember that all principles of morality and ethics emanate from
a commitment to protect the dignity of the individual, abide by the
transcending values of trust and truth, and respect all those resources which
sustain life and freedom.
Robert E. Lee said of value and character that ‘a man’s passions forge his
fetters’, so let us choose our passions carefully and be wary of what we forge
that it may be of good and lasting value.
Lee also reminds us that it is easier to make our wishes conform to our means
than to make our means conform to our wishes, for this too is a discipline of
integrity. And integrity is a matter of discipline.
Remember that ‘Trust’ is all transcending and undergirds all principles of
morality. Build and nurture it at all times in all your deeds and words.
Moral Integrity also means having the discipline to make commitments, and
the discipline to keep commitments. Our word is our bond. Never make a
promise you know you cannot keep.
And for those promises you do make, stay honest to them and if the
unforeseen occurs that prevents you from keeping your promise, then
ensure you get back to whom you made your promise before its too late.
Our word is our bond. Its more precious than gold, our honor is our most
valuable possession. This is corollary to the two most worthwhile battles in
life, which are, first, to stay true to yourself and your God, and what is right,
and second, to earn the trust and respect of the good people around you.
Good leaders fight these battles. A testimony of a good leader is his enemies.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “Judge me by my enemies.” From fighting our
battles of integrity, we will make enemies along the way. If we didn’t make
enemies, that would mean we had no backbone and never fought the good
battles to stand up for right.
Integrity is not just demonstrated in fair weather, but tried and proven in
adversity and times of battle against temptation and compromise. When
a leader is seen on these battlefields, where he is most scrutinized, and he
remains resolute to what is right and true, it will engender the trust, respect,
and loyalty of the good people whom he leads.
The foundation of the leadership pyramid includes common values that
all can align with, and that can serve as the tie that binds. It gives hidden
reserves of strength. The leader’s example of integrity and values is the
cornerstone of this foundation.
The only integrity is a true integrity, it cannot be insincere or feigned.
Sincerity is one thing that people can detect. The thing about integrity, and
wisdom too for that matter, is that when it is real, it is humble. Integrity is the
only thing that defines us, the only thing that matters, the only thing that no
one can take away.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you do not have integrity,
nothing else matters. No one will be a loyal follower of a leader who is without
integrity. No one will follow a leader who is not clear and consistent with
what he believes. Trust and honor is core to the heart, and great leadership
comes from the heart. F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Second Hallmark of Great Leadership

Be a Servant - Care
(The Servant)

It’s all about heart! Start from the heart, aim for the heart.

First, let go of your ego. Be teachable. Be humble. Be human. Be accessible and approachable. Realize that a leader is
really a servant. Service before self. Duty before self. Care. Heart!

Pour yourself into your team. Walk in their moccasins. Follow them before you lead them. Give them yourself.

Because people look up to their leader, the leader has a heavy responsibility not have to serve. That’s when it comes from the heart. As true leading
to provide the right kind of example. An example of integrity, yes, but means that people follow even when they do not have to. They follow
also of servanthood and care. They won’t care how much you know the leader because they do it out of trust.
until they know how much you care. Teammates on great teams care
for each other, and that is a reflection of leadership. The leader’s actions Another part of servanthood is the duty to serve the team as a whole.
can significantly impact the values and attitudes of others, and therefore This means protecting it from negativity, corruption, and anything that
affect their very lives, and not just the whole of the team, but the lives of would tear down, from either within or without. It means watching out
still others as the ripple effect of life’s actions spread. The leader, because for the weak links in the team, and being courageous enough to take the
of the nature of his position, is in fact entrusted with the lives and talents right action to rebuild or remove them.
of those whom he leads. Consequently, he should feel a heart’s desire to
The most important question you’ll ask yourself in shaping your own
help others reach their potential. The leader becomes a servant, who like
character and destiny, and especially your leadership mantra, is, shall it
a steward, is responsible for the care and potential of a great resource;
be ‘Self’ or ‘Service’? One brings true, complete and enduring satisfaction,
the people whom he leads.
and much more genuine leadership.
To serve means different things at different times. Sometimes it’s just
John Wooden said happiness begins where selfishness ends. If the
listening. Other times it may be coaching or challenging. Or it may be
leader exemplifies service over self, his followers will be endeared to
reproving or praising. Certainly, it’s tooling, training and trusting. Building
follow him. F
and earning trust comes one step at a time. And not to be overlooked, it
means holding men accountable, which serves as a frame for discipline,
which is the first building block of confidence. And confidence of course
leads to the willingness to accept challenge, and accepting challenge
leads to learning, growing, and building people and things of value.

