The One Quality Every Leader Needs To Succeed

Screen Shot 2016-02-29 at 11.10.41 PMIf you are going to be a leader or hold a leadership position, there’s one quality you absolutely require to be successful.

You need to be a seeker.

A seeker is someone who is always searching.

Seekers bypass mediocrity and are not content to settle for the status quo.

They search for excellence with integrity and character.

To be a great leader, commit to seeking in everything you do:

Seek your true character. Leadership grows from character. Don’t be concerned with your reputation; instead seek to clarify your character, because your character is what you truly are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. Seek your true character daily.

Seek your unique qualities. Don’t be trapped by the dogma of other people’s thinking. Work to discover and develop your own unique gifts and qualities and let them lead you to the kind of contribution that only you can make.

Seek the truth. Any form of dishonesty—distorting facts, false impressions, conscious misleading—harms your leadership. Work to discover the truth in every situation and speak always with honesty and candor.

Seek your own core values. Change is inevitable in business, in events, in the culture, in the people around you. Through it all, hold firm to the unchanging strength of your core values. When you do, you can challenge yourself in tough times, be courageous in fearful times and make a difference when it matters.

Seek to trust and to be trusted. Great leaders know there’s nothing more important than creating trust. Trust should be central to everything you do and every relationship you enter into. Seek trust in every action and every word.

Seek a compelling vision. As a leader, you are responsible for creating a culture in which people are inspired to work together toward something bigger than themselves. Seek your compelling vision so you can share it with those who will be with you on the journey.

Seek to share your knowledge. All the knowledge in the world is of little use if you don’t seek to use share it and use it in ways that help others. Cultivate the skills that will help you better serve, teach, mentor and lead.

Seek forgiveness. For many leaders the phrase “I’m sorry” doesn’t come easily, but it is the leader who can apologize and seek forgiveness who has true power. Seek to let go of your own anger, move past what hurts and look to make things right.

Seek something bigger than yourself. Living is about losing yourself to find yourself. The greatest rewards come when you seek a way to give of yourself. It’s about bettering the lives of others, being part of something bigger than yourself and making a positive difference.

What you do as a leader is one thing, what you seek as a leader is another.

When you are a seeker you are constantly looking for new ways of doing old things, trying to find how you can make things better not only for you but for everyone around you.

If you can have just one quality as a leader, be a constant seeker.

Lead from within: As a leader, your main concern is not to avoid failure or to live in success but to always seek more meaning, growth and development.

 


N A T I O N A L   B E S T S E L L E R

The Leadership Gap
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

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Additional Reading:

Photo Credit: Getty Images


Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. Nabil M

    01. Mar, 2016

    A) Apologize or undo: is the basis for the progress of a successful, forward. And is a necessary feature of a successful leader.

    B) whereas anger, and to insist on the error: is a large defeat by leader, and leadership. This is a fact .
    indicator : see Hitler .
    Thank you Lolly Daskal . You are the truth, Encyclopedia of value in this knowledge

    Reply to this comment
  2. Vishal Kataria

    03. Mar, 2016

    Lovely post, Lolly. Sheds light on the importance of humility in leaders. By turning inward, the leader acknowledges that she doesn’t know it all, and instead, empowers her team to find their strengths and flourish.

    That is the true meaning of leadership….

    Reply to this comment
  3. Chery Gegelman

    05. Mar, 2016

    Beautiful post Lolly!

    Seeking to discover, to experience, to understand, to learn, to grow, to share….

    All major motivators in my life too!

    Reply to this comment
  4. John Paul

    05. Mar, 2016

    What a wonderful article, Lolly. Thank you. There are so many truly amazing things that say here but the main point holds true in all of them. A seeker is more than a doer. A seeker is forever on their horse, racing to something better.

