Here are the 12 daily habits of exceptional leaders

Here are the 12 daily habits of exceptional leadersHere are the 12 daily habits of exceptional leadersOne of the most popularDilbertcomic 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, unterstellung 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 leaders change us for the better. They see more in us than we see in ourselves, and they help us learn to see it too. They dream big and show us all the great things we can accomplish.Great leadership is dynamic it melds a variety of unique skills into an integrated whole. Great leadership is also founded in good habits. What follows are the essential habits that exceptional leaders rely on every day. Give them a try and see where they take your leadership skills.Effective communicationThe more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.- Joseph PriestleyCommunication is the real work of leadership. Its a fundamental komponente 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.CourageCourage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible. - AristotlePeople will wait to see if a leader is courageous be fore 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 path- the path of least resistance- because theyd rather cover their backside than lead.Adherence to the Golden Rule +1The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become. Jon Wolfgang von GoetheThe Golden Rule treat others as you want to be treated assumes that all peop le 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 aelendher 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.Self-awarenessIt is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. - Latin ProverbContrary 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, leaders- like everyone else- view themselves in a more favorable light than other people do.Self-awareness is the foundation of emoti onal 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.PassionIf 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 ZuckerbergPassion 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.HumilityHumility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less. C.S. LewisGreat leaders are humble. They dont allow their p osition 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.GenerosityA 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 MaxwellGreat 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.InfectiousnessThe very essence of leadership is that you have to have a geistesbild. Its got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You cant blow an uncertain trumpet. - Reverend Theodore HesburghGreat leaders know that having a clea r 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.AuthenticityJust be who you are and speak from your guts and heart its all a man has. Hubert HumphreyAuthenticity 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.Approachabilit yManagement is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it, not hard enough and it flies away. Tommy LasordaGreat 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.AccountabilityThe 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 ArmstrongGreat 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.A sense of purposeYou dont lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. Ken KeseyWhereas vision is a clear idea of where youre going, a sense of purpose refers to an understanding ofwhyyoure going there. People like to feel like theyre part of something bigger than themselves. Great leaders give people that feeling.Bringing it all togetherBecoming 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.This article first appeared on LinkedIn.