Eleven Attributes, One Toolkit

I kicked all of this off by sharing how close I came in my late teens to tangling with a giant oak tree just a few miles from where we live today. Just after that, I shared the two conversations I had while mulling the idea behind Making the Best of YOUR Bad Situations, and one the men followed up on our conversation by sending an email listing the eleven leadership attributes Hill defined all those years prior. I said it then and I’ll say it again now: there’s no such thing as coincidence! Those two conversations and the email that came just hours after the second left me feeling a heavy responsibility for detailing all we’ve worked through in this process since. And I can honestly say that it’s been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Not only have I felt extremely weird sharing each adversity, I’ve struggled pushing through this project more than I have any other I can think of in years.

I won’t point back to the specific spots where I’ve referenced each, but here’s Hill’s entire list of leadership attributes again, complete with his definitions:

1. Unwavering Courage based upon knowledge of self, and of one's occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader very long.
2. Self-Control. The person who cannot control himself or herself can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty examples for one's followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.
3. A Keen Sense of Justice. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of followers.
4. Definiteness of Decision. The person who wavers in their decisions, shows that they are not sure of themselves, cannot lead others successfully.
5. Definiteness of Plans. The successful leader must plan their work and work the plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical, definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later they will land on the rocks.
6. The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he/she requires of their followers.
7. A Pleasing Personality. No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all the factors of a pleasing personality.
8. Sympathy and Understanding. The successful leader must be in sympathy with their followers. Moreover, they must understand them and their problems.
9. Mastery of Detail. Successful leadership calls for mastery of the details of the leader's position.
10. Willingness to Assume Full Responsibility. The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of their followers. If he/she tries to shift this responsibility, they will not remain the leaders. If one of the followers makes a mistake, and shows themselves incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he/she who failed.
11. Cooperation. The successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce the followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

Every single one of these has helped me grow as a leader, but I can’t point to a single one that made me a leader on its own. When applied consistently and together, each of these build on the other and form a cohesive toolkit rather than a trophy case of individual accomplishments.Courage without plans is a speech. Plans without sympathy is a spreadsheet (and who needs another spreadsheet?). Cooperation without justice is people-pleasing. Building the complete toolkit as we search for every possible seed hidden in each adversity is the point, and that’s exactly how we have a shot at taking full possession of the equal or greater benefit later on.

Applying these eleven attributes to build that one toolkit will, as much as anything I could possibly point to, provides us with what we need to lead from wherever we stand. We’ll look at six steps for doing exactly that next. Now, though, take a moment and circle the two attributes you lean on and the one you’re most likely to skip altogether. That skipped one is probably hiding in your current bad situation.