Be A Better Leader (part 22): Conclusion

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” We have spent a fair amount of time discussing all five of these, and today in part 22, I am concluding our discussion of the series.

I began the series by describing how this grouping of characteristics originated when, years ago, I taught a series of workshops at an educator’s convention, called “Be A Better Teacher.” The idea for these workshops had started with a single workshop called “The Be-Attitudes of Better Teaching,” in which I identified and explained some of the most important attributes and characteristics that should be reflected in who and what a teacher should be (at the time I was a teacher and school administrator). Because it was a Christian School convention, it was a little bit of a play on words from the Beatitudes that Jesus shared in the Sermon on the Mount. This one workshop ended up growing into six workshops – Be Prepared, Be Good, Be Funny, Be Yourself, Be a Teacher, and Be an Influence – that focused on effective teaching techniques, methods and characteristics of good teachers.

At some point much further down the road in my leadership experience, something triggered my memory of these workshops, it dawned on me that the same kind of idea – a list of “Be” statements – was true in leadership as well. Certain attitudes, skills, and characteristics are important in a leader for that leader to be effective, so I started thinking about what those things might be (pun intended). While not an all-inclusive list, I identified what I believe are a few of those “Be-Attitudes” in the context of leadership that are essential to leading well. And that became this series of articles and podcasts that I have discussed over the last few months.

I grouped these characteristics and attributes into 5 broad “Be” attitudes, and in each one I discussed four different ways they are each reflected:

• Be Genuine, by being: authentic, an example, humble, and yourself.
• Be Relational, by being: a listener, a talker, a teacher, and a relationship-builder.
• Be Trustworthy, by being: honest, consistent, safe, and transparent.
• Be Knowledgeable, by being: aware, teachable, a learner, and a reader.
• Be Excellent, by being: intentional, flexible, and reflective, and doing what works.

I would encourage you to go back and look through these “Be-Attitudes,” now that you see the whole forest so that you can learn even more from the individual trees. I hope that in this journey, you have gained a grasp of some of the most important characteristics and practices that need to be embedded into yourself and your leadership, for you to be the most effective leader you can be. My prayer is that you have learned things that are helping you to “Be a Better Leader.”