There is no shortage of traits that can define a leader. The list of weaknesses can be equally as long. Some people would have us believe that empathy, humility, and kindness are on the weakness list. Traditionally, those words do not conjure up a vision of strength and power. It is time for the tradition to change.
Could it be that empathy, humility, and kindness are not easily recognized? Maybe it isn’t until much later in our journey when looking back that we are able to easily identify that those traits were present in our past leaders. Maybe the noise in a given situation prevents us from seeing that our leader is exhibiting empathy, humility, and kindness. What would be most unfortunate is to realize a past leader had those traits because our current leader does not.
Empathy, humility, and kindness alone are the superglue that binds your contextual leadership styles together. These traits must be present and practiced or you will fall into the class of failed leaders. You must remain diligent to ensure they are not misguided or misplaced.
More than likely you will never formally be recognized as someone who led with empathy, humility, or kindness but you must allow those traits to become autonomous. Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to believing these are weaknesses. These traits alone will act like superglue to the acceptability and sustainability of your leadership style. They will truly set you apart from other leaders and enable you to create a follower base so vast that you and your team will be unstoppable.
Last updated on August 8th, 2020 at 07:42 am
