Episodes 15 and 16 split up the six characteristic traits for a leader who wants to start inspiring change at the heart level. 

Why at the heart level? If we think about what motivates us, a lot of us are logical thinkers about certain things, but what the things that really mobilize us are feelings like belief, love, meaning, and other heartfelt tugs. When we believe in the mission of an organization, we will work twice as hard at our job. When we see our vision so clearly that the future goals we have already seem real, we will put in the extra effort to get things done. 

Because we know that lasting change is made at the heart level, we want to learn how to translate that into leading other peoples’ hearts and not just their minds. What are six characteristics to focus on in that endeavor? 

Tune in to the full episode here!

Part 1:

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts

Part 2:

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Six Leadership Traits for Inspiring Change at the Heart Level

One: Centered

Centered is becoming more and more of a commonly used leadership trait, but it is really hard to clearly define. A good synonymous idea I have found is thinking about what I call “a quiet or calm confidence.” When I think of a friend who has a quiet, calm confidence, she is going to be confident, self assured, aware of her strengths and humble about her weaknesses. She will be transparent, but not in any emotionally burdensome way. She isn’t going to brag or be prideful. She is often not the first person to put her 2 cents into a conversation, but appreciates the value of listening. She also doesn’t shy away from speaking up and is definitely comfortable in her own skin. 

A centered leader leads from a place of having this type of quiet and calm confidence. People generally like to follow a centered leader, because we know exactly where he or she is going and where we’ll go if we follow! 

Centered leaders also have a balance between humility and boldness, and have a genuine desire to earn respect rather than demand it. They are transparent and effective in their communication style and are focused on the goals of their organization as well. A lot goes into centered leadership, which is why I put this one as the first of six! 

Two: A leader needs to be curious! 

Why curious? 

A curious person cares what’s going on in your life, genuinely wants to know where you’re from, and what your goals are.

A curious person will be the one to check in just to see how you’re doing. With that curiosity about others, a curious person will have a good understanding of how different people best receive information and communicate. 

A curious person is also a lifelong learner, and that is a great thing to be! They are creative and great at solving problems. 

Three: And considerate!

Being considerate, in my opinion, can mean the complete opposite of that at times. Sometimes, the most considerate thing you can do for a person is tell them the really hard and somewhat hurtful truth (if it’s done with love, of course). If you’re really considering the best for someone, causing temporary hurt is necessary at times.

Being considerate is being thoughtful, attentive, and noticing details about people to decide what would be best for them. Being considerate is being others-focused and putting the needs of others before your own at times. 

Under the umbrella of being considerate is where we can see some empathy come into play, which is just the gift of being able to say to someone, “I’ve been there. I’ve walked through something similar to what you’re dealing with right now, and I would love to help you feel understood and known as you walk through this challenge, too.” What a gift! 

We all want to know people and be known by people, and being considerate as a leader is a crucial key to get to that point with other people.

In a practical, day-to-day sense, you might be considerate if you ask for someone’s input on something that might end up affecting him or her. It could also look like asking permission even if you’re in charge to signal a level of respect.

As a side note: Don’t beat yourself up if you do end up overextending yourself and being “too” considerate of others, just slowly pull back a little bit and overtime I think practice will allow you to get a good grip on balancing a considerate leadership style with still care of yourself and the necessary basics.

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Four: Competency. 

Simply put: Are you able to get the job done? Do you have an understanding of how your company or team works, what your role is, what the goal is and what your part is to get there? Do you know your job and can you do it well? 

Competency is probably the quickest fix on this list, so if you don’t feel competent in your position, just ask for help!

You can always get extra training or put in additional time outside of work to learn and practice. Mentorship is great too, especially if you are feeling behind in more of the nuanced aspects of what it is that you’re doing.

The equation I keep in mind for gaining competency is this: Time + willingness to learn = improvement and competency and being able to be really great at whatever your role entails.

Something to keep in mind with regards to gaining competency is to never think of certain jobs as beneath you just because you are very competent at what you do already. Along similar lines, we never want to reach the point where we stop learning. Competency is never a destination, because we can always get better and learn more. 

