If you’ve ever toured our nation’s capital, you may have visited Ford’s Theater. While that’s interesting in and of itself, what’s perhaps more fascinating is Ford’s Theater Center for Education and Leadership, which sits right across the street from the main tourist attraction. The center houses a museum dedicated to the topic of Lincoln’s life and death but also provides interactive exhibits and learning opportunities focused solely on the topic of leadership. One exhibit explores the leadership traits favored most by people over time and attributed with some of the world’s most revered leaders.

Top 5 Leadership Traits

• Equality
• Courage
• Empathy/Compassion
• Creativity/Innovation
• Integrity

This month, I’ll be delving into one of these five traits a week, discussing why they are so vital and how you can use them to better your impact and leadership legacy.

Here’s how to build equality into your leadership discipline:

Embrace The Equality Mindset
You likely know that equality in the workplace matters. However, if you don’t fully embrace a mindset that knows and believes this to be true, it’s going to be tougher for you to authentically model the behaviors that demonstrate and uphold equality. For instance, you’re going to like certain people better than others. It’s human nature. But nothing will get your team’s attention faster and erode employee morale quicker than playing favorites. It will build barriers and hostilities, creating a mini-culture of exclusivity among your people and damaging your leadership credibility. If you truly want to be effective, learn to notice what thoughts and activities you practice that either undermine or support equality in the culture you lead.

Focus On Teamwork
Supporting and recognizing individual achievement is a powerful motivator for driving performance and results. But people also thrive when they feel they’re part of a successful team. When there’s clear expectations set around teamwork and a culture (led by you) that genuinely practices it, there’s less likely to be issues around preferential treatment and inequality. Interestingly, when teamwork is consistently practiced, honored and celebrated, individual performance can skyrocket to unprecedented levels. It’s highly motivating…and, in fact, you can think of it like how a family might operate. Families that work well as a team tend to have high-achieving family members who are not just successful but happier and healthier in the long run. What’s more, they really tend to like one another, and the bonds among them are strong!

Hold Everyone Accountable
If you know anything about MAP, it’s likely that you’re familiar with the MAP Management System, which creates goal achievement for our clients. Key to this system is discipline and accountability, the latter of which is a vital tool in preventing preferential treatment and ensuring equitable practices around tracking and managing success. When you have such a system in place, it sends a message that when it comes to things like performance, corrective action, results and even disciplinary measures, you will have no favorites among your people—that’s not your leadership style. Instead, your style…and the legacy you’ll inevitably create for yourself…is one of fairness, accomplished by people’s performance, not just who they are.

Ever been accused of preferential treatment—how did you handle it?​

Leadership Trait Series Part 1 of 5: Equality – Empower Your Leadership With Fairness

Leadership Trait Series Part 2 of 5: Empower Your Leadership With Courage​

Leadership Trait Series Part 3 of 5: Empower Your Leadership With Empathy​

Leadership Trait Series Part 4 of 5: Empower Your Leadership With Creativity

Leadership Trait Series Part 5 of 5: Empower Your Leadership With Integrity