A New Breed of Leader: 8 Qualities That Matter Most in the Real World, What Works, What Doesn’t & Why

The 21st Century Leadership Puzzle

There are eight qualities in the New Breed Leadership Puzzle. The value of each piece lies in the tools it gives you to shape your personal leadership strength and to reinforce your ability to serve others.

Competence Matters…Building Purpose
Competence is doing the right thing, the right way, at the right time and it tops your list of leadership qualities that matter most. When you know what you are doing, have the experience and knowledge to take risks and make wise decisions, have a deep sense of purpose and a healthy dose of charisma, you can lead people through beneficial actions into positive results. Living in a constant state of innovation, where your competence is continually nurtured, moves your dream into reality. When you recognize that competence begets competence and that knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied, you’re saying, in effect, to your followers, “We can learn and grow together.” You build a sense of connectedness and a community of growth. When vision and purpose are backed by competence, you can move mountains.

Accountability Matters…Fostering Trust
Very little in the realm of leadership is more important than the trust that accountability generates. Leading is primarily about the relationship between the leader and the led, and trust is at its core. It’s the contract you make with your followers by holding yourself to account and then following up with strong ethical actions. Your leadership deepens when followers know you’re reliable and that you are a person on whom they can depend.

Accountability is about doing what’s right even when no one is looking. It is the backbone of any successful entity and continually speaks to the integrity and ethics of your organization and you as a leader. Whether you’re leading at home, in the community or at work, even one example of accountability can set others on the right road.

Openness Matters…Generating Integrity
Openness involves candor and frankness. Its most important byproduct, integrity, is at the heart of earning the right to be called a leader. Integrity reveals your true intentions and greatly affects your followers and your entire organization because it reflects on everyone who is associated with you. Transparent actions and policies are the currency by which you garner the loyalty, commitment and willingness of your followers. When your words and actions match, credibility cannot help but follow, and then you earn trust. Being an open leader enables you to lift everyone and everything to a better place because of the integrity it generates. It is vital for leaders at all levels, in all sectors, across the globe to embrace a level of openness that transforms ideas and processes, visions and strategies.

Language Matters...Connecting Relationships
The power to communicate is the key to forging productive relationships. Your words inspire or discourage, hurt or help, divide or connect, cause fear or give hope. String them together artistically and sensitively, and they become a brilliant instrument by which you connect with your followers.

The impact of your skillful use of language cannot be exaggerated. You never know whom you will touch with your words or how you will influence their lives. Be assured that when you speak in aspirational language, you lift minds and hearts. When you speak in clear, honest language, human bridges are built. When you use your verbal expertise to reinforce the organization’s goals, values, ideas and ideals in the minds and spirit of your followers, your communication becomes an art form. You serve your followers best when your mission is articulated by both what you say and what you do. Words really matter.

Values Matter…Forging Community
Your principles are like a fixed beacon giving direction and purpose to the other seven qualities that matter most to a New Breed Leader. ‘Values’ is a subtle, intangible and elusive quality with different meanings for different people under different circumstances. You have values that give you a moral compass. Most companies and organizations have a set of values that represent them to their constituents. Even our communities have certain values that make them different from a nearby town or city. Because of the enormous daily changes and challenges it is a worthy and honorable process to closely examine these values that influence you and your ‘communities.’ The authenticity you establish from a renewed set of principles gives you the creditability to guide others as they navigate the sometimes-daunting issues of our new century.

Perspective Matters…Establishing Balance
Now is time to fill your leadership toolbox with as much intellectual, emotional and physical perspective as you can gather for your journey to the new horizons of the future. Most importantly, when you have the counterpoint of past and present to help you transition into the future; you are ready to be a New Breed leader. Your fresh clear perspective and the balance it generates – yields a sense of promise, a sense of a better life, and a sense of progress that builds community and connectedness. As you learn from past failure, you are less likely to make the same mistake again. When you gain insight from past success, you can preserve your strengths and build on them. A real world, true-to-life perspective gives you the staying power to handle the crush of daily events.

Power Matters…Mastering Influence
Power is the prime mover of people and events. You can’t lead effectively without it. Great leaders do not shrink from power, nor do they seek it unnecessarily. They know that having clout often intimidates others, so they use their power judiciously. They ‘pull rank’ only in emergencies. It is about influencing others to follow you, even when they don’t know where you are headed. Those who make the greatest contribution will use power wisely. They understand that the highest and best use of power is to direct others and help them achieve their full potential.

Of all the examples you set as a leader, the wise use of humble power has the most long term impact. If the basis of your desire for power is one of service, then your leadership acquires an aura of dignity and your influence is increased a thousand fold.

Humility Matters…Inspiring Authenticity
Humility, like leadership itself, it is earned, not claimed. The most humble and effective leaders do not even think about taking steps to be humble. They just ‘are.’ Humility is a state of ‘being.’ Humility comes from deep within you. It’s how you feel about your self, how you value others. It’s an attitude, philosophy and a belief system that says, “The way for me to be the best leader possible is to be the best servant to my followers.” Authentic leaders know that humility is not weakness and arrogance is not strength. When a leader is humble, it is usually because he or she scores high on emotional intelligence. Such leaders are comfortable with themselves, without a need to constantly talk about themselves or brag about what they have, what they do or who they know.

Transcendent Challenges of 21st-Century Leadership
It is a time of transcendence, a time of limitless possibilities. No generation of leaders, at every level of society and across the globe, has had such an opportunity to solve our greatest problems and bring all peoples together to work and live in a safe and harmonious planet. You can stand up and be counted as one who will do his or her part and knowing that in combination with millions of other leaders, you’ll leave deep footprints forming a global path to a better world for all the generations that follow.