The 10 Leadership Principles

1. Be proficient.

2. Know yourself and seek improvement.

3. Seek and accept responsibility.

4. Lead by example.

5. Provide direction.

6. Know and care for your subordinates.

7. Develop the potential of your subordinates.

8. Make sound and timely decisions.

9. Build the team and challenge their abilities.

10. Communicate and keep your team informed.

 The 10 Leadership Principles

1. Be proficient.
Be proficient, simply means that a leader must be skilful and knowledgeable in their
field. They should as well continually learn and build upon their kill base through
courses, experience and through the study of other leaders.

2. Know yourself and seek self-improvement.

Know yourself and seek self-improvement, is the ability to honestly look at ones-self
and recognize your own individual strengths and weaknesses. A leader has the ability
to capitalize upon their strengths and to overcome weaknesses through self-
improvement.

3. Seek and accept responsibility.

Seek and accept responsibility, the position of leading inherently holds within it
responsibility and a leader must accept this. Both subordinates and superiors require
that the leader take responsibility for the although this may manifest itself in
different aspects. A leader also takes responsibility for the situation and environment
which they are placed, if a job needs to be done then a leader acts rather than waits
to be told to do something. This can be further exemplified by a leader’s ability to
accept the blame for and act done by themselves or subordinates without putting
the blame on them, while at the same time allowing the team to accept any praise
given.

4. Lead by example.
Lead by example, a leader must become a role model for their subordinates. The
most powerful method a leader has to influence their subordinates is by example. By
setting the standard and demonstrating it, subordinates will be more motivated to
follow this set of behaviour. This can include honesty, care of ones-self and
equipment, courage, integrity and can extend to technical proficiencies.

5. Provide direction.
Provide direction, the leader is responsible to focus the team in order to achieve its
expected goals. Without this direction there can be no team but rather only a group
of individuals and as individuals we achieve much less than a cohesive team.
6. Know and care for your subordinates.
Know and care for your subordinates, this means that one should know whom their
subordinates are and see their needs are fulfilled. These needs include basic needs
of food and shelter to ensuring that an individual’s growth needs are equally
addressed. To do this a leader must be approachable and show genuine interest and
concern for their subordinates.

7. Develop the potential of your subordinates.

Develop the potential of your subordinates, it is important that a leader provides the
opportunities for a subordinate to expand their technical, personal, leadership and
personal development skills. This provides for a learning environment where
subordinates can expand their skills under the supervision of a proficient leader.

8. Make sound and timely decisions.

Make sound and timely decisions, is the ability to rapidly assess the situation and
then make a good decision based on that analysis. A leader’s ability to make a good
decision at a time when it is most useful greatly outweighs the best decision made
too late. This means that a leader may not have all the answers but is still able to
make a sound decision based on experience, standard operating procedures and
with the knowledge of the skills within themselves and their group.

9. Build the team and challenge their abilities.

Build the team and challenge their abilities, means the leader is responsible to build
an effective group where participants know their roles and have confidence in their
leader. A leader must be careful to present challenges to the group which are not
too easy or too unattainable and that must share in the success of the group. This is
where a leader’s knowledge of the groups strengths, weaknesses and expectations
can greatly assist them in planning events.

10. Communicate and keep your team informed.

Communicate and keep your team informed, passage of information is important for
group dynamics and allows for participants to feel that they are not being excluded
from the decision-making process. Groups will also have a better ability to
understand why some courses of action are taken over others and give members the
ability to make individual decisions based on the leader’s intent.