During my career I worked with many exceptional leaders and noted that the following characteristics are what elevate leaders to the ranks of the exceptional.
Exceptional leaders follow the Dale Carnegie problem-solving technique, which is to determine the answers to the following questions:
What, in its simplest terms, is the problem?
What are the causes of the problem?
What are all possible solutions?
What is the best possible solution?
What action needs to be taken?
Exceptional leaders know the right way to delegate is to outline the result wanted and then get out of the way. But they never abdicate their responsibilities; they follow up regularly and are always available when needed.
Exceptional leaders know that an organization is only as good as its people. They know that anything that increases peoples’ pride in their work will increase their enthusiasm for it, so they never let accomplishments go unnoticed. They know how to motivate people and genuinely care about them.
Exceptional leaders know that what happens when they’re not around is as important as what happens when they are, so they develop effective frameworks and build such competent teams that their organizations function almost on their own.
Exceptional leaders get involved in day-to-day routines only when they absolutely have to. They spend most of their time planning for the future while letting their team take care of the present.
Exceptional leaders know that one of their most important jobs is to ensure there are competent people to succeed them. As the great American writer, Leo Rosten, once observed, “First-class people hire first class people; second-class people hire third-class people.”
Another common characteristic of exceptional leaders is that they are superb communicators and are particularly adept at dealing with the media.
Exceptional leaders not only welcome suggestions, they thrive on them. They’re more apt to say “why not?” than to ask“why?”
Exceptional leaders are supremely confident but never arrogant.
Finally, all the exceptional leaders I’ve known had a great sense of humour and seemed able to find humour even in chaotic situations. They laughed when the joke was on them, but never made anyone else the butt of one.