Thursday, August 06, 2015

GLS15, Session 1, Bill Hybels–Intangible traits of successful leaders

Leadership is moving people and groups from here to a new and better place. It's not about pontificating how much you know.

Armed with enough humility, leaders can learn from anyone. With sufficient humility, the religious can learn from the non-religious. Different traditions can learn from one another. 

Intangible traits of successful leaders.

Grit. The enemy of grit is ease. Leaders develop grit in organizations by demonstrating grit.

Self-awareness. Who are you trying to impress? What in your past is affecting you (unconsciously, negatively) even today? What blind spots are you not noticing (that others are aware of)? The dangers of blind spots is that you really aren't aware of these shortcomings. 

Resourcefulness. Learning agility. Curious. Experimenters. Willing to fail and stick to trying to find a solution. 

Self-sacrificing love. Love can transform the ones you lead. It is at the core of leadership. Vision and strategy are important, but they are not the core. Don't allow "professionalism" to become an excuse for not loving and showing it.

Sense of meaning. Leaders develop a sense of meaning for all in the organization. The "Why" of an organization. Why do I want to give a large part of my life to this organization? Why do I do what I do? What is my highest priority? What is your passion? 

These intangible traits in a leader develop unity, teamwork, total trust – essential to a successful organization.

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