The 19 character traits of intentional and impactful leaders

What follows is a complete summary of the new book “The Leadership Lens: Part 01 — Character Traits”.

By most definitions, leaders are the people in charge of others.

Instead, I define leaders as people who are in charge of themselves.

Leaders may be your most dependable friend, your favorite boss, your dearest aunt, an esteemed political figure, or a brave first responder who has inspired you. They are any individual who is intentional and impactful in their lives. They are typically the people you admire and find yourself drawn to. They are the ones who seem — sometimes inexplicably — “content”, “lucky” and “successful”.

Leaders tend to set a constructive and collaborative tone for everyone in the room. They are the figures people trust when conflict arises. They are clear-eyed without being pessimistic. They are emotionally intelligent without being sabotaged by their feelings. They are rational and efficient without being heartless. Leaders are the ones who remain cool-headed during a crisis. They are the ones who manage to be effective under intense pressure. In other words: Rather than being at the mercy of circumstance, leaders take the initiative and dictate the terms of their interactions.

To achieve this, leaders employ a fundamentally different mindset when it comes to their character traits, emotions, relationships, critical thinking, work, and politics. I call this unique perspective the “leadership lens.” It is the difference between talkers and doers. Between victims and victors. Between those who feel trapped in mediocrity and those who achieve their biggest goals.

The Leadership Lens helps you see the world the way leaders do. The book will provide concise, pragmatic insights into how leaders think and act — their lens — from the ground up; and give you actionable advice on how to implement their strategies in your own daily life.

Here are the key takeaways from each chapter of the book!

1. Intention: Your intention forms the basis for all your words and actions. Set it consciously to communicate and act more consistently.
2. Curiosity: One of the defining characteristics of the modern world is a rapid and increasing rate of change. Curiosity is the way you learn and adapt more quickly.
3. Agency: Reject all but the most justified and immutable constraints. You have the right and ability to act in accordance with your intention to get what you want.
4. Balance: Too much of anything can ultimately be harmful. All things must be kept in their proper proportion in order for them to remain constructive and useful.
5. Ownership: Take maximum responsibility for the circumstances and outcomes of your life. Focus on the only thing you can truly control: yourself. This allows you to improve and grow more quickly.
6. Perspective: What you know, what you see, and how you think is extremely limited. Imagination and curiosity allow you to consider situations from all angles to make more effective judgements.
7. Truth: While there might not be such a thing as objective truth, finding a roughly accurate operating model of the world is essential to determining the most effective way to act and communicate to achieve your goals.
8. Abundance: Few things in life are zero-sum. There are enough resources to get what you need and to have the experiences that you want.
9. Patience: Be patient with people and long-term processes because it takes discipline over time to achieve anything truly meaningful. Be impatient with everyday bureaucracies and inefficiencies because it takes hustle to get things done.
10. Confidence: Maintain a quiet certainty that you can handle whatever comes your way. This enables you to embrace opportunities, be kind to others, and avoid self-sabotage.
11. Listening: Make a conscious effort to correctly and fully understand what others are trying to say. Doing this effectively means that you can respond appropriately to help them and yourself.
12. Communication: Effectively articulating ideas to others can be the difference between success and failure. In fact, clear communication alone can create net new value.
13. Courage: Reframe your relationship with fear. It is not something to avoid; rather, it can be used as a kind of radar to find growth opportunities and create more intimate relationships.
14. Consistency: Having the discipline to do things consistently well over a sustained period is the difference between dreamers and doers. It is how leaders follow through on their goals — long after the initial burst of the excitement fades.
15. Change: Change is the only constant. To remain relevant and identify opportunities, you must embrace it, extend it and, better, be an agent of it.
16. Execution: It takes a clear goal, a high-level plan, operational tools, ownership, and consistency over time to turn any idea into a reality.
17. Luck: Except for accidents of birth or acts of God, luck is not a random force of nature. It is an intentional process that you can control and maximize through proper preparation, keeping an eye out for opportunities, and executing effectively when the time comes.
18. Initiative: You don’t have to wait for permission. If you want to be a writer, then write. If you want to be a filmmaker, then make films.
19. Wisdom: Wisdom is difficult, but it is not mystical. It is a skill you can master with intentional effort. To do so, you must practice learning the right lessons and effectively apply them at the right time.

Get the full 130 page book to read expanded commentary on each of the character traits above along with practical, actionable advice for becoming a more intentional and impactful leader.

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Print Edition: Amazon US | AU | UK

Kindle Edition: Amazon US | AU | UK | IN

Visit the official website for more about the book and to grab the PDF version