Intelligence and talent aren’t the core components of remarkable leadership.
Smart leaders do dumb things.
Cocky talent relies too heavily on abilities.
3 habits that make you dumb, regardless of your IQ:
- Resent the success of others. Nothing makes leaders smaller than hating the success of others.
- Hang on to offenses, failures, and disappointments. Unforgiveness fills your pockets with rocks.
- Serve yourself at the expense of others. Everyone wonders if you’re on their side.
12 habits that trump IQ:
- Create options. The best decisions begin with four options, not one. One-option-decisions are choices, not decisions.
- Consider the impact of your conduct on others. How do you make others feel?
- Protect gains. Visionary leaders lose ground when they fail to build processes around successes.
- Help others reach their goals, especially those over you.
- Let people know what you really think. Game-playing-cowards achieve momentary success, but lose respect over time.
- Engage in praiseworthy behaviors. The opinions of others impact the effectiveness of your leadership.
- Include kindness in everything you do. Toughness without heart is cruelty.
- Approach situations with the best interest of others in mind.
- Reject favoritism. Engage with people as equals.
- Be emotionally steady and willfully determined once direction is set and decisons are made.
- There comes a time when options are distractions. Exploring alternatives doesn’t get anything done.
- Grit takes you places talent and brains only dream about.
- Finish stuff.
- Let people know they can count on you.
- Out-work the people around you.
- Meet pressing needs.
- Solve nagging problems.
- Reach high. Ease makes you lazy, not remarkable.
- Embrace discomfort and dissatisfaction.
- Accepting the status quo makes you average.
- Connect with people who make you want to be better.
- Expect the people around you to stretch their abilities.
Which habits are most important for successful leadership?
What might you add to the list?
