What Makes a Good Leader? Here's What I've Learned After 20-Plus Years as a CEO.

What makes a bully leader?

Ask immoderate entrepreneur, and you're apt to get different (albeit, beautiful similar) answers. You mightiness person heard that a good leader is strong, decisive, assured and honest. Or possibly a "good" leader to you is optimistic, imaginative and forward-thinking.

After complete 20 years arsenic a CEO, I tin show you, my meaning of "leader" has evolved complete time. Facing challenges, resolving unit conflicts, making mistakes and overcoming burnout will do that to you. So, while I don't declare to person the textbook meaning of leadership, I tin stock what I see to beryllium the essentials erstwhile it comes to being a positive, compassionate leader. And I've learned that entrepreneurial activity crosses each assemblage of business.

Related: 50 Rules for Being a Great Leader

1. Set intentional habits

A leader is personification who is intentional pinch their habits. Whether you're portion of the "rise and grind" crowd aliases for illustration a much leisurely pace, you've fixed thought to really you negociate your day, your wellness and your business.

As an entrepreneur, my regular is everything — not because I require regimented clip blocks, but because, if I didn't group priorities, what's important to maine would spell by the wayside. By mounting intentional habits, I cognize I've created clip for my beingness health, intelligence health, family and leisure, successful summation to the responsibilities of my business.

Without intention, we are astatine consequence of falling unfortunate to bad habits. Distraction and avoidance go our downfall. A awesome leader knows their priorities, directs power to the activities apt to person the top effect and manages their time, not the different measurement around.

2. Practice extremist honesty

I first learned astir extremist honesty successful Brad Blanton's book. And astatine the start, I really struggled pinch it. I realized really often I utilized "little achromatic lie" excuses to easiness my discomfort and debar conflict. But this wasn't doing maine aliases my squad immoderate favors.

Through practice, I learned that extremist honesty is astir prioritizing transparency moreover erstwhile it's uncomfortable. This doesn't mean being brutally honorable (you tin show the truth without hurting others), but keeping pinch unfastened connection and vulnerability. Radical honesty leads to amended conflict solution and further refinement of your characteristic arsenic a leader. It besides builds spot pinch your team.

Many business owners judge that you request to beryllium nonstop aliases moreover harsh to beryllium effective. In reality, a awesome leader speaks the truth pinch compassion, while seeking to understand the perspectives of those astir them. To me, extremist honesty is basal if you want to resoluteness conflict the correct way, not the easy way.

Related: Stop Lying to Your Team — And Yourself. Try Radical Honesty Instead.

3. Generosity complete individual gain

As business owners, galore of america are drawn by the entreaty of financial gain. And while this is not inherently bad, mounting your passageway imagination connected profit unsocial tin make you unsighted to the much personally lucrative and soul-giving opportunities.

I genuinely judge that what you springiness is returned to you successful dividends, not ever arsenic financial rewards but arsenic individual development, friendships and life experiences. A awesome leader understands that generosity is much important and impactful than financial net alone.

Give to your community, your team, your friends and your family. Whether that's done service, donations, sharing knowledge aliases providing profession advancement, you'll consciousness a stronger consciousness of intent than being a profit-first entrepreneur.

4. Tackle challenges pinch compassion

A leader is personification who does not awkward distant from challenges. At the aforesaid time, a leader does not tackle challenges pinch fierce tenacity, but a compassionate, thoughtful attack that considers aggregate factors and points of view. Resolving conflicts successful this measurement is difficult, but that is the measurement of an intentional, self-aware leader.

For one, a awesome leader does not bulldoze different people's perspectives. They return the clip to perceive to input, see the accusation and proceed pinch what's correct for the statement arsenic a whole. Sometimes, it intends knowing erstwhile to opportunity "no" — moreover to yourself.

At the aforesaid time, a leader does not hit themselves up for past failures. They see each situation to beryllium an opportunity to learn, flooded and grow. It's overmuch much productive to transmission optimistic power into furnishings endeavors than to fixate connected the past.

Leadership intends having compassion for others and yourself, moreover erstwhile making decisions is difficult and mistakes are inevitable.

Related: 5 Common Personnel Problems and How to Address Them

5. Know your limits

A leader is not infallible. You person skills, but you besides person limits. A awesome leader tin admit the aptitudes successful others and cognize erstwhile to measurement distant from activities that nary longer service them.

This does not mean delegating conscionable for the liking of lightening your workload but knowing your limits and identifying your complement successful others. Very often, location are group successful your mindset fresh and capable to measurement up and beryllium their chops.

As a CEO, I needed to find my "no person." This is the personification who tells maine erstwhile I've gotten successful my ain measurement and erstwhile it's clip to assign responsibility to much equipped squad members. He prevents maine from getting pulled into the weeds alternatively than focusing connected the priorities that matter astir for my institution astatine a precocious level.

A leader knows what they're bully at, what they're not truthful bully astatine and erstwhile it's clip to let abstraction for others to measurement in.

Every leader is different. And while the essentials of honesty, integrity and squad guidance travel into play, the nonstop skills will alteration from 1 personification to the next. I promote each entrepreneur to research their leadership style and specify their ain "essentials" — the non-negotiables, if you will. Recognize that these whitethorn displacement complete time, but starring pinch volition is ever the way guardant to maximizing your impact.