Practice Management

The first three C’s of leadership

 |  John Spence

What are the key characteristics of a leader you admire and who inspires you? The answers from around the world are highly consistent and constitute what I call the Seven C’s of Leadership. Here are the first three:

  1. Character

Without question, the single most important thing people look for in a leader is honesty and impeccable integrity. Honesty was the single most important factor they look for in a leader whom they would willingly follow. It is quite simple. If you’re going to be a successful leader, tell the truth all the time.

  1. Competence

To be an effective leader, you must demonstrate high levels of competence in two areas: in your actual job function and in your leadership skills. This means you will have to become a serious student of your profession and of how to be a great leader. Luckily, we now live in an era with access to more information (free information) than ever in the history of the world. Great leaders take time to read, study, listen, watch and learn as much as they can about how to improve and grow. They are committed lifelong learners and value this trait in the people they surround themselves with. It is the single most important thing I have learned in 25 years as a leader and teacher of leaders. You become what you focus on and like the people you spend time with.

  1. Courage

We expect leaders to be courageous, take and embrace big, bold risks, and make important decisions, but the respondents to my survey said they also “want a leader who could be courageous enough to be vulnerable.” Everyone knows there is no way to be successful completely on your own — things move too fast, there’s too much going on. No one can handle all of this alone. Yes, we all want leaders who can be courageous in the face of difficult times, but we also want leaders who can admit they don’t have all the answers, they are scared too, they need your help. Leadership is not about being invincible; it is about being honest and, at times, even vulnerable.

John Spence has traveled worldwide helping people and businesses be more successful for more than 23 years. Hear about the other four C’s of leadership in the September episode of MDRT Presents:


 

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