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It's Only Common Sense: Be a Great Leader

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If you're a company president, sales manager, supervisor, team leader, or owner--if you manage people--you have the chance to be a leader. To be successful, it's much more important to be a leader than a manager.

Some people would not even follow their manager across the street for a free buffet. A true leader is something special--a true leader will motivate his employees to follow him to hell and back.

What kind of leader are you? Would your people follow you anywhere? Let’s find out. Ask yourself the following questions to discover if you are, in fact, a true leader:

1. Can you develop a vision that is so clear, lucid, appealing, and inspiring your entire team will not only understand, but embrace it?
2. Are you secure enough to surround yourself with people smarter than you?
3. Are you generous enough to not care who gets the credit as long as the end-goal is achieved?
4. Can you define your team’s goals so vividly that your team knows exactly what the end-game is?
5. Will you stand up for your team whatever happens, whatever the consequences?
6. Are you the best person you can possibly be? Do you "talk the talk and walk the walk?"
7. Are you ready to change your mind when you're wrong?
8. Are you willing to change your mind when there's a better way?
9. Do you always have a back-up plan and a back-up plan to the back-up plan?
10. Do your employees trust you?
11. Does your team have confidence in you?
12. Do your employees respect you?
13. Does your team believe in you?
14. Are your employees proud to be on your team?
15. Do you always tell the truth (no matter how much it hurts)?
16. Do you have a long-term career plan for yourself?
17. Do you have a long-term career plan for each of your direct reports?
18. Do you insist members of your team to be great leaders if they have people reporting to them?
19. Do you spend time teaching employees how to be great leaders?
20. Are you training your replacement?
21. Do you strive to inspire?
22. Do you ensure employees never learn bad examples from you?
23. Are you ready and willing to do anything you ask your employees to do?
24. Are you willing to trust your team enough to delegate?
25. Are your employees trained to run your department smoothly in your absence?
26. Do you encourage open and honest discussion among team members at all times?
27. Are you able to take criticism?
28. Are you ready to let a key person go if she gets a better opportunity?
29. Are you training employees to be the best they can be?
30. Do you know the "whole story" of each of your team members, not just the part you see at work?
31. Can employees turn to you when they need help, both professionally and personally?
32. Do you exhibit grace under pressure? Can you keep your wits about you when everyone else is losing theirs?
33. Are you constantly trying to better yourself? Spending every day striving to be the best you can be?

And, finally, are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and be the best leader you can be?

Ask yourself: Are you the kind of leader you would want to follow? Are you proud of the way you lead your people? Are you proud of the way you carry yourself? Are you proud of the way your people react to you?

If you can answer these questions positively you are probably a good leader. If you have any doubts review them and work on what you feel is lacking.

Someone once said, “A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others so that they may have the strength to stand on their own." 

Have the strength to be a great leader; have the generosity to give more than you take; and have to courage to be able to stand by and watch employees learn, develop, and finally stand on their own doing the right things to be successful. It’s only common sense.