Good leaders know who they are—their strengths, weaknesses, passions, talents, and values. And, developing leaders always starts with self-awareness.

Fearful leaders side-step issues instead of dealing with them, cover up mistakes instead of owning up to mistakes; they skulk back into the shadows and hope that the crisis—whatever it is—will somehow blow over instead of facing their fears. Worse, they resort to lies and deception to cover up the truth.

To guard our character with unwavering commitment, our best protection comes from being humbly aware of our vulnerability.

Courage is leaning into the doubts and fears to do what you know is right even when it doesn’t feel natural or safe.

An honorable leader must demonstrate a willingness to reveal his or her ‘inner self’ to their team. It builds trust and trust is essential. It’s also a sign of strength and authenticity, and people are attracted to those who are ‘real’ and authentic.

Leaders can choose to grow and change, but generally the most powerful predictor of future performance is past behavior. Evaluate them realistically.

Affirming others isn’t ‘flattering’ them—it’s when you genuinely and consistently acknowledge their efforts and accomplishments, both large and small. Make affirmation a habit and watch what happens!

Leaders devoid of crucible experiences are likely to be overly confident about their ideas, and surprisingly more susceptible to fears; this is also true of children who are overly sheltered from facing challenges and experiences that help build their character. Courageously facing our fears in the difficult times gives us both humility and real confidence.

Voters—here’s the real challenge: we don’t need empty promises made by politicians whose only goal in life is to get elected or re-elected. We need leaders with attributes that qualify them to lead us through the difficult challenges we’re facing.

Over-communicating is the glue that holds a high-performing team together and keeps them focused in the same direction. And, it circles back to clarity. Without good, consistent communication, you don’t have clarity.

Good teams are committed to the team mission and to each other personally. Good leaders inspire and build this commitment and trust.

Persistence is important in every endeavor. Whether it’s finishing your homework, completing school, working late to finish a project, or “finishing the drill” in sports, winners persist to the point of sacrifice in order to achieve their goals.

Professional accountability is a good thing. Without it, excellence is merely a pipe dream and even average performance isn’t a realistic expectation.

We all want to ‘count for something’–to make a difference. And, accountability helps us get where want to go in terms of achieving our goals and fulfilling our responsibilities.

As is often the case with children, the rule of ‘monkey see, monkey do’ plays out in the workplace. It’s hard to be good role model, and it’s one of the greatest challenges of leadership.

…some leaders don’t want to celebrate with their team because they are afraid—yes, afraid that if they celebrate, people will quit working hard and lower the standards. I say don’t let your fear take you out.

Leaders must be good listeners. It’s rule number one, and it’s the most powerful thing they can do to build trusted relationships.