Leadership Qualities

I am fortunate enough to have been invited to belong to a Mentoring Circle; this is a group of leaders and emerging leaders in the Coordinating Center of Infectious Disease at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where I work. I was invited to join the group by our Chief Management Official, Reggie Mebane an incredible leader.

At the last meeting we watched portions of a Federal Express Leadership video that discussed five qualities of a great leader:

1. Challenge the process
2. Inspiring a shared vision
3. Enabling other to act
4. Modeling the way
5. Encouraging the heart

Since then I have been have been observing leaders who I admire at work, church, and other places and watching for these qualities and steps. It is interesting to me that the ability to utilize these qualities consistently is present in very case of those I consider to be great leaders.

The other aspect that Reggie discussed during the meeting was the fact that these are not business specific qualities, that they are universal and applicable in every aspect of life, from work, home, church, and every little league.

Being a great leader requires one to look those you are leading more than yourself. That is what these qualities encourage. The greatest leaders get the most discretionary effort from those they lead and ensure that those they lead get recognized for this effort. By making others they lead look great, they in turn look great too!