6 Qualities of Greatness When we strive for greatness, 'success' is the secondary benefit.
By Sherrie Campbell •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
We all have the potential for greatness. To develop and express our greatness, we must possess the passion and drive to live our lives with calculated risks and an attitude of faith. When we strive for greatness, when we strive to give all we've got to achieving our dreams, "success" is the secondary benefit.
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Greatness lies in the journey, not the result. If success is our only drive, we may achieve financial wealth, but we may not achieve greatness. Greatness is much deeper than money. Greatness is an expression of our character.
1. Leadership
Greatness in leaders is expressed though a positive attitude. For this reason, we must add a positive attitude to everything we do. When we do this, it causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes to come our way. Our positive attitude must be powerful enough to infect every one of our team members. It is our attitude that motivates our team members to achieve the goals that have been placed in front of them.
How we respond to our team members when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter is what helps them to be fearless. As leaders, we must lay the groundwork for our team members to succeed, and then we must possess the humility and self-confidence to sit back and watch them shine. A leader who possesses greatness will take more than his or her fair share of the blame when things go wrong and be satisfied to take less than a fair share of the acknowledgment when success occurs.
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2. Service
To be of real service in this world, we must add something to other people's lives that cannot be bought. To be great, we must always give everything, and everyone we care about, our energy, drawing on the highest levels of sincerity, honesty and integrity.
We must be willing to invest our time and our hearts into whatever it is we represent. When we make good on what we do and see ourselves making a significant difference in the lives of others, we can be sure we're investing our efforts in all the right ways and all the right things. We each have greatness in us and the potential to give something unique and special to to this world. When we blend our individual talents with the desire to serve others, we experience a beauty in life that exalts our spirit.
3. Results
Getting the results we desire comes from how hard we work and how optimistic our outlook is. Greatness is developed out of the understanding that our time in this world is limited, so we must be mindful not to waste any of our time trying to live someone else's life.
We have to combine our passion and persistence to follow our own dreams. We must strongly resist being trapped by limiting beliefs that come from the naysayers in our lives. We have to have the courage to follow our gut instinct, to put all of who we are into what we want to achieve and consistently produce the results we're looking for. Big results require big desires. To be great, we must allow the desire for the results we seek to spark what is extraordinary from within us.
4. Efficiency
Greatness is never a one-person job. Greatness is the ability we each have to drive effective, consistent and empathic communication. The meetings we hold must be deliberate and intentional. They should be organized, have rhythm and be clear about the purpose at hand so that all of our team members feel included and engaged throughout the process.
There is no path to profitability without effective and efficient communication. Profitability comes from productivity, efficiency, management, strictness and the way we manage our time and business. If we choose to make a meaningful contribution in this world, we must value our time, the time of others and the energy it takes to get to where we want to go. We cannot afford to allow poor communication and resentments to get in the way of our being efficient and profitable.
5. Quality
To possess greatness, we must care deeply about the quality of service we offer. Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of conscious effort. By putting out quality services and products, we increase our quality of life, our capacity to believe in ourselves and our levels of happiness.
The quality work we produce allows us to feel proud of who we are, what we do and how we impact the lives of other people. When we produce high-quality services or products, we live with the gift of having peace of mind. Quality decreases stress. For this reason, we must choose high-quality thoughts, emotions and actions to ensure that our greatness is expressed, recognized and appreciated.
6. Reliability
Greatness is reflected in the reliability of who we are as people and the services and products we offer. We must have some level of predictability in our character and in what it is that we sell or produce. If we can predict things, we have the ability to intervene when necessary to make sure that what we produce is exactly what we promised.
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To be great, we must value the self-discipline and systems that make it impossible for things to go wrong. The more reliable we are, the more others will be willing to trust and depend on us to provide the quality service they are anticipating. We must be intentional about being on time, as well as confident, intelligent and calm. When we possess these qualities, we possess greatness.
