Great leaders and their character Great leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They can be anyone from a company CEO to a soccer coach, a small business owner to a group discussion leader. While there are some natural leaders, most great leaders are not born that way. Instead, they learned how to be great over time. So what are these qualities that all great leaders share? A. They are confident Great leaders are confident in their abilities and actions. They are not afraid of new challenges and stay calm when things get difficult. Once they decide to do something, they do it. While great leaders are confident, they are not arrogant. Confident leaders usually give comfort to those around them; arrogant leaders rarely do. B. They are excited No one wants to work with people who are not excited about what they are doing. Great leaders are excited about what they do and want to share that feeling with others. Think about a soccer, baseball, or tennis coach who is not excited about the sport. This kind of person hardly ever gets great results. C. They are helpful Great leaders care about other people and want to help them. When people need help, these leaders make a difficult situation less challenging. For example, think about an employee who is having a difficult time finishing some work. A good boss always sees this, and offers support. D. They communicate well Good communication skills are important for great leaders. They communicate their ideas clearly, and listen carefully. Many top companies have rules that encourage open communication. The tech company Hewlett-Packard, for example, has an “open-door” rule. Leaders leave their doors open so employees can stop by and speak to them anytime. E. They are determined Great leaders have a goal in mind and do what they need to achieve it. Sony co-founder Akio Morita did not succeed the first time his company tried to sell its first product—a rice cooker. It didn’t cook the rice; it burned it. They sold less than a hundred. But this did not stop Morita as he went on to create a multi-billion-dollar company! > Great leaders have a goal in mind and do what they need to achieve it. F. They are responsible Author John Maxwell says, “A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” Indeed, great leaders need to be responsible for the performance for the people around them. When something goes wrong, they look for ways to fix problems quickly. G. They are honest Great leaders are honest people. They are honest in all things—not just what they say and do, but in who they are. In fact, the Pew Research Center¹ found that being honest is the quality that matters most to people, with 84% of people saying it was “absolutely essential.” H. They are respectful There is a rule known in many cultures—treat other people as you want to be treated—that great leaders do not follow. Instead they treat other people as they would like to be treated. Perhaps author Jon Wolfgang von Goethe said it best when he said, “The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.” I. They stay positive Great leaders know that the people around them won’t be happy unless they themselves are positive. When things go wrong, they smile, fix the problem, and move forward. This keeps everyone feeling positive. Being positive makes everyone feel that they are working toward something good.