17 Qualities of a Leader
As a speaker on leadership, I often address diverse groups, not exclusively writers. However, it's crucial to recognize that writers are indeed leaders. They are the driving force behind their teams, the origin of all creative endeavors. Today, I want to delve into this unique leadership role and look at some specific traits of influential leaders.
1) Leaders are devoted. No one else will be if you are not fully invested in your career and your book or other project. But it is not just the project. If you are not fully invested in those around you, your team will not be as excited about being invested in you. Invest in your work and your team. Be passionately devoted.
2) True love. It may sound campy, but what we work on and who we work with are part of a family. How we feel about them is true love. It is wanting projects and the people who work with us to succeed. There are no exceptions or conditions to love. There is only commitment to see it grow. Grow your projects, develop your team, and increase the success of everyone involved. This comes from true love. It’s not business. It’s family. It’s love.
3) No masks. Working with a group means there is no time for pretense. Be yourself. Let yourself shine through. Encourage others to be themselves and be honest with you and with each other. Nothing can be accomplished to its fullest extent unless all are working with all their hearts towards it. Working with all their hearts means that everyone at the table must be fully committed, and this comes from being completely honest. No masks.
4) No socio-economic-educational separations. Only the cause. Everyone has great ideas. Listen to them all. A degree or a lack of experience does not mean someone can’t have a great idea. Listen to everyone. Create an environment as a leader where everyone with you on the team feels comfortable expressing their ideas, even if they seem crazy. The evaluation can come later. It doesn’t matter who gives the idea or who gets the credit because what matters is the project at hand, the success of that project, and the success of those involved in it. Make sure everyone, no matter their qualifications, background, or job title, feels valued and integral to the team's success.
5) Celebration of differences. There is no homogeny in creativity. It is a hodge-podge of crazy ideas that don’t seem to go together. We bring those ideas because of our backgrounds. Diversity is the only way to get those ideas that may seem disparate onto the table. Celebrate differences. Don’t look for a yes-team. Look for those who disagree. Look for those who amend. Value those who are putting themselves on the table to make the project and the team the best it can be. Encourage them and reward them for their differences. Constantly crave to bring differences to the table. The differences will cause the project and the team to rise beyond mediocrity. Each person’s unique contributions must be appreciated and respected, and they are what make the team and its projects successful.
6) True community. All must be equal. You may have the title, but you don’t have all the skills. You need the team. All must be able to express their thoughts without judgment. All need to feel comfortable. Even maybe further than community, a writer’s or leader’s team is a family. We may not always agree, but we are always valued community members. Make sure everyone feels included, from those with the most minor influence to the ones with the most. When it comes to building a team, all are essential, just as all parts of the body are essential. Missing anyone on the team or trying to select only certain team members is like having a body with four arms and no legs. Take the whole body. Everyone has a place at the table.
7) Transform each other. Life is about growth, both within the leader and among the team members. Without growth, progress stagnates. In business, even in the writing business, if you’re not getting better daily, you’re getting worse. Everyone must encourage and lift each other to new heights every day. It is up to the leader to make sure that this happens.
8) The leader holds the future for many. A leader does not operate in a vacuum. The team can only go as high as the leader’s encouragement and vision. It is essential that the leader keeps an open mind, always looks ahead, and always has the team's best interests at heart. Ultimately, the team members' livelihood and degree of work satisfaction fall upon the leader's back. The leader sets the tone for the entire team.
9) Leaders act. They do not sit around and wait for things to happen. They inspire others to act. The team's goal is forward motion, and leaders again set that tone. Every leader's activity must be proactive. The leader encourages this in others and demonstrates it to others by his behavior and work ethic. Your proactive behavior is not only encouraged, but it is what drives our team's success and progress. Keep moving forward.
10) Leaders give opportunities to others to use their gifts. Leaders have a finite number of gifts, as does everyone. It takes a team to make a complete whole. An effective leader looks at not necessarily the weaknesses of each team member but also each person’s strengths, especially identifying strengths of team members that are underutilized or not used. Leaders scrutinize and evaluate each team member’s strengths, value them, and put them to good use. The team members' gifts are the essential building blocks for success and moving the entire team forward.
11) Writers, as entrepreneurs and leaders, see the big picture. Someone must provide the road map; that person is the team leader. However, the team leader does not operate in a vacuum. The best direction comes when everyone has input. Gather all information from team members without judgment and then, as the leader, put together a working plan that can be proposed to the team, the big picture, and then get feedback to the point that all the possible potholes have been addressed. The team leader, then seeing the whole picture, can lead the team and assign team members to specific tasks to pull off what needs to be done to accomplish the goal.
12) Team leaders are courageous. You must dream big, move forward, and lead. Team members are inspired by leaders who have courage, which brings out their own courage. Courage is the key to everyone moving forward and feeling valued.
13) The team leader is servant-oriented. Team members are not there to serve the leader; they are there, just as the team leader, to serve the cause and express their creativity and gifts. Team members are there to be valued. The cause and moving forward are the most important. Leave all egos at the door and come together as a team. Amazing things can be accomplished When everyone works together toward the same goal.
14) Team leaders are diligent. The team has days off and time off, but the leader must always be diligent about the team’s progress. Everything always needs to be moving forward. If it is not, the team leader needs to see when the problems are minor before they grow and then redirect the efforts. Team leaders look at the small details, the incremental gains and losses, and act accordingly. This keeps the entire team moving forward at a progressive pace.
15) Team leaders create the vision. They paint a picture to the team members of what it will look like when all is accomplished. They inspire each person to use their gifts toward the result. The team leader also alters the vision incrementally so that everything is moving logically toward a sound conclusion. Leaders inspire team members with a vision. In some ways, having a vision and communicating that vision to others is the team leader's superpower.
16) A team leader allows all to use their unique talents and gifts. Each person has a set of gifts; they should all be used to accomplish an overarching goal. Team leaders do not allow themselves to be boxed by their own bias toward how to complete a job to its ultimate satisfaction. Team leaders know that utilizing individual talents enhances the project and creates a sense of self-worth in each team member as each member’s unique gifts and talents are recognized.
17) This is probably one of the most critical aspects of the writer as a leader. Don’t micromanage. A great team leader gets out of the way and lets others do their job. Team members get a sense of satisfaction from participating with their unique gifts. Team leaders are wise to encourage this. It does take a team to win. The leader does not have all the talents or skills necessary to achieve the end goal. The team leader relies on the team. The best way to do this is to let every team member excel in his gifts and initiative. Give the team members the freedom to help the project succeed and then, as the team leader, sit back with amazement and appreciation at all the team can accomplish when each person is valued and allowed to perform in their most creative ways.
Use these strategies in your projects and with your team members. Writers do not operate in a vacuum. It takes a team from you as the writer to the seller at the bookstore and everyone in between. Let them help you succeed as you do the same for them.
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