Leadership means something different to everyone. This was what I discovered at my latest group coaching session. Of course, I was expecting a difference of opinion. But the one opinion that surprised me was that some thought of leadership as a role and not a skill. The old-school leadership was your boss and his boss and his boss’ boss. And that is still true today. But for someone in a senior leadership position who doesn’t have leadership qualities, are they still a “leader”?
For those who considered leadership in today’s definition had a different primary quality in mind. Some answers were: trust, respect and honesty. Many didn’t think that a required quality had to be taking initiative or being proactive as most didn’t like to be accountable.
The qualities I had are:
- Trust
- Respect
- Honest
- Accountable
- Self-Motivated
- Empathy
- Confidence
- Vision
- Servers others
- Inspire
- Listen
- Aware
- Optimism and positive energy
What do you think? Can you be a leader without being accountable?