How to Build and Sustain Great Leadership: 7 Timeless Commitments

A powerful, practical cheat sheet on architecting and sustaining great leadership 

1. The commitment to lead and not follow. Creating the architecture of great leadership.  Great leaders have always recognized and developed their intellectual capital, emotional capital and spiritual capital, because they recognized that being smart was not enough, being heart centered  was not enough, and being values driven was not enough.  Leadership evolves; leadership grows by developing and engaging all three Q’s that GROW at the speed of change/challenges. Read more about building your most important edge.
   
   
   
2.  The commitment to the empowerment of self and others: Creating a social or human architecture that will gather the commitment of others who want to lead collaboratively, because leadership and success today are achieved through servant or collaborative leadership.  The era of command and control leadership is dying its last death.  We need leaders who can stand at the head of the class not simply to articulate the vision, but to inspire and guide others who will in turn also lead. Read more about your critical mission.
   
   
   
3. The commitment to purpose and vision: Creating a moral architecture, common purpose that speaks to something meaningful, purposeful that will engage others and is the common ground, the common goal that will be shared and cherished. The moral architecture, the vision drives learning and competitive organizations is found by creating and sustaining value for others. It is only by creating value for employees, shareholders, clients, stakeholders and the communities one serves that success continues. 
   Read more about enlightened self interest and building a thriving, resilient culture.
   
   
   
4. The commitment to communicating the vision: Creating the architecture of meaning that is conveyed not only by words but by actions — by the determination and the passion the leader has for the vision and by his/her ability to communicate this vision.  Developing the high emotional intelligence that drives masterful communication is critical.  Articulating and living the values creating the words, using symbols that paint a brilliant picture that engages others and helps them work collaboratively to the accomplishment of shared goals, i.e. the vision is what communicating the vision is all about. Read more about communicating across boundaries.
   
   
5. The commitment to courage: Creating architecture of hope and resiliency.  Developing an outlook that drives and sustains courage at the front lines, courage in the face of challenges and ignites the hope and the faith that drives our greatest thoughts and actions — the hope and faith that inspires our self and others.  Commitment to courage that cannot be achieved without building our spiritual quotient, without creating an alignment of our heads, hearts and souls that allows us to tap into the power within at the very worst of times.
   Read more and learn why I have committed my work and life to 3Q Leadership™
   
   
   
6. The commitment to integrity. Creating architecture of trust.  Nothing is built and sustained without trust.  Leadership of self and leadership of others demands he intellectual and emotional dexterity and the tenacity and integrity of spirit that drives and sustains trust when times are tough. Trust is something we learn to build in ourselves, and we also can learn to build it in others. 
   Read more about the power of integrity.
   
   
7. The commitment to action-ability. Creating architecture of action-ability.  The greatest thoughts, best laid plans, or strategies are useless until they are made action-able.  The greatest ideas, the best strategies, the most inspiring words are lovely but impotent without action.  When a leader learns to optimize strengths while using changes even crises to build his/her 3Q Edge™ ( IQ-EQ-SQ)  and develop tools, strategies that drive action-ability of self and others, power is engaged, leadership evolves and grows.
   Read more about leadership and management action-ability.

Anything else?  Yes. Leadership is not a decision, it is a commitment to empower, engage and realize the best in oneself and others.  It takes determination, grit and the integrity to build a new, better road forward. Adapt, evolve and thrive.  Carpe diem.

More?  Only one thing!  If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to visit 3Q Leadership Blog for lots of excellent, free, insightful and practical content!  And, stay tuned, our new website and revamped blog debuts soon!  If you are interested in learning more about 3Q Leadership™, guest posting on our blog,  or becoming a  member of the 3Q Global Leadership™ Champions, we would love to hear from you!

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