It’s about filling our cups so we can pour from our cup into the cups of
others.

Finally, but in no way least, serving means caring and being compassionate.
A wise man once said, “They don’t care how much you know until they
know how much you care”.

Its been said that to be a good leader, you must first be a good follower.
One meaning of this is that you need to follow those you lead so that
you can better understand them, their needs, and then care. ‘Break the
bread’ with them!

Service is the mark of a leader. And it’s got to come from the heart.
Remember though that true service is in serving those whom you do

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Third Hallmark of Great Leadership

Be Sensitive to Human Need

(The Heart)

Its all about heart! The leader connects with those whom he leads, and those whom he leads connect with him. Come
from the heart. Aim for the heart. Heart to heart. Seek to understand before being understood. Hear. Listen. Empathize.
Understand. Feel their pain. Be understanding. Meet them at their points of pain. Realize that all individuals are
equally important in the eyes of God, and that each individual has unique needs, desires, strengths and weaknesses.
Seek to know their needs. Be tolerant of weaknesses and human imperfection. Know that no one is perfect and that
we all need a little help and understanding from time to time. Listen well when spoken to, and when you can, listen
beneath the words and into the heart. See and listen with your heart.

Leadership always comes down to heart, heart to heart. Know that every-
one needs meaning in their lives. Make them feel how meaningful and
valuable they are, and how they belong to something bigger than
themselves. Show sincere concern and compassion for those around
you who are struggling and striving. Be interested in everyone you
lead, and look with your heart’s eye to see the potential as yet untapped
within them, and help them untap it. Show in the way you live the simple
values of courtesy, kindness, consideration, compassion and patience.
To the one who shows to others concern, respect and understanding,
the same will be returned. ‘Break the bread’ with the people you lead.
Study them and get to know them, and let them get to know you too.
Follow before you lead. For this builds the most important thing. Trust.
Connection. Bond. Heart.

Do not forget that you are only human, and that all those around you are
human too. So be real, be human. Be vulnerable. Own up to your own
mistakes. Humans and relationships are fragile. What takes years to earn
in trust can be destroyed in a moment. One can never take a break from
earning trust.

Real leadership cannot be achieved without trust and respect, the seeds
of which are understanding, honesty and sensitivity to need.

They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you
care. ‘Take care of the troops’. Take care of those who take care of you.
This will engender respect in the right places. Find ways to encourage.
Find ways to build.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant
of both the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been
all of these.

George Washington Carver

Relationship. John Wooden says to make friendship and relationships a

fine art. F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Fourth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Provide Vision and Hope

(The Beacon)

Create the vision, instill the hope! Use imagery to paint a clear and simple vision on the screens
of their imagination. Where there is no vision the people perish. Or at least wonder without a
purpose. Napolean said a leader is a dealer in hope.
Vision and hope give confidence, and a leader breeds confidence. People need to see the future,
they need to see where they will be and how they will feel. Appeal to their inner good. Appeal
to their sense of belonging; of belonging to a good team, to something good, to something
bigger than themselves, and to something that will endure in their hearts and souls.

