By Mike Myatt, Chief StrategyOfficer, N2growthIn thinking about thecomments I've received from readers on the topic of leadershipI noticed an interesting paradox...while many of youvehemently disagree on the effectiveness (or lackthereof) of different leadership styles, most of you are intotal agreement on the qualities and attributes possessed by greatleaders regardless of style. In further pondering thisdichotomy an interesting thought came to mind...IfI could genetically engineer the perfect leadershipgene what qualities and characteristics would constitute thearchitecture of leadership DNA? So, what traits would myperfect leader possess? Courage, vision, wisdom, integrity,empathy, persistence, compassion, aggressivity, discernment,commitment, confidence, a bias to action, creativity,self-discipline, loyalty, confidence, a great strategic thinker,passion, intelligence, humility, great communication skills,common sense, generosity, the ability to identify and develop greattalent, attention to detail, faith, an active listener, respect forothers, an excellent tactician, charisma, extreme focus, a highrisk tolerance, a broad range of competencies, and the list goeson...If any of you possess all the above attributesplease forward your resume to my attention! All kidding aside,the longer my list of desirable qualities became,the more I realized the frivolity of this exercise...There is noperfect leader; only the right leader for a given situation. I havealways maintained that great leaders have the innate abilityto call on the right skills in a contextually andenvironmentally appropriate fashion. No single leader can possessevery needed attribute. If I were successful in my geneticengineering exercise, I would no doubt have created aleader who would be driven crazy by emotional andintellectual conflicts.While much has been written about thetraits and characteristics that form great leaders, the truth isthat leaders come in many different varieties...there is noone-size-fits-all formula for leadership. That being said, allgood leaders all possess certain core qualities, and greatleaders simply develop said core qualities to a higher level thantheir peers. Put simply a leader's shelf life will be equal totheir ability to align vision with execution. Great leaders focuson deploying the necessary resources at the right time toachieve to desired results. By exhibiting strong leadership skillsyou can effectively manage talent, performance, change, innovation,influence, rapport, and messaging to consistently drive ateam/enterprise forward regardless of circumstances. If youwant to insure longevity and success as a leader, work towardsa mastery of the following characteristics:

1. Integrity: Always do the right thingregardless of sentiment and never compromise your core values. Ifyou cannot build trust and engender confidence with yourstakeholders you cannot succeed. No amount of talent canovercome illegal, immoral or otherwise ill-advised actions. Aleader void of integrity will not survive over the long-haul.
2. Excellent Decision Making Skills: Asa leader you will live or die by the quality of the decisionsyou make. When you're the leader good decisioning isexpected, poor decisioning won't be tolerated, and greatdecisioning will set you apart from the masses.
3. Ability to Focus: If you cannot focus, youcannot perform at the level necessary to remain in leadership forvery long. The ability to do nothing more than understand andlock-onto priorities will place you in the top 10% of allleaders.
4. Leveraging Experience: Inexperience, alack of maturity, needing to be the center of attention, notrecognizing limitations, a lack of judgment, an inferior knowledgebase, or any number of other common mistakes made by rookieleaders can cause your house of cards to fall. If you don't havethe experience personally, hire it, contract it, but by allmeans acquire it. Great leaders surround themselves with tier-onetalent and the best advisers money can buy. They don't makeuniformed or ill-advised decisions in a vacuum.
5. Command Presence: Great leaders possess astrong presence and bearing. They are unflappable individualsthat never let you see them sweat (unless of course it serves apurpose). Everything from how they carry themselves to how theyspeak and dress, messages that they are in charge.
6. Embracing Change: Great leaders have astrong bias to action. They don't rest upon pastaccomplishments, and are always seeking to improve through changeand innovation. In today's fast paced and competitive environmentthose leaders who don't openly embrace change will often be shownthe door prior to the expiration of their initial employmentcontract.
7. Brand Champions: Great leaders understandbranding at every level. They seek to buildnot only a dominant corporate brand, but also astrong personal brand. leaders that are not well branded on apersonal basis, or who let their corporate brand fall into declinewill not survive.
8. Boundless Energy: Great leaders have aboundless amount of energy. They are positive in their outlook andtheir attitude is contagious. A low energy leader is notmotivating, convincing, or credible.
9. Subject Matter Expertise: Great leadershave a deep understanding of their subject matter, and astrong orientation toward achievement. Great leaders possess whatoften appears to be a sixth sense or an almost instinctive feelfor what the needs to occur leverage their knowledge intoa competitive advantage.
10. People Acumen: Great leaders have a nose fortalent...They understand how to recruit, develop and deploy talentfocusing on applying the best talent to the best opportunities.They also know when it's time to make changes and cut losses asneeded.
11. Organizational Acumen: Great leaders know howto engender trust, when and how to share information, and areexpert listeners. They develop strong andpositive team/organizational cultures driven to performance byaligned motivations. They can quickly diagnose whether theteam/organization is performing at full potential, delivering oncommitments, and whether the team is changing and growingversus just operating.
12. Curiosity: Great leaders possess a powerfulmotivation to increase their knowledge base and to convert theirlearning into actionable initiatives. They question, challenge,confront and are never accepting of the status quo.
13. Intellectual Capacity: Great leaders are alsogreat thinkers...both at the strategic and tactical levels. Theyare quick on their feet and know how to get to the root of an issuefaster than anyone else. I've never met a great leader whowasn't extremely discerning.
14. Big Thinkers: Regardless of the physical orgeographical boundaries of their current role, great leaders thinkbig and add a zero. Limited thinking results in limited results.Whether global thinking is applied to capital formation,supply-chain issues, business development, strategic partnering,distribution or any number of other areas, those leaders who don'tgrasp the importance of thinking globally will not endure. Greatleaders are externally oriented, hungry for knowledge of theworld, and adept at connecting developments and spottingpatterns.
15. Never Quit: Great leaders refuse tolose...They have an insatiable appetite for accomplishment andresults. While they may reengineer or change direction, theywill never lose sight of the end game.