12 Essential Habits of Exceptional Leaders

One of the most popular Dilbert comic strips in the cartoons history begins with Dilberts boss relaying senior leaderships explanation for the companys low profits. In response to his boss, Dilbert asks incredulously, So theyre saying that profits went up because of great leadership and down because of a weak economy? To which Dilberts boss replies, These meetings will go faster if you stop putting things in context.

Great leadership is indeed a difficult thing to pin down and understand. You know a great leader when youre working for one, but even they can have a hard time explaining the specifics of what they do that makes their leadership so effective. Great leadership is dynamic; it melds a variety of unique skills into an integrated whole.

Below are 12 essential behaviors that exceptional leaders rely on every day. Give them a try and you can become a better leader today.

1. Courage

Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible. Aristotle

People will wait to see if a leader is courageous before theyre willing to follow his or her lead. People need courage in their leaders. They need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. They need a leader who will stay the course when things get tough. People are far more likely to show courage themselves when their leaders do the same.

For the courageous leader adversity is a welcome test. Like a blacksmiths molding of a red-hot iron, adversity is a trial by fire that refines leaders and sharpens their game. Adversity emboldens courageous leaders and leaves them more committed to their strategic direction.

Leaders who lack courage simply toe the company line. They follow the safest paththe path of least resistancebecause theyd rather cover their backside than lead.

2. Effective Communication

The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate. Joseph Priestley

Communication is the real work of leadership. Its a fundamental element of how leaders accomplish their goals each and every day. You simply cant become a great leader until you are a great communicator.

Great communicators inspire people. They create a connection with their followers that is real, emotional, and personal, regardless of any physical distance between them. Great communicators forge this connection through an understanding of people and an ability to speak directly to their needs.

3. Generosity

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. John Maxwell

Great leaders are generous. They share credit and offer enthusiastic praise. Theyre as committed to their followers success as they are to their own. They want to inspire all of their employees to achieve their personal best not just because it will make the team more successful, but because they care about each person as an individual.

4. Humility

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less. C.S. Lewis

Great leaders are humble. They dont allow their position of authority to make them feel that they are better than anyone else. As such, they dont hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed, and they wont ask their followers to do anything they wouldnt be willing to do themselves.

5. Self-Awareness

It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. Latin Proverb

Contrary to what Dilbert might have us believe, leaders gaps in self-awareness are rarely due to deceitful, Machiavellian motives, or severe character deficits. In most cases, leaderslike everyone elseview themselves in a more favorable light than other people do.

Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence, a skill that 90% of top performing leaders possess in abundance. Great leaders high self-awareness means they have a clear and accurate image not just of their leadership style, but also of their own strengths and weaknesses . They know where they shine and where theyre weak, and they have effective strategies for leaning into their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses.

6. Adherence to the Golden Rule +1

The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become. Jon Wolfgang von Goethe

The Golden Rule treat others as you want to be treated assumes that all people are the same. It assumes that, if you treat your followers the way you would want a leader to treat you, theyll be happy. It ignores that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the center of attention.

Great leaders dont treat people how they themselves want to be treated. Instead, they take the Golden Rule a step further and treat each person as he or she would like to be treated. Great leaders learn what makes people tick, recognize their needs in the moment, and adapt their leadership style accordingly.

7. Passion

If you just work on stuff that you like and are passionate about, you dont have to have a master plan with how things will play out. Mark Zuckerberg

Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. So are boredom and apathy. No one wants to work for a boss thats unexcited about his or her job, or even one whos just going through the motions. Great leaders are passionate about what they do, and they strive to share that passion with everyone around them.

8. Infectiousness

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. Its got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You cant blow an uncertain trumpet. Reverend Theodore Hesburgh

Great leaders know that having a clear vision isnt enough. You have to make that vision come alive so that your followers can see it just as clearly as you do. Great leaders do that by telling stories and painting verbal pictures so that everyone can understand not just where theyre going, but what it will look and feel like when they get there. This inspires others to internalize the vision and make it their own.

9. Authenticity

Just be who you are and speak from your guts and heart its all a man has. Hubert Humphrey

Authenticity refers to being honest in all things not just what you say and do, but who you are. When youre authentic, your words and actions align with who you claim to be. Your followers shouldnt be compelled to spend time trying to figure out if you have ulterior motives. Any time they spend doing so erodes their confidence in you and in their ability to execute.

Leaders who are authentic are transparent and forthcoming. They arent perfect, but they earn peoples respect by walking their talk.

10. Approachability

Management is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it, not hard enough and it flies away. Tommy Lasorda

Great leaders make it clear that they welcome challenges, criticism, and viewpoints other than their own. They know that an environment where people are afraid to speak up, offer insight, and ask good questions is destined for failure. By ensuring that they are approachable, great leaders facilitate the flow of great ideas throughout the organization.

11. Accountability

The ancient Romans had a tradition: Whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: He stood under the arch. Michael Armstrong

Great leaders have their followers backs. They dont try to shift blame, and they dont avoid shame when they fail. Theyre never afraid to say, The buck stops here, and they earn peoples trust by backing them up.

12. Sense Of Purpose

You dont lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. Ken Kesey

Whereas vision is a clear idea of where youre going, a sense of purpose refers to an understanding of why youre going there. People like to feel like theyre part of something bigger than themselves. Great leaders give people that feeling.

Bringing It All Together

Becoming a great leader doesnt mean that you have to incorporate all of these traits at once. Focus on one or two at a time; each incremental improvement will make you more effective. Its okay if you act some of these qualities at first. The more you practice, the more instinctive it will become, and the more youll internalize your new leadership style.

What other qualities would you like to see added to this list? Please share your thoughts on exceptional leadership in the comments section, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Want to learn more from me? Check out my book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 .