The Quintessential Leader

The Link Between Bullying and Narcissism and Its Manifestation as Unquintessential Leadership

In “The Mindset of Unquintessential Leadership and What It Looks Like in Action,” one of the characteristics that I identified as part of that mindset is bullying.

I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all been exposed to bullying at some point during our lives. However, not all of us have been victims of bullying. For a bully to succeed, the person being bullied has to give his or her power to the bully.

Not everyone who gives this power to bullies is inherently weak. Sometimes the surrender simply comes from long-term battle fatigue and being completely worn down over time.

It takes tenacity, an exceptionally-strong will, and a very thick skin sometimes not to give power to someone else, especially with threats that sometimes go as far as the possibility of losing one’s life. Read the rest of this entry »

How Quintessential Leaders Build Teams

Posted: November 13, 2013 in Examples and Analyses of Quintessential Leadership, General Things about Quintessential Leadership, Qualities of a Quintessential Leader, Quintessential Leadership, Quintessential Leadership is an Art, Team Building & Development
Tags: big picture, competencies, employment, hiring, human resources, intangibles, Leadership, personality, potential, quintessential leaders, resumes, skills, soft skills, talent acquisition, team building, temperament, underemployed, unemployed

If you’re unhappily employed, underemployed, or unemployed, this post is for you. No, it won’t lead to real change unless the people listed in the next paragraph read it, understand it, and choose to become quintessential leaders in this area (my hope), but it will explain what’s happening now and hopefully it will spur you to think creatively about how to present yourself to organizations as a prospective team member.

Likewise, if you’re in talent acquisition in a human resources department or you’re in a leadership position with decision-making responsibility for building a team or teams, this post is also for you. My hope is that you take it to heart and make the changes necessary to build new teams and add to existing teams.

As I’ve said often, quintessential leaders think outside of the box in every area of life. In addition, they are big-picture thinkers. Because of that, they approach building their teams from a completely different perspective than unquintessential leaders.

Here is how they (and, we, who are quintessential leaders) do it. Read the rest of this entry »

Do You Have The Courage It Takes To Be A Quintessential Leader?

Posted: October 30, 2013 in Examples and Analyses of Quintessential Leadership, General Things about Quintessential Leadership, Myths and Misconceptions About Management, Qualities of a Quintessential Leader, Quintessential Leadership, Quintessential Leadership is an Art, Team Building & Development
Tags: change, courage, fairness, favoritism, honesty, leader, maya angelou, moral, moving target, quintessential leadership, Situational ethics, think outside the box

Quintessential leaders have established, unchanging, unwavering – absolute – principles of integrity, honesty, fairness, accountability, and responsibility that they consistently adhere to and consistently expect the members of their teams to adhere to. This is the foundation of what builds trust in quintessential leaders and what makes them be trustworthy.

But there are many more attributes and characteristics – the “who you are” aspect of each of us – that distinguish quintessential leaders from everyone else. Today’s post will look at the attribute of courage. Read the rest of this entry »

Quintessential Leaders Handle Issues by Looking at Causes Instead of Symptoms

Posted: October 16, 2013 in Myths and Misconceptions About Management, Qualities of a Quintessential Leader, Quintessential Leadership, Quintessential Leadership is an Art
Tags: addressing symptoms of issues instead of causes of issues, Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard, lack of leadership, Leadership, leadership malpractice, management, Martin Sheen, quintessential leaders, the heart of the matter, Vietnam War

“We cut ’em in half with a machine gun and give ’em a Band-Aid.”
Captain Willard – Apocalypse Now

A colleague of a friend of mine has had worsening hip pain over the past year. She regularly went to her doctor about it. He said it was arthritis and told her to treat it with over-the-counter arthritis relief medication.

A few weeks ago, this lady’s hip pain had gotten so bad that she couldn’t stand to work – she is a nurse – and she again went to the doctor. Her doctor finally referred her to a specialist.

Read the rest of this entry »

How Quintessential Leaders Handle Criticism

Posted: October 7, 2013 in Examples and Analyses of Quintessential Leadership, General Things about Quintessential Leadership, Qualities of a Quintessential Leader, Quintessential Leadership, Quintessential Leadership is an Art
Tags: constructive, courage, criticism, demoralize, destructive, edify, grow, jealousy, learn, nitpicky, put down, put in place, quintessential leader, seth godin, The Man in the Arena, the purple cow, Theodore Roosevelt

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt

I saw the excerpt quoted above early yesterday morning. It resonated with me strongly because it reflects who and what I am striving to become as a person, as a writer, and as a quintessential leader. Those, ultimately, are not three different roles or personas, but instead an integrated whole person who is and does the same right things all the time in every part of my life.

I wanted to see the context in which these words were spoken, so I found and read the entire 1910 speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt entitled “Citizenship in a Republic.” It’s well worth a close reading and an even-closer thoughtful reflection upon.

There’s an old adage that “everyone’s a critic.” To some extent that’s true. Read the rest of this entry »