What sets a good leader apart from a mediocre one? An extraordinary leader is a person who has learned how to influence others, including their thoughts, feelings and behaviors; people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Oprah are just a few examples. Here we’ll cover the 10 essential qualities that all excellent leaders share
Extraordinary hunger and drive
Hunger and drive set a leader apart from a follower. Leaders have an insatiable hunger to make something happen; they must do, create and share. This drive is the force that makes them unstoppable.
- Anything that intensifies hunger and drives within you will make you a better leader.
Passionate and effective communicator
To influence others, you must know what already influences them
- You must understand who your audience is and how to reach that particular audience
- Your passion brings the energy; your effectiveness comes from knowing your audience and communicating to them in a way that moves them
Ability to care, connect and break patterns
When you care enough to connect with someone and learn their patterns, you gain the ability to influence them
- This skill is vital because as a leader, you’re going to come up against someone or some group that’s going to try to stop your progress
Authentic and Congruent
Lead by example and never ask others to do something they are not willing to do themselves
- Have authenticity to create credibility and stay congruent with your words and actions
- All great leaders have stories of possibility instead of impossibility
- Don’t give up
Exceptional and compelling vision
To really stand out and influence others, your vision needs to capture and grab the hearts, minds, and energies of a significant number of people.
- When you have a specific purpose that benefits those around you, others will be drawn in to help you reach your goal.
Influencing others with the head, heart, and hands
You can influence others for the greater good in everyday interactions – even if you’re not in a leadership role
- Here are three proven ways to influence people daily
- Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for their opinion
Absolute certainty
Leaders must have absolute core belief that they can bring their vision to life
- Fear of not following their vision is greater than any fear associated with moving forward
- Use your fear to push them even harder
- Passion is infectious
- Conviction is key to influencing others
Insanely persistent, yet flexible, in their approach
Persistence doesn’t mean being immovable. Leaders are flexible so they can make a change when something isn’t working.
- One mistake those who want to learn how to influence others make is that while they’ve mastered persistence, they’ve also become rigid.
Influence with the heart
These types of appeals connect with a person’s emotions. They can promote good feelings or trigger empathy for those who are suffering.
- Emotional appeals hinge on the values of those you’re trying to influence, as well as their sense of belonging.
Influence with the hands
When it comes from a place of empathy, compassion and a desire to elevate everyone to a higher level, influence helps make the world a better place
- Leaders change the state of others, and the world around them, by telling an effective story
- They say what they mean, care about those they are influencing and know how to tailor their approach to individuals or specific groups
Brilliant strategist
Figure out a strategy to get from where you are to where you want to be to make your vision real
- Recognize a strategy that is effective and utilize it for their own agenda
- Be able to work with a variety of people
- Know when to give and when to demand
- Understand when your team needs rest
Unreasonable expectations and standards
As leaders, we must create a culture where people live bigger lives with higher expectations of what they can do and how they are treated.
- The only way something revolutionary happens is when you won’t settle and when you know how to influence others not to settle.
Courage and faith to act
Having courage means you’re afraid of a task and you do it anyway, and having faith means you are able to work toward a challenging goal because you believe it serves a greater good.
- Extraordinary leaders have the courage to act and take risks along with the faith that somehow, even when something seems challenging, they’ll have courage to get back up after they failed.
