If Nothing Else....Be Introspective

You can read hundreds of blog posts and leadership books and attend thousands of hours at trainings and motivational seminars to find out what it takes to be a good leader and how to get there. I'm here to tell you that you can't be ANYTHING of leader without one thing....the ability to self-reflect.

I've met lots of people who claim this as one of their "strengths" but it often shows up as simply a claim of introspection, an adjective, not actual action, a verb.

This is probably an ever-evolving list but below are some traits of an introspective.

Humility

You have to be able to say "I fucked up." And it's not just saying you messed up but it's about putting into action things you're going to do next time. It's those moments of "I was wrong and this is what I should have done." Those are critical to being introspective.

Humble

If you think you're the best thing since Channing Tatum, it's going to be very difficult to be introspective. You have to understand that there's a hundred other people out there that are better than you, that do what you do. And being humble isn't a motivator to not try it's more of a motivator of finding out how you can be better.

What qualities do you think are important for a leader?