Essential Elements of Great Leadership

An article that appeared in this month’s Florida Trend caught my attention for a number of reasons. Any theoretical perspective on leadership usually captures my interest, but this one was simple and straight-forward enough to deliver the salient points but without the “fluff” that usually accompanies such essays.

The leadership “elements” that writer Jerry Osteryoung postulates as the four essential traits of good leaders are: Confidence – Decisiveness – Intuition – Empathy.  I further believe that the hundreds of other traits written about by so many other qualified experts are subcategories of these.

Enjoy this brief yet thoughtful article.

Leadership consists of 4 essential elements

Jerry Osteryoung | 10/14/2013

It is amazing to me that so many people think of themselves as great leaders, but do not demonstrate leadership qualities.

Being an owner or a boss does not make you a leader. True leadership is not about the position you hold, but the attributes you display. People follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to.

Serial entrepreneur and blogger James Caan made the case for four elements of leadership, and I completely agree with him. These elements often overlap, so there will be times when you see two are working together to address one problem.

In chemistry, we have the Periodic Table of Elements, which defines all matter as combinations of 112 to 118 basic elements. In leadership, our table of basic elements is made up of only four.

The first element is confidence. For me, this is where it starts because who would ever want to follow someone who does not demonstrate confidence? This is more than just putting on a confident face. I have seen so-called “leaders” using a mask of confidence to hide their insecurities, but they are unsuccessful since the staff quickly sees through this veil.

People naturally want to follow individuals who can articulate the direction they need to go and show confidence in their decisions. I have yet to see a true leader who did not radiate confidence.

The second element of leadership is decisiveness. A leader must be willing to make decisions and stand behind them. Just look at the number of business owners who, when the economy tumbled in 2008, did nothing. The true leaders, in contrast, took action to preserve their businesses.

The third element is intuition. This one is important since the majority of decisions a leader must make involve more than just the black-and-white numbers. Experience, knowledge and intuition — that gut feeling — are also factors.

A decision maker who relies only on facts and numbers is just not going to be as successful as a leader who understands there is much more to be considered. The successful leader lets his or her intuition guide them.

The last element of true leadership is empathy. A leader’s real job is understanding the staff and knowing how to motivate them. This would not be possible without empathy.

Too often you see managers trying to lead by saying, “I am the boss, so you are going to do what I tell you to do.” This is bullying, not leading. No one wants to be around a bully for long.

Being empathetic is understanding your staff’s human condition, recognizing the challenges in their lives, and being kind. When a leader shows empathy for the difficulties his or her staff is facing, they earn the dedication and loyalty of the team.

Now go out and make sure that you have the four elements — confidence, decisiveness, intuition and empathy — as part of your leadership manifest. If you find you are lacking one of these elements, arrange for some coaching to help you develop it.

You can do this!”