have had an eye for new young talent. How do you know when someone has the potential to be a real talent? Mr. Washington simply responded, “I know it when I see it.” Similarly, we may not always be able to identify when we are in the presence of a great leader but, like Denzel said, we “…know it when we see it.” At the heart of great leadership is a dogged determination to ensure that the people who report to and depend on us as leaders are first in our focus. Below are five habits that great leaders demonstrate so frequently that they have become habits for them. These five habits are the H.E.A.R.T. of great leadership.
Here’s what I’ve found…” You may have been on the receiving end of this type of canned response to your expression of how you feel about a thing. Unlike this rehearsed response, empathy is the ability to understand what someone else feels and to see things from their point of view. Empathetic leaders try their best to engage in what their teammate is experiencing. The interesting thing is that the same situation can be different for each person. The empathetic leader recognizes the presence of these differences and while they may not know what to say or do, they can communicate the sentiment that says, “I see you and I care.”
Acceptance One of our deepest felt human needs/ desires is the need for acceptance. People are attracted to acceptance and repelled by rejection. This is the
Humility Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less (frequently). As a leader, there is nothing wrong with putting others ahead ourselves. In fact, a leader who constantly puts
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Speaker, Trainer, and Business Consultant Erv Watson
need that many gangs exploit in their recruitment efforts. They realize that many young people are neglected so they can gain their loyalty by feigning love and appreciation. People desire to be accepted as their authentic selves. When leaders appreciate and accept the person as they are, it empowers and engages them on an emotional level. That is not to say that we should excuse poor performance, but we can accept the person while holding them accountable for substandard performance.
themselves ahead of their people will find themselves with a team of people who do the same. If your people are not putting the customer first, you are already in a downward spiral, but you may not know it yet.
Empathy In a previous life, I had sales training that taught us how to respond to potential client questions/ rejections. We were told to say “I know how you feel. I’ve felt the same way.
Leadership can be a “hard-to-describe,” nebulous thing that we experience in our lives but one thing is for sure, when we see poor leadership, we know it but
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when we see great leadership we don’t simply know it but we FEEL IT! I was recently at a leadership summit where Denzel Washington was asked, “You
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