What Makes a Great Leader

LTG Mary Legere

Whether you are a start-up or small business the difference between success

and failure almost always boils down to one essential thing – and that’s

leadership. As the Army’s Senior Intelligence Officer, responsible for the past

three years for the operations, modernization and oversight of the Army’s

58,000 person Intelligence Corps and their billion dollar budget, LTG Mary

Legere has spent the last 33-year of her Army career leading others and

understands what leaders must to do set the stage for their organizations

success.

Following are some key qualities that every good leader should have

Meaning: Meaningful work is a precursor to success. To lead with joy and

passion, and to inspire your workforce to their best efforts, leaders have to

believe in what they are doing, commit to it and to their teams fully, and then

lead with optimism.

Passion, Optimism and Confidence: Great organizations with great leaders

daily display the kind of passion, optimism and confidence that inspires others

to excel, to team well with others, and to sustain forward momentum even in

the face of obstacles. Optimism is everything and leaders must work hard to

fuel it and to sustain their teams through difficult challenges.

Belief in Your Organization and Commitment to Your People. For team

members to truly commit to a leader, they must belief the leader is fully

committed to each of them and dedicated to their development. In the Army,

Legere said, young leaders are taught to do two things as a leader – take care

of the Mission and take care of your people.

In Legere’s mind, if a leaders does the latter well – and works daily to inspire,

support, lead, and reward individual team members, the mission takes care of

itself.

Integrity: Whatever ethical plane you adhere to, being responsible for a team

of people requires you to raise the bar even higher. Your employees are a

reflection of you, and as long as you are honest, they will follow your lead.

Communication: being able to clearly describe what you want to be done is

important for being a successful leader. In order for your staff to work toward

the same goal as you, you have to be able to effectively communicate your

vision.

Confidence: Your team will take cues from you, so the more confidence you

exude the more confident your team will be in the business. Keeping your

confident in the work you are doing will help your team focus on the larger

goals.

These are just a few of the qualities great leaders possess, and ones that can be

seen in LTG Mary Legere. As the Army’s Senior Intelligence Officer, LTG Legere

successfully oversees the global operations of the Army’s 58,000 person

Intelligence Corps.