Reflecting on Leaders

Reflect on past and current leaders you have interacted with. Identify and describe the top three positive leadership characteristics you have observed – and the top negative characteristics you have observed.Top three positive characteristics- optimistic attitudeThe best leaders and managers I've worked with have been optimistic. They may be stressed, or have a million things to deliver and not enough time, but they keep their composure, remain light-hearted, and exhibit confidence that things will get done, and the world won't end. They don't spend all their time talking about how impossible tasks are, or complaining about the workload to people who can't change it.- listening, listening, listeningTo really engage with the people around them, the great leaders I've worked with have relied on being available, being open to ideas, and listening to everything their employees have to say. They don't just want to know how projects are going, they want to know how life is going, what you think about the new artwork in the hallway, and if you've already eaten lunch yet today.- persistently trying to improveThe great leaders I've worked with don't settle. They didn't reach a plateau in their project or career and decide that was enough. They treat all accomplishments and failures alike, as opportunities and experiences to learn from, build and grow. They’re life-long learners who infect everyone around them with their curiosity, and they always strive to do work better than they did it the last time. Top three negative characteristics- delegating work without understanding itBad leaders and managers think that the only step to solving a problem is giving it to someone else. Once they've successfully delegated a responsibility, they don't care to hear anything about it until it's finished, and once it is, they'll take responsibility for it, without ever understanding what the solution to the problem was.- being 'too busy' to say helloThe worst way for leaders and managers to engage with colleagues is to only open conversations when meetings and calendars mandate that they need to. They project an attitude of distance from everyone around them, and create obstacles to communication. They may exacerbate the problem by being friendly only with people they consider to be ‘higher up’ than them, without spending time building relationships with those lower on the ladder.- relying on past performance to justify current positionBad leaders may have been successful in the past. But when they refuse to take on new challenges, assuming that they've already 'done enough,' they block the way for others who are eager to try new ideas and attack bigger problems. They coast through new projects, putting great effort into trimming all the hard work out of them before they even begin. They rely on their past achievements being ‘good enough’ and never feel inspired to improve what was done before.