Leadership

October 2024

Active Leadership Traits, submitted by Robin Dorf

Leadership traits are more than for the office. Being an effective leader is important for the success of our

organization at all levels. Adapting, facing challenges, and working with members help build a strong organization.

Leaders motivate and inspire other members to be and do the best work for our mission. Author Todd Dewitt speaks

about leadership traits, and they can also extend to organizations.

Positivity

Leading with positivity supports an organization. When there is more positivity, good things happen, more gets done,

more members speak up and share, more creativity, and more members feel valued.

Outcomes

Manage outcomes, not the process. If a project is getting done on time, and it went well, let your members do the

work they volunteered for. Do not micro-manage your members because this sends the message of mistrust, and

they will not volunteer the next time. Don’t forget to thank them for the work they have done.

Collaboration

Be a leader who collaborates and doesn’t dictate. Collaboration is when the leader and the members cooperate on

a common goal. Listen more than you talk, as this supports trust and understanding.

Transparency

Leaders need to make decisions, and often, they are in a hurry, so they forget to include others, leading to

communication challenges. Transparency is being open and honest about what you did regarding a decision and why

you made it. If members disagree with a decision, being transparent shows a foundation of trust and helps them feel

confident in your decision. Effective leaders solicit feedback so they can work on their communication with their unit

and members.

Imperfections

Embrace imperfections because we are all imperfect. As leaders and members, we all need to understand our

imperfections. This approach helps build stronger relationships with members.

Choosing Battles

We all want to be good leaders and want to find ways to improve ourselves, so we must choose our battles. You

must pick what you want to work on first, which matters the most to you. Then, narrow it down to one or two issues

you wish to pursue to get started.

Honest Feedback

Embracing feedback is essential to grow as a leader. Members generally understand the importance of feedback, but

they censor it and often become nice. They may censor for fear of offending, being kind, fear of status, and many

other reasons. Your goal as a leader is to find a way to get honest feedback. Ask in your meetings, but do not publicly

put someone on the spot. If no one wants to talk, invite them to contact you outside the meeting for feedback.

Perspective

Leaders help shape perspectives for members to be productive. In this case, perspective is how you think about a

particular thing. Any issue can be viewed from either a positive or negative perspective. When a challenge arises,

think about how you can communicate from a positive perspective.

Being an Example

One of the most powerful ways to influence and motivate members is by being a good example. You can influence

others by what they see you do. You lead by example when you speak, or others observe your actions.