All people need to hope in the future and believe in it. So make the vision
a vision for good. Make it a vision of right, excellence, and high standard.
Make it a vision that both their minds and hearts can embrace. Make it
a clear vision that unites. Make it a vision of high and worthy goals. And
make it a vision that challenges, inspires, and emboldens.
Have vision, show vision, live the vision. Always give the hope that
together we can realize the vision. Never cease striving to reach it.
Bring the vision home, into their heart. Bring energy and life to the
vision. Weave the vision into all you do and say. Live it in your actions
and passion. Breathe it. And never, never, never, give up! To do this, stay
resolute, be confident, exude confidence. No one wants to follow a
diffident leader.
Lead by example! Declare the expectations! Declare the future. The
best way to predict the future is to make the future. Provide the all-
encompassing vision, but also provide the vision of the next victory.
Make the vision so real they can see it, so close to their heart and soul
that they can feel it and own it. So inclusive that each will feel a part of
something bigger than himself. Show how the vision will satisfy their
common need and make a lasting difference for good.
Part of setting the vision also means setting the tone and setting the
pace. Sometimes pace and tone needs to change, and the leader
must prepare himself and those he leads for such change, especially
mentally and emotionally. To his team, the leader will state the direction,
acknowledge where they are, and provide the assurance for moving
forward. Again, the leader prepares their heart, and connects with their
heart.
It means relating to their feelings, connecting, empathizing and
acknowledging, and declaring the future state of their feelings to guide
the team toward realizing the shared vision.
In creating vision and striving for excellence you set yourself apart from
the crowd. You put yourself in a position where people can take notice
of you, come to respect you, and be inspired by you. But take heed that
you will also anger or alienate some, for this is inevitable when you stand
for something, so thus prepare yourself. And so let them judge you by
the enemies that you will make as you take a stand for strong and good
principle and vision, and for what is right.
Never settle for mediocrity. Shoot beyond and you’ll achieve beyond.
Better to have brilliant failure than mediocre success.
Champions always reach beyond the minimal because they live by a
higher standard than the rest of the crowd, which is why they stand
taller.
To inspire excellence, you must not only live it, but speak it too. Although
silence at times may be good leadership, a leader is not silent when he
needs to take a stand and lead, or especially when its time to stand up
and be counted for right. Winston Churchill said, “When the eagles are
silent, the parrots begin to jabber”.
You must be ‘The Great Communicator’. Winston Churchill also said,
“What makes real leadership is communication”. Paint on the screen
of people’s imagination! Be an artist. Be colorful but crisp. Use images
or analogy when appropriate as this helps to build pictures in people’s
minds, and to impassion them.
But be simple, concise, and firm. Always speak with confidence energy,
and charisma!
Use language and words properly and never use ambiguous terminology.
In this way, you will be more easily understood, and less easily
misunderstood. Use simple words when simple words will do.
One other thing about painting vision, and that is to give those whom
you lead a vision about your promise, or contract, with them. Pledge to
them what you shall do to lead, support, and serve. Make it connect
with their heart. Aim for the heart, heart to heart!
No one can inspire unless first they can effectively communicate. Words
are the tools of thought, and thought is the precursor of inspiration. F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Fifth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Get Them to Believe in Themselves

(The Rock)

First and foremost, have faith in yourself! This is where it starts. Believe in yourself and have the
courage of your convictions!

Then, get them to believe in themselves! Build and declare confidence within the team, and
within each individual. Tell them that they have what it takes, that they have the right to be
confident, and that no one can take it away. Tell them that you believe in them. Make them see
and feel the pride and confidence that is theirs.

Within yourself, fight hard any battles of discouragement. Fight with
courage any battles to compromise the vision, the team, or non-
negotiable values. Believe that even in times of adversity there is a seed
of equal or greater prosperity. Know that you can ride out tough times,
learn from them, and move on! From those victories you will fill your cup
so that later you can pour into the cups of others. From your convictions
and hard fought victories will come the rock solid confidence which is
so necessary to be content with yourself — and therefore to be a good
leader. For if you are not even content and confident in yourself — you
will be unable to draw from within the strength to be a leader. A strength
that others need to draw from too.
It’s all about attitude, and attitude is choice. Attitude is what people will
remember longest about you. As my father-in-law who worked in the
auto business used to say, they’ll remember your attitude longer than
they remember the price.
Colin Powell said, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” The ripple
effect of a leader’s enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the
impact of cynicism and pessimism. So take up a gung-ho attitude that
says ‘we can change things, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be
the best’. The ‘unrealistic’ aspirations of the optimist are much better
than the grim litany of the ‘realist’ any day.

