Do your employees step up and perform at the highest level?  If so, it is probably due in part to good leadership.  I’ve been writing a lot lately about corporate culture, and started thinking about whether your employees are inspired to work for you, or just have to work for you.

There are a lot of qualities associated with good leaders, like courage, decisiveness, self-control, etc., but when I think of what it takes to inspire and motivate others, I think some special qualities are really important.  Here’s my top ten:

• Unwavering honesty – always tells the truth, wants to hear the truth, believes that truth works
• Transparency – this is a companion of honesty – telling people all they need and want to know
• Justice and fairness applied across the board (no double standard)
• Compassion – genuinely cares about others (empathy fits in with this too)
• Lead by example – set a high standard, and be willing to do what you want others to do
• Collaboration – encouraging others to contribute to your success
• Vision (and can articulate a compelling course of action to others)
• Enthusiasm – be the champion and head cheerleader for whatever you advocate
• Empowerment – let others own what they do (and no micromanaging!)
• Embrace Change – be open and flexible and take suggestions seriously

If your favorite is missing from this list – please add a comment so we can all learn!

Tags: inspiration, leader, leadership, qualities of leaders

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