“…I’ve prepared a list of attributes that, when followed, will GUARANTEE you a lasting position of leadership…”

Characteristics and Attributes

of a Sustaining Leader

One of the problems in describing what characteristics and attributes that a “good leader” should process is there are too few attributes listed as the required criteria. The typical criteria is: Commitment, diligence, staying focused, honesty, motivation, and tenaciousness; All good, and necessary, but hardly adequate to sustain a leadership role. How many of these lists include… abnormally-normal, boldness, kindness, loving, prayerful, patient, respectful, or yielding? I venture to say…very few. I’ve prepared a list of attributes that, when followed, will GUARANTEE you a lasting position of leadership.

Is it possible to be a “very successful and sustaining Leader,” without processing all of these attributes? I don’t think so. Some may find temporary, momentary, or occasional …success. There are many former and respected Leaders who have enjoyed degrees of success for periods of time, but all ended up in the short-term column because they lacked most of these attributes listed below, or placed little import on them. Some may say, for an example, that one or two of our Presidents have enjoyed permanent “successful” leadership status; but I submit, another No. Any leader… who has negatively compromised his moral compass, should, in a general sense, be considered a failure.

Is it reasonable to expect someone to be “this good?” Why not? It’s their choice. You may think that some of my attributes are too simple. Example: Abnormally-normal is one who is so abnormal, that “it” has become his/her normal. Remember, many of our national and global Leaders are making 100’s of millions of dollars; and all of them would like to “sustain” their position of leadership…at any cost. I maintain, if you want to maintain a sustained leadership position, then you best incase yourself in “all” of these characteristics and attributes; rather than the most popularly accepted ones.

If one were to think that following all of these attributes, as being difficult, then THINK….what Jesus must have been talking about when He said in Matthew 19: 23-25 “Then said Jesus to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? … Being a Leader, much less a “very successful and sustaining Leader” is no cake-walk; which is why there are so few of them.

So… where do you stand against this list? Check them off… you know better than anyone. To be successful, one cannot be satisfied the status-quo. One MUST be able to adapt to ALL of those conditions that make him/her very successful, or accept, instead; a short-term leadership role. Maybe you could “add-to” the list, so as to help the rest of us reach our career goals.

1. Articulate, anchored, assertive, authoritive, autocratic, abstract, anxious, adaptive, accommodating, adaptive, able, abnormally-normal, acclimate
2. Boldness, bountiful,
3. Committed, creditable, consistent, changeable, competitive, calm, crisis-centered, communicative, confident, clarity, collaborative, courageous, candid, compassionate, caring, charitable, conversational, contented, critical, confrontational, contagious, capable
4. Diligent, determined, declarative, dynamic, deductive-reasoning, decisive, deliberate, delegating, demanding
5. Educated, experienced, energetic, empathic, engaging, empowering, efficient, enduring, emphatic, enthusiastic, ethical
6. Focused, fearful, faithful, firm, flexible, facilitating, foresighted, fair, forgiving
7. Giving, generous, genuine, gracious, gifted
8. Happy, honorable, humble, humorous, hands-on, honest, helpful, healthy
9. Integrity, inventive, inquisitive, inspiring, innovative, insightful, integrating
10. Joyful
11. Kind, keen, knowledgeable
12. Loyal, loving, a listener, laudable
13. Motivating, moral, mature, manageable
14. Nurturing, natural
15. Open-minded, organized
16. Poised, polite, protective, precise, persuavasive, patient, prayerful, pro-active, persevering, pragmatic
17. Quick, quantitative, quirky
18. Respectful, resourceful, reasonable, responsible, rewarding, ready, reliable
19. Spiritual, skilled, steadfast, strategic, servitude
20. Thoughtful, tenacious, tactful, tactical, tasteful, truthful, trusting
21. Unbiased, un-selfish, un-wavering
22. Versatile, verbal, viable, valuable, vertex, visionary, venerable, vivacious
23. Watchful, willful, wanting, wishful
24. Xfinity
25. Yielding, yokeless
26. Zestful

….Blessings…..cjlb…..12/17/14