Leadership Traits of the USMC

Many of you know that I spent some valuable time as a U.S. Marine; a period of time in my life that I am very proud of and a time when I learned so much about myself. I can honestly say that if I had not learned these vital life lessons as a young Marine, I would not be in the position I am today. Many of the Marine leadership training sessions dealt with handling life’s situations and how to conduct oneself in an organizational role; a lesson that I use every day of my life both at the professional and personal level. Leadership is defined as an act that allows a person "to rule, guide or inspire." Leadership and management differ to this extent; leaders lead people. Managers manage tasks.

I recently saw a post on the Internet that really cut to the chase on the differences between management and leadership. It said, "A manager is responsible for seeing that the right people are in the right place doing the right things at the right times. A leader is responsible for seeing that they actually ‘want’ to be in those places at those times and doing those things."

Positive leader traits do much to help you positively build your life and your business and I’d like to share a just few of these traits with you that, if applied, will certainly help you develop confidence in yourself and loyal cooperation from your staff.

- Justice – This trait will allow you to create a sense of fairness and consistency in your organization. An effective leader never demonstrates favoritism but treats people and things with equality at all times.

- Dependability – If you are dependable you can be counted on to accomplish all of your tasks properly and on schedule. It also means that you always put forth your best effort without ever making excuses.

- Initiative – A person that has the feeling of initiative is a self-starter and doesn’t wait to be told to do something. It means meeting new projects head-on and using problem-solving techniques to accomplish a task efficiently.

- Enthusiasm – Know what your passion is and create an optimistic approach to everything you do. A keen understanding and conviction to your job will add to your eager desire to devotedly accomplish all your responsibilities.

- Knowledge – The more you know about your task, the better and more passionate you will be about completing it. Listen and observe to the conditions and situations around you. If you don’t know – find out. Read, go to class, and learn from your peers.

- Loyalty – A distinct sense of loyalty means you are devoted to your superiors, your peers and your subordinates. But also faithful to the mission and always speak positively about those you work with. If you are asked to do something, do it to the best of your ability.

- Courage – A display of courage doesn’t mean you experience no fear but it is the way you handle your emotions in the face of fear. Manage your fear and dread by practicing self-control.

Your ability to lead will determine the amount of success and well-being you will be able to experience in this life. Leadership comes from an ability to inspire trust in others and if people trust you, you can be sure that they will follow you. It’s human nature – plain and simple. If people can’t trust you then eventually things will start to fall apart around you. Leadership is important and can be learned by anyone who aspires to show others a clearer path to success.

About the Author

www.whoisJamesDicks.com -For more than a decade, James Dicks has been one of the nation's leading educators on the subject of Real Estate, Stocks, Options, the Foreign Exchange Market and empowering investors to handle their own investments.

James is living his dream by helping investors and businesses overcome the hurdles of reaching their financial goals. Millions of people have heard James’ message of diversification, money management and financial freedom and thousands have attended one of his many free workshops. Increasing investment knowledge is James' goal and he strives to reach this goal by using a common sense approach that investors of all types can utilize on their road to financial freedom.