L E A D E R S H I P : 21 Indispensable Qualities

• C H P T O N E : Character
⁃ Bill Lear
An, inventor, aviator, and business leader. He used to sell Lear jets and when he sold a lot, 2
aircraft he built crashed under mysterious circumstances and he decided to ground other owners
planes and so he could figure out the problem. He then decided that there was only one way for
him to find the problem which is him risking his own life. He was willing to risk his success,
fortune and even his life but not his integrity.
⁃ What must every person know about character?
1. Character is more than talk
2. Talent is a Gift, but character is a choice
3. Character brings lasting success with people
4. Leaders cannot rise above the limitations of their character
⁃ To improve your character:
1. Search for cracks
2. Look for patterns
3. Face the music
4. Rebuild

• C H P T T W O : Charisma
⁃ William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli
Disraeli possessed a quality that drew people to him and made them want to follow him, he had
charisma.
⁃ To make yourself attractive to others, we must personify these pointers:
1. Love life
2. Put a ’10’ on every person’s head
3. Give people hope
4. Share yourself
⁃ Roadblocks to charisma:
1. Pride
2. Insecurity
3. Moodiness
4. Perfectionism
5. Cynicism
⁃ To improve your charisma:
1. Change your focus (focus on not only yourself but others too)
2. Play the first impression game
3. Share yourself

• C H P T T H R E E : Commitment
⁃ Michelangelo
Although his ability was to create a sculpture, when he was given a task to paint he kept his
commitment and did it wholeheartedly. For 4 years, he did that painting and it became a
masterpiece.
Without commitment, he would not be able to complete it and his influence wouldn’t be as big as
today.
⁃ True nature of commitment
1. Commitment starts in the heart
2. Commitment is tested by action
3. Commitment opens the door to achievement
⁃ Four types of people when it comes to commitment
1. Cop-outs: People with no goals and do not commit
2. Holdouts: People who don’t know if they can reach their goals, so they’re afraid to
commit
3. Dropouts: People who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets though
4. All-outs: people who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them
⁃ To improve commitment:
1. Measure it
2. Know what’s worth dying for
3. Use the Edison method

• C H P T F O U R : Communication
⁃ Ronald Reagan
He was a great leader because of his uncanny ability to communicate. Communication made him
the kind of leader that people wanted to follow.
⁃ How to be an effective communicator:
1. Simplify your message
2. see the person
3. show the truth
4. seek a response
⁃ To improve communication:
1. Be clear as a bell
2. Refocus your attention
3. Live your message

• C H P T F I V E : Competence
⁃ Benjamin Franklin
He excelled at everything he touched, he started his own printing business, expanded into
publishing, did extensive experiments with electricity, invented numerous items and many more.
⁃ How to cultivate the ability to be competent:
1. Show up everyday
2. Keep improving
3. Follow through with excellence
4. Accomplish more than expected
5. Inspire others
⁃ 3 types of competent people:
1. Those who can see what needs to happen
2. Those who can make it happen
3. Those who can make things happen when it really counts.
⁃ To improve competence:
1. Get your head in the game
2. Redefine the standard
3. Find three ways to improve

• C H P T S I X : Courage
⁃ Eddie Rickenbacker
He went through many physical, mental, or economic problem but he faced them all. He became
a racer and then an aviator and also got a medal of Honour. He then say “Courage, is doing
something you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”
⁃ Truths about courage:
1. Courage begins with an inward battle
2. Courage is making things right, not just smoothing them over
3. Courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers
4. Your life expands in proportion to your courage
⁃ To improve courage:
1. Face the music
2. Talk to that person
3. Take a giant step
• C H P T S E V E N : Discernment (ability to judge well)
⁃ Marya Sklodowska or Marie Curie
Her intelligence and discernment allowed her to understand and discover many things that have
made a positive impact on our world.
⁃ Uses of discernment:
1. Discover the root issues
2. Enhance your problem solving
3. Evaluate your options for maximum impact
4. Multiply your opportunities
⁃ To improve discernment:
1. Analyze past successes
2. Learn how others think
3. Listen to your gut

• C H P T E I G H T : Focus
⁃ Tony Gwynn
Tony Gwynn was so focused on hitting, he watches dome, train them and talks about them
constantly. He is able to cultivate a kind of concentration unknown to most people.
⁃ Guidelines to help focus:
1. Focus 70% on strength
2. Focus 35% on new things
3. Focus 5% in areas of weakness
⁃ To get back in track when you’ve lost focus:
1. Work on yourself
2. Work at your priorities
3. Work in your strengths
4. Work with your contemporaries
⁃ To improve focus:
1. Shift to strengths
2. Staff your weaknesses
3. Create an edge

• C H P T N I N E : Generosity
⁃ Elisabeth Eliott
Even when the Aucan people killed her husband, she still decided to help them because she was
generous. She even helped two of the seven guys that killed her husband.
⁃ To cultivate the quality of generosity in your life:
1. Be grateful for whatever you have
2. Put people first
3. Don’t allow the desire of possession to control you
4. Regard money as a resource
5. Develop the habit of giving
⁃ To improve generosity:
1. Give something away
2. Put your money to work
3. Find someone to mentor