    Reply to this comment
  5. Keith Burgess

    05. Mar, 2016

    In many ways for me this is an inspirational article as I have comitted many deeds of which I am thoroughly ashamed and I have spent my working life attempting to help others through my businesses and investments whilst at the same time trying to atone. At the same time trying to make my interests as profitable as I could in addition to earn as much money as I can. All of this has often given me moments of intense confusion about my direction, what I am supposed to be doing, where I am supposed to be going and what my ultimate goals are and what my purpose is. You have given me an insight into what I must do… and I am grateful for that.

    Reply to this comment
  6. Glen

    05. Mar, 2016

    Very good….

    Reply to this comment
  7. Christine Allen

    05. Mar, 2016

    Thank you for a wonderful post. I think of seekers as people who are always trying to self-actualize: to learn, to grow, and to become their best selves. Seeking our true character, core values and to serve something larger than ourselves is wonderful advice.

    Reply to this comment
  8. Gabriel Njonjo

    05. Mar, 2016

    This post just reinforced my call as a teacher. That I am called to raise a better generation is no doubt

    Reply to this comment
  9. Faisal

    06. Mar, 2016

    Dear Ma’m ,

    Thank you very much for letting me know,every time I read your tweets,articles,book I learned , Thank you & god bless you.

    Respect & luv

    Reply to this comment
  10. illahi bux

    07. Mar, 2016

    i would say which i want to see in the topic leader that found from your articles , that would be great article which touched my heart keep it up

    Reply to this comment
  11. Silvio Rezende

    10. Mar, 2016

    Amazing post!! We must be seeker searching to improve our personal and professional life.

    Reply to this comment
  12. Erik Christian Johnson

    07. Apr, 2016

    Great insight into Leadership, Lolly. I can hear your true expertise in this post when you mostly mention that self discovery is essential to Leadership. One of the biggest challenges Entrepreneurs face is being authentic. It’s scary to truly be yourself and in line of your true integrity. Thanks again!

    Reply to this comment
  13. Santosh Kanekar

    28. Apr, 2016

    An outstanding “heart centered” leadership piece

    So many thoughts here created an “a-ha” for me. I especially loved the “you are responsible for creating a culture in which people are inspired to work together toward something bigger than themselves”.

    This truly speaks the nature of leadership today. We have moved away from a directive style of leadership so many years back. At the start of the millennium, people started talking about inspirational leadership.
    But, your article brings to the centre of the discussion, by rightly pointing out, that it is the DUTY of leaders to create the environment of transformation. It is no longer a “good to have” but a “must have” trait of leadership.

    I was just reading another article which talked about an Economist study which shows how C-suite is focused on Technology and Finance as “areas to work more on future” while the larger organization has firmly demanded “Inspirational Leadership and leaders with more Emotional Q”.

    This post shows the how-to for leaders to build those qualities their followers are seeking from them.

    Loved it and should be pasted as a checklist on every leader’s soft board as a “Have You Been a Seeker Today?” Checklist

    Reply to this comment
  14. Quincy Casey

    02. Mar, 2017

    Very enlightening! I truly am inspired by your posts and this one touches more than most! Here at my job, we have several purpose and values that we follow and one of the big ones is being part of something bigger than yourself! As a leader, it is not about who we are, it’s about who we lead, who we engage with, who we inspire. Thank you for this post!

    Reply to this comment
  15. Asianwomanleadership

    21. Mar, 2019

    Female leaders rock’ – Women’s conference dives into reality of leadership.

    Reply to this comment
  16. Brittney C

    31. Jul, 2022

    Great blog post. I agree that every leader must be a seeker. I think it is important that we seek within to find our truest self, so we can lead with authenticity. This leads us to excellence and allow us to reach our full potential. It also allows us to make an impact, which is the essence of leadership. You stated in the blog, “Seekers bypass mediocrity and are not content to settle for the status quo.” As leaders, we should to move beyond mediocrity and seek greatness, this of course if why it is important that we continually seek within. Thank you!

    Reply to this comment

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