One cannot evaluate without listening to opinion. One cannot anticipate what is next without first listening to the market. One cannot make good decisions without first listening to customers and his or her own business sense.

Leaders can make or break companies. Their philosophies and decisions pave the path for the company. Without all of these characteristics, a leader cannot help a company realize its full potential.

These are so much more than buzz words. They must be part of a company’s everyday life.

The choices of my classmates do not surprise me. Dedication, heart, determination are the words I am hearing from them. We are attaching emotions to the working world. I think there should be more of that. Passion for what you do will help in creating a project and a business that truly means something.

What should I anticipate? I ‘m sure he gave tons of great ideas and reasons for the choice, but I have not heard his reasoning yet, so I’m not real sure what I should be anticipating as a leader.

I can make a few guesses to see if I’m correct. Maybe I should anticipate bad things. Like, my workers not being good employees. But if I hired well, then I won’t have to worry about that. So should I anticipate bad and good?

Very confusing.

Leadership is such an important trait to possess. In the PR/marketing field, one must possess this trait in order to succeed. I have been involved in many leadership training exercises and I am familiar with the qualities one must have in order to be an effective leader. However, not all students receive an education in leadership before leaving college. I think that leadership should be worked into the curriculum of all majors so that when we leave college and pursue our careers, all students will be equipped with the characteristics that Dubrow identified in his leadership presentation.

Thanks for posting your comments. I enjoyed reading everyone’s point of view. Since Tara had a chance to see the presentation live you weren’t aware that I incorporated some other words into the words in the definition of leadership.

I am passionate about this subject and try to learn more each and everyday.

Merrill

Take the letter “d” for example. Merrill chose decisions, acknowledging the fact that leaders must make tough decisions. But everyone has to make decisions every day…how does that quality make ‘leaders’ in particular stand out?

I would have chosen dedication or determination, being that as a leader you should be dedicated and determined for yourself and others to succeed.

There are so many possibilities of characteristics that are essential to leadership, why narrow them down to ten?

Although I liked all the other choices, I think inspiration should at least be menchioned because that is also something a leader should entail.

LOYAL- be truly loyal to your company, employees, cause, etc., and the other “L’s” will naturally follow
EVOLVE- willingness to learn from mistakes, change tradition’s, break the status quo
ATTITUDE- it’s said that attitude reflects leadership. If a leader has a constant negative attitude, can it have a positive or productive impact?
DECISIONS- Mr. Dubrow couldn’t have said it better, a good leader must be willing to make the tough ones.
EXECUTE- I think this can also mean “follow through,” as in decisions, plans and goals
RISK TAKER- unfortunately for leaders, a clear and prescribed solution or path isn’t always available, and the burden to do what is best falls on them
SET GOALS- this gives a direction to a group and can provide a sense of accomplishment to those who meet the goals
HIRE WELL- a chain is only as strong as its weakest link…
INTEGRITY- when there is a decision to choose integrity or anything else–choose integrity
PERSEVERE- it is the leaders responsibility keep going even when it seems everyone else has given up. In other words, a leader must do what it takes to not only get the job done, but done well.

But first, to answer your question, Tara, I believe that “evaluate” is more important than “evolve.” At least it is in my list. I believe that each word could be interconnected with others on the list. I actually struggled with “evaluate” or “education.” But I decided that education could be included in making good decisions. My reasoning for choosing evaluate over evolve was a little different. Evolving is necessary to function, not only as a leader, but in everday life. Evaluating is unfortunately often left out, and thus more important to my list. I think that evaluation gets left out many times and projects fail. A good leader must constantly evaluate to see where he/she’s been and where he/she’s going if anything is to be accomplished.
Another word I struggled with was “Anticipate.” I believe that anticipating is also part of making good decisions, therefore, I would have chosen “Attitude” instead. Attitude is everything. You will never be able to anticipate every possible situation, but you can always choose your attitude. Your outlook can be contagious and really affect everyone in your realm of leadership. Attitude is crucial on my list.

Last, but not least, I would choose the letter ‘H’ to represent heart. I think that heart is one of the most important aspects of a leader because it enables the leader to work those long hours, encourage others, and do things otherwise unimagineable. If you are doing something for the right reasons, if your heart is truly in what you are doing, you’ll attract others like you and that would make you “Hire well.” I think if you heart is in the right place, everything else will be.

Thank you for your time and allowing me to share my opinions on this subject. I would love to hear more of Mr. Dubrow’s work. It sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing!