Do You Have What It Takes to Develop Key Leadership Principles?

Leaders are defined by their actions and attitudes, especially during volatile times and periods of substantial change.  Under pressure, leadership can be eroded by pessimism, fear, lack of clear vision, failure to accept responsibility, or weak communication.  The journey to becoming an effective leader springs from the inside.  Before you can lead others, you must first commit to lead yourself based on a core set of principles.

I have found the following principles to be important to my continued growth as a leader:

1. Practicing Discipline

Discipline is perhaps the most critical principle to embrace as a leader.  Personal discipline ignites my desire to take on challenges that I might otherwise choose to walk away from and provokes me to choose the harder right over the easier wrong in the situations I face.  Only with discipline can I assure myself that I will lead with integrity and maintain my character.  Remember, your true character is who you are when no one else is watching.

2. Being Demanding, not demeaning

At West Point, we followed an honor code, “I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.”  This code sets the bar high for leading yourself first by being honest and trustworthy.  It sets the bar even higher by demanding that we take it a step further and require the same of others.  Demanding high performance and standards of excellence is a leader’s responsibility but should never be executed in a demeaning manner or on the back of others.

3. Leading with Emotion

Emotions allow you to be a caring and compassionate leader.  It is important, however, to channel our emotions or passion into responses that are appropriate for the situations.  The leader heart (character) and mind (competence), working together, serve as the foundation for leadership to achieve a balanced response of emotionally empathetic intellect with knowledge-based skills.

Your heart is associated with qualities related to emotional intelligence, which may develop more naturally in some individuals.  Your mind contributes learned skills (intellect)—principles and values mastered over time and experience.  The fusion of your heart and mind sharpen your response to each challenge.

4. being humble

Everyone makes mistakes.  In fact, it’s often the quickest, but potentially most harmful, way to learn a lesson.  Humble, transparent leaders demonstrate character by taking responsibility for their mistakes versus playing the blame game.  To be an effective, trustworthy, influential leader, you must always hold yourself accountable.  Stay real and allow yourself to be vulnerable.

5. Building Bridges, not walls

A proactive, positive approach to leadership is more about teaching and inspiring, and much less about exerting authority and control.  With increased responsibility it is critical to be available and approachable and not put up boundaries or allow others to put up boundaries around you.  A critical skill is being a good listener and being willing to share with others—the good, the bad and the ugly.  It is important to listen hard and think differently.  Leadership is about the led, and those we lead deserve the best of us every day.

6. Being Selfless

This might sound counterintuitive, but people who genuinely focus on others receive much more than they give—personally and professionally.  I do believe it is best to be a servant leader.  However, doing so requires a constant check of one’s character and ego.  Our words and actions should benefit the greater good of the team over self.  It is healthy to question your intentions and ensure they are in fact selfless, and not self-serving.

7. Never Giving Up

If you quit every time things get rough, you will potentially miss out on extraordinary opportunities to learn and grow as a leader, as well as helping others in the process.  Leadership is about making a difference and seizing the moment.  Powering through challenges usually results in our learning a great deal about ourselves and those around us, creating change, developing meaningful relationships, and discovering rewarding moments of insight.  If in doubt, take a tactical pause and ask yourself why you want to quit.  Quite often quitting can be for short term reasons—easier, more comfortable, less stress.  But consider what you might lose for the long term.  It could lead to great regret.  I have found that what is hard and uncomfortable is usually the most rewarding.  As a leader, I want to be able to lay my head on my pillow at night and know I have minimized my regrets and been the best I could be by not giving up.

final thoughts

Developing effective leadership skills relies on intentionally leading by example, being true to yourself, being empathetic and humble, and living with discipline and purpose.