People quickly see confidence, or a lack thereof. They feed on the
confidence of the leader. Of course, there will come times of frustration
or even disillusionment. But fight hard the ‘good fight’ to keep these
feelings from overcoming you. Believe that somehow, someway you will
capitalize on tough times and turn them around. Turn stumbling blocks
into stepping stones. Above all, never show a negative or dejected
attitude to those who look to you for leadership. It will affect them
worse than it affects you, and will only serve to perpetuate a destructive
self-defeating spirit. Its contagious. But optimism and confidence is
contagious too, a force multiplier, people love to be around others who
exude strength and confidence. When times get tough, rely on your
faith, family and friends. Get energy from the people you lead. If your
heart is in your people, they will give you energy. And courage, and
confidence too.
Now, courage. Courage of conviction. Courage to face fear. Courage to
confront challenge, conflict, and opposition.
In yourself, and in those you lead, drive out Fear! Fear of the unknown,
fear of failure, fear of intimidation, fear of not being accepted, fear of the
future, fear of change, fear of whatever.
Nothing to fear but fear itself. Hope must be greater than fear. The worth
of the vision must be greater than the fear and compel us to move out.
The vision must garner the muster to fight the fear.
Declare the confidence that resides within us, as still not fully tapped.
Draw positive pictures in their minds about how confident they have a
right to be, and how confident they really can be. Make them see and
feel it, now. An advance deposit of what lies ahead.

Have the courage to take responsibility for your actions. Have the Be confident. Give confidence. Well-founded confidence will be their
courage to demand that others take responsibility for their actions. rock. Remem ber, confidence comes from character first, then the
Have the courage to admit mistakes. battles won.

Finally, live out your positive convictions and courage in such a way Have the courage of your convictions. Display your courage with as
that it will be readily apparent to others. Because inherent in leadership much gentle strength as possible. Such courage will be their light. F
is the responsibility to inspire courage and confidence, and for one to
inspire it, he must first possess it himself and be a living example of it.
Its rugged optimism. Its poise under pressure, because the leader is the
rock, the anchor that people need.

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Sixth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Infuse Energy and Passion

(The Fuel)
Energy, Passion, Drive, Decisiveness, Courage. This is the fuel! Establish purpose! Set direction!
Effuse passion! Do not be afraid to make decisions! Be determined and resolute. Do not be
afraid to fail! Take chances! As they say, ships are safest in the harbor, but they are not made
for the harbor. It often takes a series of failures and mistakes before we can learn enough to
succeed.

Your living and on-going example of energy, passion, drive and decisiveness will be contagious.
It will give you charisma. The kind of courage and charisma that people draw to.
About energy and passion. If you don’t have it, they won’t have it. Passion, to make the hard decisions that may be unpopular. Unless right value is
combined with a noble purpose, stirs people. Helen Keller said that true compromised, the good of the whole outweighs the good of the few.
happiness comes not from self-indulgence, but from a life lived with
passion toward fulfilling a worthy goal. No passion, no purpose; no life, When in command, be prepared to take command. Be prepared to alienate,
just existence. to ‘step on toes’. As Franklin Roosevelt said, “Judge me by my enemies.” If
you are not alienating some, I suggest you are not a strong leader. If you
About not being afraid of failure, if our pioneers, our country’s forefathers, try to make everyone like you, that will only result in compromise and
or our great inventors were afraid of failure, consider where we would be mediocrity. If you try to please everyone, you’ll please no one, especially
today. Have the courage to fail. yourself. You would only compromise and contort your true self. Abraham
Lincoln learned this lesson.
About decisiveness, quick decisiveness is most important when it comes
to making decisions regarding integrity and value. Never vacillate on such So be driving, be decisive. Take your ship out of the harbor. Show your
issues because that will cast doubt on your moral backbone, and kill any team that you have backbone, passion and perseverance. It gives you the
respect for your leadership. In other matters, don’t procrastinate only to charisma that energizes those around you. It’s the rock that gives people
wait for more data. You’ll never have enough to be one hundred percent confidence in your leadership.F
sure. Procrastination in the name of reducing risk only increases risk.

About drive, be driving in your pursuit of right and value, be driving in

your quest to live, breathe, walk, talk, and achieve the vision. Be driving in
building your people, the team, and fighting the good fight to stay true.
Be driving in your determined focus on the goal. Relentless execution.
Relentless excellence. This means being resolute, unfettered by the
negative or cynical opinions of others, steadfastly persistent, and victory
minded. Envision your victories before they happen! It also means that
you must stand alone to express strong opinion when you know you are
right and that your belief is worth standing up for, or your value is non-
negotiable.

A leader without passion and drive is not a leader at all, because he will
never convince others that he has the backbone, desire, or ability to stand
for something, to stand strong, or to be a leader. Leaders stand strong
when they need to. Stand strong for right, stand strong for the vision,
stand strong for the team.

