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The Characteristics Of Great Leaders

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What separates leaders, especially mediocre ones from the great ones? What are the attributes and behaviors that great leaders display in order to influence people, to follow them and change the world? Great leaders are effective when they are trustworthy, empower others, and connect with their followers or the people they influence. Trust is the foundation of any great leader. 1) When Richard Nixon lost the trust of the American people he knew another bid for the Presidency was over.In the process, Nixon lost his identity as a leader and subsequently the respect and trust of the American people whom he had worked so diligently to gain. He and many other leaders like him attempted to isolate himself from the people of which he lead instinctively going into survival mode; denying the ultimate truth that success as a leader is impossible if attempted to go it alone. 2) Before Steve Jobs came back for his second amazing round at Apple, he lost the trust of the executives and John Sculley a power struggle ensued amongst them and Jobs was ousted from the very company he created. In the spring of 1985 Apple's board sided with the CEO, removing Jobs from his command of the Macintosh group. Trust is the foundation of every great leader. Trust with followers comes from the character of the leader. A great leader must have patience, integrity, confidence, and transparency. If one can win the trust of people, people will follow. Great leaders have the ability to solidify trust by empowering those willing to follow them.
A great leader knows their team member’s strengths and plays to these strengths by giving them task that they know will help the individual succeed as well as the overall team.
3) John C. Maxwell in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership says that, “a leader must give up in order to go up”. No great leader accomplishes great things by themselves; it takes a team of people.
Great leaders in order to win with people must have personable attributes to connect with the people following them. That isn’t to say that everyone has to like the leader personally but the leader must be able to connect with the people following. 4) A prime example can be found in the 2008 primaries between Hillary Clinton and

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