I value the trait of confidence above all traits when assessing leadership. While there are many great characteristics in leadership, they are all less effective without confidence. A good leader has a vision and can delegate, but a great leader has the ability to transform attitudes and instill a better self-image to their entire team by exuding simple confidence. As General Montgomery stated, “My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.” As children, when we learn our social behavior, confidence is encouraged. But to cultivate confidence, as an individual, one must experience failure. While success is a fantastic tool that teaches a human to become more confident, it is in failure that one is able to truly test their ability to consistently experience …show more content…
It was once said by Theodore Roosevelt that “In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” The most admired leadership positions haven’t always been successful, but they have included action and decisiveness. A leader’s role is to act as the decision maker and instruct a team to work together for a common objective. Without decisiveness in leadership, there would be no innovation, progress, or improvement. I believe to develop skills in making decisions, one must have experience with immediate action; individuals will need to know what it is like to make the wrong decision to improve their ability to assess how to make the right decision. As with all of these characteristics, to fail is to learn.
In conclusion, there are many admirable traits involved in leadership but the most influential to an entire team are the abilities in confidence, accountability, and decisiveness. All three characteristics have multiple influences on not only the individual leader but the whole. I believe these three traits have a commonality in how they are developed in an individual; simply put, they all require practice and failure. The best example of this is a quote from C.S. Lewis: ““Failures are finger posts on the road to