From Mark Miller and Randy Gravitt at Lead Every Day…
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Leadership starts with the heart.

While many focus on skills and strategies, the truth is clear: no one cares about your skills if your heart isn’t right.

As we’ve learned from decades of leadership experience, character isn’t just one element of leadership—it’s the foundation everything else builds upon.

Great leadership flows from the heart outward.

The HEART of Exceptional Leadership:

Hunger for Wisdom – Great leaders are perpetual learners, constantly seeking deeper understanding and insight.

Expect the Best – Your expectations shape reality. Leaders who expect excellence inspire excellence in others.

Accept Responsibility – True leaders own outcomes, both successes and failures, without deflection or excuse.

Respond with Courage – Leadership demands difficult decisions. Courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s acting despite it.

Think Others First – The defining mark of servant leadership is putting others’ needs before your own.

These aren’t just traits—they’re commitments that transform good leaders into great ones.

Practice Item: Heart Check-Up

Take 15 minutes for honest self-reflection:

• Which of these five heart traits is currently your strongest?
• Which needs the most development?
• What specific action could you take tomorrow to strengthen your weakest trait?