Unless you work closely over a long period of time with a leader, the secret qualities of that leader are not always visible, evident or apparent. Appearance is always evidence of those things that are hidden or secret.
I have worked closely and studied leaders for nearly four decades from my first high school football coach to a Texas Hall of Fame football coach to a perennial national powerhouse college program coach to one of the greatest American success stories in Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy and the outstanding phalanx of leaders that built the largest chicken chain in the world. I have seen these elements and principles in their lives day after day in winning, in losing, in trial and in triumph.
These six elements become principles that guide their lives, their relationships, and their decisions. An element is an ingredient that is representative of a value or belief. A principle is a static rule that guides and guards behavior and practice. If you truly want to become a great leader, then your principles have to be unwavering and ridiculously consistent regardless of what your role is, who you are with or what you are asked to do.
1. Incredible Loyalty to People.
People are and must always be the point of a leader’s work. People follow people. People are guided by principles. A leader with no followers is not a leader.
2. Remarkable Integrity in Purpose.
Integrity is the measure is your moral code. A leader’s morality is measured both by what is seen and what is unseen. Integrity gives your purpose power.
3. Indefatigable Resiliency in the Presence of Adversity.
Leaders are going to face adversity. Great leaders face great adversity. In such times their principles guide them through the adversity in a manner that shapes their outcomes and organizations to bounce back stronger than before.
4. Unmatched Drive Toward Excellent Conclusions.
Great leaders practice, demand, and organize with great excellence. The drive of a leader can never outpace the ability to deliver excellence or the outcomes fail. Leaders are concerned with outcomes, but not self-enriching or self-serving ones. Leaders must always consider conclusions. Conclusions are outcomes that finalize past work & emphasize future work.
5. Healthy Curiosity that Leads to Discovery.
Great leaders also have great curiosity to understand why things are the way they are. There are two kinds of curiosity: healthy and unhealthy. Healthy curiosity is promoted by morality. Unhealthy curiosity results from immorality. Great leaders are always seeking to discover deeper, wider, truer, brighter, & better.
6. Unyielding Humility when Challenged.
Leaders who aren’t challenged typically are not involved in deeply impactful work or transformative work. Humility is placing others before yourself and position.