In your drive, remember that command is lonely. The buck stops here.
You can encourage bottoms up involvement, but sometimes you’ll need

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Seventh Hallmark of Great Leadership

Create!
(The Springboard)
Create! Be a thinking person! Reason. Imagine. Stir others
to unfetter their thinking, to imagine, to be creative. The
best way to predict the future is to invent the future. But
let your thinking be clear, unaffected by emotions, pride,
preconceptions or prejudices. Be a critical, independent
thinker and a thought leader. Question the logic and
equity in what you see around you. Cut to the quick.
Cut through argument, debate and doubt. Encourage
dialogue to develop a solution everyone can understand.
Simplify. Be reasonable. To be a person of reason, you
must also be willing to listen, negotiate, compromise,
manage conflict, and be honest enough to admit it when
you are wrong. The person of reason listens carefully to
others’ views and is never so stubborn or prideful that he
cannot make logical compromises. In fact, never get so
close to your position that if you lose it, you lose yourself
with it.

Create! Imagine! Dream! Have vision! Imagination is so powerful! Imagine

what is not and ask why not. Imagination is one of God’s greatest gifts! Use
it! Envision your goal, your ultimate destination. See it clearly in your mind’s
eye everyday. If you do, you will recognize and seize every opportunity to
make it so. The leader must possess sound reason and good imagination,
because those feed vision. And as stated before, without vision the people
perish.

A leader’s strength cannot come in greater measure than that of his ability
to reason and imagine. And then, to lead and stir the imagination of
others. F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Eighth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Challenge and Courage!

(The Encourager)

Challenge. Raise the bar. Seek challenge. Do not shy away from the good fight. Face challenge, conflict, and
confrontation with courage. As courage goes with moral conviction, it goes too with facing challenge. Drive to be
better today than yesterday. Challenge them to grow in competence, confidence, and character. Challenge their
competitive excellence, challenge them to grow in character. Challenge stretches us, tests us, makes us grow stronger
and wiser. Remember, it’s the tough times that forge our character and make us who we are.

As challenge is declared, be critical, but constructive, as the team faces

the challenge. Coach. Manage the expectations, mostly of themselves.
Don’t be afraid to push, to confront, and to drive hard. But like parenting,
balance love with the coaching discipline.
In this role, some absolutes must be practiced. Always be objective in your
judgment. Hear all sides of an issue before drawing a conclusion, and do
not let emotions interfere with your thinking. Seek to see things from all
others’ points of view. Remember to be constructive with both your praise
and criticism, and never forget to express appreciation to whoever goes
the extra mile. Give credit where credit is due. Take care of those who take
care of you.
And always, always listen attentively with your heart and mind.
Encourage all to be unafraid to bring forth both good and bad news.
The great leader can deal with the truth. If it’s ugly, tell them to make it
ugly without sugarcoating. Anything less will block the flow of valuable
information, which could be critical to fulfilling the vision, and to the team
itself. When they stop bring you the bad information, you stop leading.
Be honest. Honesty is the pillar which mutual trust is based upon. And
simply, there is no leadership where there is no trust. F

Reprove constructively where necessary because it builds the individual

and the team. But by the same token give recognition for a job well done.
This shows your understanding of how to help people grow, and your
wisdom in seeking balance. Treat everyone on the same basis of fairness,
without using a double standard or showing partiality. And always give a
person the chance and recognition he deserves. Be fair by giving people
what they deserve and earn. It’s not fair to treat everyone the same, its
fair to treat them by what they deserve. Be fair by confronting those
you need to for the sake of the team, the mission, or what
is right.

Be fair. Be fair with providing a promise to those

whom you lead. Be fair by providing your
expectations of those whom you lead.

Be open. Encourage communication and even criticism

if it’s constructive. And always be willing to explain the
reasons for your actions. But by doing this, a leader is also
willing to be ‘hurt’. Many times you may hear the truth, and
it may reveal things about you that hurt. But hurting can make
us better and stronger, not just within ourselves, but as a leader
since leadership starts within. On the other side, sometimes to
be honest, it may ‘hurt’ others. Cannot shy away from the truth of
honesty when the need to confront exists.

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Ninth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Get Out in Front!