Five: Characteristic #5 of a leader is consistency. 

So there are two types of consistency that I’ll talk about it: One is consistency of person, and one is consistency of action

Consistency of person can be thought of as authenticity. In an episode of John Maxwell’s podcast, he talks about self awareness and says, “the less we know about ourselves the more we role play” and the more we role play the more inconsistent we become across different environments.

I can’t reiterate this enough. I want to walk into a room of strangers and be the same at my core as I am with a group of family or friends. Of course, dynamics are different, but there is no need to be a shape-shifter, or a people pleaser, and there is certainly no need to compromise on core values. 

Consistency of character is a very valued trait in a leader because overtime, the people you’re around will notice that they can always expect the same from you. Your consistent character can then make you be considered more loyal and trustworthy! All great things.

The second type of consistency is consistency of action, and by that I mean:

Are you super enthusiastic one day, and then you have no interest the next?

Are you super driven and productive one day and then a little more lazy the next?

Even if you’ve never run before in your life, you know that runners always pace themselves.

Being consistent in action is just pacing yourself! It isn’t limiting yourself, but pacing yourself to do the same or better every day. That doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t have off days, by any means, but when you get thrown off the horse, you’ll just dust yourself off and get back on.

This is actually one of the areas where I think that leadership and wellness overlap SO much.

There is such a thing as burnout, mental exhaustion, and not being as productive as a result. 

This is where it becomes a key to your future success and a critical step towards a good future trajectory to focus on getting your body to a place where it is flourishing.

A consistent leader will also show up consistently. There will be days when you don’t feel like it, but you still show up.

A way that I try to encourage this type of action consistency in my life is by reviewing my priorities. My priorities are going to look a lot different from yours, but my big picture priorities would be to serve God, serve Drew, and serve others. Reminding myself of those priorities will really quickly realign whatever it is I don’t “feel” like doing to get me to do it and be consistent. 

For example, it was easy when I was in college to say “no” to a party, because I would check in with my priority list. A super late night that would make me sleep through class the next day just was not a priority.

But, priorities can also change, so now that I am living in a brand new town where making relationship connections is important to me, I might be more inclined to say “yes” to an event as long as it doesn’t interfere with things that are non-negotiable to me. 

A consistent leadership style involves a consistency or authenticity of being and of personality and values. It also involves a consistency in the amount of effort and care you put into a task or job or goal.

Six: Our last leadership characteristic is honesty. 

There are two types of honest leaders: Ones who are honest with themselves and ones who are honest with others.

I think honesty as a leadership characteristic does a great job of implying humility, and it leads to a very genuine personality and authentic personality. 

In my opinion, there should not be such a thing as an authentic version of you, because you should just be honest with yourself and be the same you all the time, anywhere, and with any people. 

Something important to encourage being the same person all the time is being honest with yourself. Being honest with ourselves has more to do with perception, accurate reflection, humility, and self awareness. 

You need to be able to say to yourself, for example, “I think I really hurt that person’s feelings” before you can ever expect to have the decency to apologize to someone who you hurt or correct something you messed up on.

On the other hand, people who aren’t honest with themselves blame others at the drop of a hat, and they’re also more susceptible to developing a bit of an ego.

People who are honest with themselves have an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, and are neither lacking in confidence entirely or overly confident and obnoxiously proud.

The other type of honesty is honesty with others. Like most things, this doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes, but that you should admit to yourself when you’ve done something wrong, and then just go correct it!

I being honest is something you struggle with, it is okay if it takes practice, and it also has a lot to do with who you surround yourself with. If your friends lie all the time and are nonchalant about it,  it is going to be much harder for you to kick this habit to the curb.

It’s a habit muscle like anything else and if you exercise it, it will grow

But it starts with you! Honesty with self before honesty with others.

I hope this six leadership characteristics resonated with you! 

Here is a quick review: 

• Be a centered leader
• Be a curious leader
• Be a considerate leader
• Be a competent leader
• Be a consistent leader
• Be an honest leader

And keep up the great work!

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