Home » Learning » Leadership Tools » Leadership Tools » Personal Leadership Development

Personal Leadership Development

Call 1-800-598-7662 to learn about LRI's leadership coaching.

Personal Leadership Development

Leaders need to develop certain personal qualities in order to succeed. They need to be honorable, have a passion for what they do, display a well-rounded sense of humor, and stay humble and curious to learn. In addition, they need to become master communicators and adept at dealing with four paradoxes of leadership. All of these qualities can be learned. When blended together, these are the personal qualities that distinguish great leaders.

When Franklin Roosevelt was running for president in 1932, a reporter asked him what he thought the job entailed. “The Presidency is not merely an administrative office,” he replied. “It is preeminently a place of moral leadership. All our great presidents were leaders of thought in times when certain historic ideas in the life of the nation had to be clarified.”

Roosevelt was equating moral leadership with clarifying the ideas of the nation. I would say that moral leadership is also displaying certain personal qualities that inspire trust and generate spark. In my new book Leading at Light Speed, I focus on those qualities.

Warren Bennis has said, “The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born. In fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” All the qualities I talk about are learned qualities. They may not be easy. But they are within everyone’s reach.

To build trust and spark, and to lead at light speed, you need to develop certain personal qualities. I call these the four H’s of leadership: heart, honor, humility and humor. You also need to learn how to be a master communicator, effectively using all four powers of communication to express yourself, to listen effectively, to control your intention and your attention, and to communicate with an appreciation of different “styles.”

Effective leaders need to be comfortable with paradoxes. Leaders are chosen based on the congruence between the behaviors they manifest and the values that pertain in their culture. But what does this mean in a global organization? Ideas and notions about leadership can vary dramatically depending on where you are located – from country to country, office to office – even within the same building. Effective leaders know that while the organization operates in many cultures and worldviews, the organization has its own set of core values. They make a priority of ensuring the core values of the organization are understood by every employee and customer.

When you put all these qualities together, you get one word: “integrity.” The word literally means “to be whole, unimpaired.” It conveys the notion of being trustworthy. It also implies the ability to think and act in ways that may be counter to the prevailing winds, but in ways that flow out of, in Roosevelt’s words, “a place of moral leadership.”

Improve Your Leadership Skills

To speak with a leadership coach about how LRI can help develop your leadership skills and implement the best practices of high performing organizations, call (916) 325-1190 or email info@leadingresources.com.

Tools for Building a High-Performing Organization

Download over 100 high quality leadership tools.

Learn about the 10 best practices of high-performing organizations.