• C H P T T E N : Initiative
⁃ Kemmons Wilson
He created a very huge hotel chain because he was an initiator.
⁃ Qualities leader posses to enable them to make things happen:
1. They know what they want
2. They push themselves to act
3. They take more risks
4. They make more mistakes
⁃ To improve initiative:
1. Change your mind-set
2. Don’t wait for opportunity to knock
3. Take the next step

• C H P T E L E V E N : Listening
⁃ Oprah Winfrey
She is constantly observing and listening to find issues. She is a good listener and her ability has
been rewarded with remarkable success and incredible influence.
⁃ Listen to these people:
1. Your followers
2. Your customers
3. Your competitors
4. Your mentors
⁃ To improve listening
1. Change your schedule
2. Meet people on their turf.
3. Listen between the lines
• C H P T T W E L V E : Passion
⁃ John Schnatter
He not only eats Papa John’s but he breathes, sleeps, and lives it.
⁃ Truths about passion:
1. Passion is the first step to achievement
2. Passion increases your willpower
3. Passion changes you
4. Passion makes the impossible possible
⁃ To increase passion:
1. Take your temperature
2. Return to your first love
3. Associate with people of passion

• C H P T T H I R T E E N : Positive Attitude
⁃ Thomas Edison
⁃ To be positive:
1. Your attitude is a choice
2. Your attitude determines your actions
3. Your people are a mirror of your attitude
4. Maintaining a good attitude is easier than regaining one
⁃ To improve attitude:
1. Feed yourself the right “food”
2. Achieve a goal every day
3. Write it on your wall

• C H P T F O U R T E E N : Problem Solving
⁃ Sam Walton
Founder of walmart, he was an excellent leader who was able to solve problems and change
rather than go out of business.
⁃ Qualities a leader with good problem solving abilities demonstrate:
1. They anticipate problems
2. They accept the truth
3. They see the big picture
4. They handle one thing at a time
5. They don’t give up a major goal when they’re down
⁃ To improve problem solving skills:
1. Look for trouble
2. Develop a method:
T ime - spend time to discover the real issue
E xposure - find out what others have done
A ssistance - have your team study all angles
C reativity - brainstorm multiple solutions
H it it - implement the best solution
3. Surround yourself with problem solvers

• C H P T F I F T E E N : Relationships
⁃ William Osler
⁃ How to cultivate good relationships:
1. Have a leader’s head - understand people
2. Have a leader’s heart - love people
3. Extend a leader’s hand - help people
⁃ To improve relationships:
1. Improve your mind
2. Strengthen your heart
3. repair a hurting relationship

• C H P T S I X T E E N : Responsibility
⁃ James Bonham
⁃ Characteristics of people who embrace responsibility
1. They get the job done
2. They are willing to go the extra mile
3. They are driven by excellence
4. They produce regardless of the situations
⁃ To improve responsibility:
1. Keep hanging in there
2. Admit what’s not good enough
3. Find better tools

• C H P T S E V E N T E E N : Security
⁃ Margaret Thatcher
⁃ Insecure leader’s common traits:
1. They don’t provide security for others
2. They take more from people than they give
3. They continually limit their best people
4. They continually limit the organisation
⁃ To improve security:
1. Know yourself
2. Give away the credit
3. Get some help

• C H P T E I G H T E E N : Self-discipline
⁃ Jerry Rice
⁃ To be a leader with self-discipline:
1. Develop and follow your priorities
2. Make a disciplined lifestyle your goal
3. Challenge your excuses
4. Remove rewards until the job is done
5. Stay focused on results
⁃ To improve self-discipline
1. Sort out your priorities
2. List the reasons
3. Get rid of excuses
• C H P T N I N E T E E N : Servanthood
⁃ H. Norman Schwarzkopf
⁃ A true servant leader:
1. put others ahead of his own agenda
2. Possesses the confidence to serve
3. Initiates service to others
4. is not position-conscious
5. serves out of love
⁃ To improve servanthood:
1. Perform small acts
2. Learn to walk slowly through the crowd
3. Move into action

• C H P T T W E N T Y : Teachability
⁃ Charlie Chaplin
⁃ To cultivate teachability attitude:
1. Cure your destination disease
2. Overcome your success
3. Swear off shortcuts
4. Trade in your pride
5. Never pay twice for the same mistake
⁃ To improve teachability:
1. Observe how you react to mistakes
2. Try something new
3. Learn in your area of strength

• C H P T T W E N T Y O N E : Vision
⁃ Walt Disney
⁃ To get a handle on vision:
1. Vision starts within
2. Vision draws on your history
3. Vision meets others’ needs
4. Vision helps you gather resources
⁃ Listen to several voices
1. The inner voice
2. The Unhappy voice
3. The successful voice
4. The Higher voice
⁃ To improve vision:
1. Measure yourself
2. Write it down
3. Do a gut check