(The Leader)

Lead by example! Be where they can see you. Be in front

so they can see you live out integrity. Be in front so they
can see you live out the vision. Be out in front so they
can connect with you, and you with them. Be available,
be accessible, be approachable, be visible. Leadership is
from heart to heart. You can’t motivate unless they can
see and connect with you. As Colin Powell says, “The
day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day
you have stopped leading them. They have either lost
confidence that you can help, or concluded that you do
not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Get out in front so they can get to know you! If they don’t know you they’ll
never trust you.

Robert E. Lee was visible to his troops. He mingled with them, spoke with
them, shared with them, ate the same food as them. He met them at
their level. He ‘broke the bread’ with them. Patton said never get mired
in your desk. Get out. Get in front. A leader must be visible. Must be
approachable.

Show them you are just as human and just as equal, just as human.
Meet them where they’re at right now. They need to see you and feel
your empathy, but also feel your challenge and courage, as well as your
confidence in them. Lead the charge and show the way. Get out in front!

Talk to them. Ask them questions. Really listen to them. Share your own
mistakes with them. Be transparent. Get out in front!

Push them. Drive them to discipline. Demand the goal of perfection. Show
them the challenge. Keep them conditioned to build stamina in mind and
spirit. In this way too, get out in front!

Show through your own example how you are staying strong through
both thick and thin.

Be their source of strength. Get out in front!

Get out in front where the risk is, where the discomfort may be, where the
battle lies. Where you can be seen. Where they can follow you. F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Tenth Hallmark of Great Leadership

Grow Other Leaders

(The Builder)

Be a builder of people. Grow other leaders. Share leader-

ship. Everybody can be a leader at least some of the time.
Start by challenging and mentoring, and by causing
others to imagine and to believe! Stir them to reach for
their potential and to have faith in what they can achieve.
Help people discover what their strengths and talents are.
Challenge people to dream and to make their dreams
become reality, while at the same time emphasizing the
value of hard work and a forbearing spirit.

Give people a fair chance. And just because someone may have got
kicked around is no reason not to give them another chance. Give people
the room to fail and learn from their failure. Those are the best lessons. And
when things get rough remind them that it’s through the battle that we
find victory, especially victory over ourselves, for that’s where leadership
starts. Tell them that they do indeed control their own destiny based on
their own determination, attitude, and diligence — and that they really
can make a difference for good. Not only in their lives but especially in the
lives of others, if they only choose.

Seek to build their pride and self confidence! But in a humble way.

Pour yourself into a few good people around you. Teach them from your
own storehouse of wisdom and experience so that they may benefit
from your challenges and lessons in life. This is what weaves the delicate
thread of life and builds value from one person to the next, even from one
generation to the next.

Read the “Building Men” poem by Robert Murphy, 1959 F

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

The Persona of
the Leader
Love and Balance. He balances Love, Work, Play, and
Worship. He loves the good people around him, and
does all from the heart.
F
Finds support from Faith, Family, and Friends
F
Feels strong duty to God and Country
F
Lives by Three Rules. “Do what’s right, Do your best,
and Treat others as you want to be treated.”
F
Strives to continuously build integrity. It’s a
journey to him.
F
Chooses service over self.
F
Is self-aware. Knows his limitations. Knows his
strengths and weaknesses. Knows his values and
non-negotiables.
F
Has earned his own self-respect and self-
confidence.
F
Seeks wisdom. Practices humility.
F
Does not take himself too seriously.
F
Looks for the best in people. But realizes the
limitations in them.

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership

 ~ Leadership Talk ~

Final Few Thoughts...

A true leader will be respected and followed whether
or not he has been given authority over others. People
will not follow out of obligation, but out of desire.

You must choose between ‘Self’ or ‘Service’. And true

service is in serving those we do not have to serve.
Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

There are only two battles in life worth fighting. The

first is to remain true to yourself and what you know
is right. The second is to earn the trust and respect of
the good people around you.

Leadership is lonely. Don’t be afraid to stand alone.

Can’t be afraid to hurt or be hurt.

Leadership is all about heart. Aim for the heart.

“Together in Purpose, Share the Passion

and Build the Pride”

This was delivered:

February 19, 26, March 5 and March 12, 2001,
also in 2002 at Calvary Chapel

Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc. — Ten Hallmarks of Great Leadership