Most people in business have their own opinion on the important skills, values and characteristics that make a good leader. Many books and articles have been written on the subject.

There are numerous definitions of leadership, my personal choice is “leadership is a privilege that should not be entered into lightly, the ability to lead, inspire, direct and influence people to follow in the achievement of a common vison, objectives and goals.”

Leaders are vision creators and this is not limited to a political or business situation. At one point in our lives, everyone attempts leadership by influencing or persuading others. The situation may be in a business, education, political organization, relationships and families.

In mentoring leaders I ask the mentee to reflect on the “role models” who have influenced their career, either in business or their wider community, then draw from each “leadership tools” to grow their own “leadership toolbox”.

I add to my leadership toolbox weekly, when I meet business leaders and other influencers in my network. It is a never ending process. Tools I have in my leadership toolbox are as follows:

Skills – Provides direction, is consist, Listens, provides vision, communicates, empowers, develops, changes, inspires, decisive.

Values – Reliability, Integrity, Trusted, Partnership, Honesty

Characteristics:

• Creates and translates a compelling vision with focus to the business stakeholders
• Leads teamwork
• Leads execution & performance of the business plan
• Sets then lives the business values and standards

 Leadership doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all definition. We all have our own ideas about what it means to be a good leader. For example, some people think leadership means guiding others to complete a particular task, while others believe it means motivating the members of your team to be their best selves. But while the definitions may vary, the general sentiments remain the same: leaders are people who know how to achieve goals and inspire people along the way.