Personal qualities. Closely related to emerging sages’ leadership styles are the personal qualities that define who they are as people. This includes such attributes as integrity, fairness, honesty, consistency, patience, tolerance, and compassion for others:
My travels in Africa as an undergraduate put me on a certain political course. Based on these experiences, there is a political advocacy and social justice strain in me that is very strong. I try to empathize with a situation, whether it be a conflict or social dynamic, and I feel it serves me well as a problem solver, or problem resolver.
I think the heart of my leadership is compassion. I’ve seen so much in my family, sad things happening to people I love. I am fascinated by the failings and possibilities of human beings, and I have an underlying belief in the goodness of humanity. When I was younger I was more strident, with strong political views. Now I’m more accepting of others. Everyone has a story, and I try to keep that in mind.
I am not very political. I am focused on creating good relationships and working with people with similar concerns. I am a very good listener and a creative thinker. I am into results and working hard, and I am a good communicator. I am fair, accept other people’s ideas, am consistent and trustworthy, and am not ego-engaged when making a decision.
My major strength is an ability to bring together groups of people, help them to find common ground, and to share motivation and vision. I do this through building personal relationships. I like ideas and am good at getting groups of people to accomplish things. I like to find people who are better than me at implementing ideas, and then empowering and helping them do the job.
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