By Dana Phillips.

Are you respected as a leader? Whether you are a top national director with hundreds of people in your organization or a new leader who’s just begun to sponsor others, you are certain to find yourself in the position where others look to you for leadership. The greatest leaders share many common traits. By learning and practicing them, you’ll gain respect as you lead others.

  1. Leaders have dreams. They follow a vision, get excited about it, and share it with others. Ask yourself what your dream is. Write it down and think about how you are going to get others excited about it, too.
  2. Leaders praise others. It is a leader’s job to uplift others and reward them for doing well. As a leader, you will also want to let others know that their contributions are important to the overall mission.
  3. Leaders listen carefully. Because they genuinely care about the members of their team, great leaders take an interest in their people’s dreams, doubts, and ideas for making improvements. Listening is learning!
  4. Leaders are honest. As a leader, you will earn the respect of your team by simply telling the truth. If you prove that you can be trusted, you will gain the confidence, loyalty, and dedication of your team.
  5. Leaders are modest. You will earn the admiration of your team members by giving them more credit than they expect, and taking more blame than you deserve. When you set a goal for your team, it becomes their goal, too—not just yours.
  6. Leaders know how to have fun. Don’t be too serious! You will make your team feel more comfortable and enjoy their work more if they know you can laugh. Find the humor in your work and share it with your team. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

How Do You Rate As a Leader?

If you look at your leadership and don’t measure up well on these six items, then you might want to look into some leadership training and coaching.  Team Connections Pro might be just the answer you seek.  TC Pro offers coaching (twice a month) along with access to hundreds of hours of audios and videos.  You can also find articles and eBooks to stretch your thinking.  Check us out.  Your initial subscription is $47 and you can continue with the same cost every month.  You can stop your subscription any time you like.  You owe it to yourself to see.