(Part 3 of the leadership series)

Great leaders learn to love others.

Great leaders sense the need to build others up, many times even at their own expense. They can fire you and make you feel good about the process.

The reason: They always deal with the performance and never the performer. Love the person, regardless of the person's behavior. If they behavior is unsuitable, then speak to that, but never the performer.

My grandfather, Eli Mack, Sr., was a great mentor in my life. A mentor loves you enough to tell you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

He told me as a child to “Listen to the criticism of others, but don’t support them. There is no such thing as constructive criticism. Most criticism is destructive because, more often than not, the person doing the criticizing is criticizing the performer and not the performance.”

You must always separate the two. It’s okay to hate the performance, but not the performer.

I was standing in a bank behind a young mother. She had her little son Henry with her. How did I know his name was Henry? She called him down 15 times… “Henry, get in line; Henry, straighten up; Henry, you better behave or I’m going to give you to that man (pointing to me).”

Frankly, I didn’t want him, but I would have taken him after her next comment. “Henry, if you don’t straighten up, you’re going to end up in jail one day.”

It broke my heart to hear that mother say that. “Garbage in - garbage out.” The late great John Savage, one of the champions in the insurance industry, used to say, “You don’t strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.” Always build others up; never tear them down.

Great leaders accept responsibility.

They keenly seek the role of leadership because it carries with it the awesome burden of responsibility.

1. They are not drawn to power nor do they shrink from it. They see it as an incidental by-product of the leadership role.
2. They always hold themselves accountable and never blame outside factors like interest rate or the stock market.
3. They understand that if you fail in school, it's not the teachers who fail you; they just deliver the bad news. If you fall behind in the marketplace, it's not the market that failed you; it's simply reflecting your latest performance rating.

Great leaders are in a constant state of change.

The trouble with the future is it ain't what it used to be! Great leaders are in a constant state of innovation that forces them to look at old problems with new solutions. They view "state of the art" as state of necessity.

They spend thousands of dollars on training and working with their people. They adopt the philosophy that "you can't have rabbit stew until you catch the rabbit." You can't dispense information that you haven't got. How would you like to be operated on by a surgeon that hasn't been to school in ten years?

Great leaders are amazingly flexible.

The stock market has fluctuated over the years; those adjustments brought the best out of many of yesterday's great performers. Fate dealt them a severe blow but they persisted.

Many lost a fortune on a Monday, but began to rebuild on a Tuesday. They possess flexibility and resiliency. They bend but never break. They give, but never completely.

Great leaders have a charming sense of humor.

They laugh at their failures and take their successes in stride. They take the light things seriously and the serious things lightly. They constantly have fun, finding the genuine humor in the tragedy of the situation.

They laugh at their shortcomings and accept them as part of the hand God dealt them. They possess an enthusiasm for life that transcends any problems they face.

Great leaders also expect measurable results in a reasonable period of time. A good question to ask: “How long is it reasonable for your child to spend in first grade?” The reasonable answer is one year, so expect reasonable results but measure often.

Great leaders are committed.

Quite simply, they persist in their cause with reckless abandon.

• First, they believe in what they are doing.
• Second, the word "quit" simply doesn't exist in their vocabulary.
• Third, they have powerfully strong convictions about their cause, and see their cause as a part of a bigger picture.
• Fourth, they are self-disciplined beyond understanding.
• Fifth, they are uncomplicated and hang tough through good and bad.
• Sixth, they understand sacrifice.
• Seventh, they enjoy the process of work.
• Eighth, they have morals that they won't compromise.
• Ninth they subscribe to the theory, "If it is to be, it's up to me." They know that the buck stops with them.