7 Inspiring Leaders and the Traits That Made Them Great

2. Problem-solving. Leadership is more than a huge idealistic vision. A leader must also have problem-solving skills. No matter what you do, problems develop, and it’s up to the leader to figure out what’s wrong and to fix it. I know of no one better at problem-solving than Dr. Mark Rutland, whose book ReLaunch I recently read. I highly recommend it, and here’s where you can purchase it. Mark has wonderful word pictures for diagnosing problems. When nothing happens, he says the gears have rusted shut and the leader must grease them to get them moving. (I’ve used that one this week to deal with something in my own organization.)

At other times Mark describes the leader as the air traffic controller that decides which planes to land now and which ones to keep circling until there’s time and money to let them land. He proved he could solve problems by turning around Calvary Assembly in Orlando and Southeastern College (now Southeastern University) and by later helping lead the transition at Oral Roberts University during a difficult time.