RETAILING 10 Characteristics of a Great Leader – by Shelli Hendricks, Ph.D., President, Blue Horizon Solutions
While it’s commonly argued whether great leaders are born or made, there’s little doubt that great leaders in any industry share several characteristics. Whether you are just getting started in your dive pro career or looking to level up, leadership skills are among the most important
results require sacrifice and discomfort in the present. Are you able to inspire people enough that they’ll con- tinue to follow you instead of revolting against you? 7.Develop Talent. It’s important to develop others to become better leaders. A great leader takes the time to develop the skills of her followers. The more capable your followers, the more impactful the results you’ll ul- timately attain. 8. Inspire Confidence. If people don’t believe you’ll be successful, you won’t receive their best efforts. 9.Operate with Integrity. Team members have to be- lieve and trust their leader. Can your team believe what you say? Do your team members trust that you’re fully committed to the project and to them? Do they trust each other? Without integrity, your team will struggle to trust you enough to commit and engage with your plans, let alone follow you. 10. Deal with chaos. A certain amount of chaos is in- evitable, especially when working on big projects with a lot of people or during times of change. Things often go wrong. Team members have personal issues. Some- one may feel disgruntled. Plans change. The objective can change. A great leader knows how to calmly and purposefully deal with the unexpected and guide others through the resulting distractions. How many of these 10 characteristics do you possess? Are you willing to develop those qualities that you lack? Great leaders have several qualities in common that you can learn and apply to enhance your leadership skills. Re- view these qualities and look for ways to further develop your leadership abilities. Look for me at DEMA Show! I’ll be in Booth #658 and speaking in these education sessions: Deep Dive into Leadership Development ▪ Mentoring: A Talent Strategy for Your Dive Busi- ▪ ness The Art of the Upsell ▪
to set yourself apart and advance your career. No question you may find that you already possess some of these qual- ities, and you may find room for improvement in the oth- ers. Great leaders share these qualities: 1. Lead by example. Effective leaders know that they can get the best out of others by setting a good exam- ple. If you want your followers to be committed, pos- itive, passionate, and involved, demonstrate those characteristics each day. What are you currently com- municating to others by the example you set? 2.Take responsibility. Lousy leaders look to shift the blame when things start to go wrong. A great leader, however, knows that setbacks occur. He also knows that if failure occurs, it was his poor planning, vision, effort, or leadership that resulted in the poor results. A great leader accepts responsibility for the team’s out- come, both positive and negative. 3. Envision the Future. To lead effectively, a leader must know where she’s headed. After all, you have to lead to a specific destination. Do you have a vision for the fu- ture and can you communicate that vision to others? Is your vision clear and easy to understand? Is your vi- sion focused? Do you know where you’re going? 4.Create a Plan. You might know where you’re going, but do you know how to get there? Can you effectively share that plan with the members of your team? Is your plan believable and achievable? 5.Communicate effectively. The ability to share your vision and your plan is paramount to success. Effective leaders are excellent communicators and work to en- hance their communication skills further. 6.Motivate the Team. It’s been said that one skill needed by great leaders is the ability to inflict pain on team members and get away with it. Impressive future
Curious to learn more? Check out Leadership Compass, and all our leadership programs uniquely designed for dive professionals at any point in their career at DiveProCoach.com or email me at: Shelli@diveprocoach.com.
email Shelli
PAGE FORTY-TWO | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker