John C. Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” I believe that is true and is my favorite leadership quote. You can see this in politics, family, business, and all areas of life. Leadership has always been interesting to me and in today’s post I share some thoughts about underrated qualities that are important to develop as a leader.

1. Serving - I believe in servant leadership. The style of leadership that I’ve adopted is to serve others and help them grow and achieve more. In doing so, the team achieves more.
2. Exampleship - How we carry ourselves as leaders doesn’t go unnoticed. I think of this quality related to parenting. Kids will do what they see more so than what they hear. Lead by your example.
3. Listening - Most leaders would agree with the importance of listening skills. People need to have a voice, and their ideas, concerns and overall feedback need to be heard. The leader brings the team together (culture), establishes the vision or destination and supports the work efforts, but it’s all the individual contributors playing each role to the best of their ability that make the difference. The leader needs to listen and understand what’s going taking place on the field and in the trenches of the work.
4. Discipline to grow - How can you add value to people if you’re not growing in value yourself? Growth takes discipline because it often involves sacrificing what we want to do for work we need to do. Growth is a work habit.
5. Rest - This is probably the most underrated in my opinion is getting adequate rest. Without rest no one can perform to their highest ability. If leaders are to perform, they need sleep and time to restore themselves. My goal is to show up every day with optimal performance in my work and for the people I work with. As a side note, I’ve recently prioritized my sleep and rest more and it’s made a difference in my mood and energy throughout the day.

Leadership isn’t easy, but it’s worth it because of the responsibility and impact we have on helping people succeed.