Great leadership is a must have in any work environment. While it can be hard to define what makes a great leader, I consistently come back to these basic themes:

The ability to teach. Consider the old Chinese proverb: “You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime.” People in leadership positions must possess or develop the ability to teach and mentor those around them such that someday they can become leaders of the next generation.

Unselfishness in everything that you do. In most cases, leadership is earned rather than granted. People are drawn toward others who care and respect them on a human level as equals. Give your employees more than you ask in return, and with few exceptions, they will likely give you more than you need in return.

Leave it better than when you arrived. It is always important to accomplish short term goals, yet leadership requires the ability to think long term. If a leader cannot rise above the day to day tasks, it will be very hard to define and guide the team to accomplish a larger long-term mission. And that mission should not end when your work does. Consider your end the beginning.

Whether you are leading the family at home or your employees at work, combine these three things and you will be amazed how your army will fight the wars alongside you and for you.