A brilliant leader is made of simple stuff really; here are some of the things they do to make them unmatchable among others.
They:
1. Create discontinuity in their organization to expose opportunities for competitive advantage and growth.
2. Make getting employee input their #1 priority everyday.
3. Are intolerant of being the same as others in the marketplace.
4. Are at ease with uncertainty; they see it as a major source of innovation.
5. Inspire people to get out of their comfort zone and make mistakes.
6. Learn voraciously and contunuously.
7. Practice the art of ‘constructive emulation’ — building on someone else’s idea to make it even better.
8. Are not incremental thinkers; they are always looking for breakthrough change.
9. Are rarely charismatic; their appeal to others comes from their honesty and integrity.
10. Are customer addicts and model this behavior to the rest of the organization.
11. Serve people not command them to action.
12. Are consummate story-tellers, breathing life into the organization’s strategy by providing examples of successful execution.
13. ‘Bash barriers’ and remove obstacles to progress on the inside to make it easier for people to get their job done.
14. Constantly and passionately communicate the organization’s vision and strategy to capture the hearts as well as the minds of people.
15. Ask “How can I help?” rather than order people to ‘do this’!
16. Give hope to people in times of chaotic change.
17. Are obsessed with making tries as the route to innovation and creativity.
18. Are mindless about executing the business plan of the organization.
19. Make decisions with incomplete and imperfect information.
20. Are good at anticipating future trends and events, but are great at responding to the random and the unexpected.
If you can check-off all twenty, consider yourself an amazingly brilliant stand-out leader.
If you can honestly say that you exhibit half of these leadership dimensions you are well ahead of 99% of other leaders in business.
Well done and now focus your work on the remaining 50%.
Related: How Great Leaders ‘Nudge’ Their Organization To Stay on Course