A few months ago during the NFL playoffs Bill Cowher did pregame segment on CBS about creating the ultimate quarterback by selecting the most desirable attributes from the best QB's in the league.  He played mad scientist and came up with a Frankenstein-like super QB with Brees' leadership ability, Favre's grit and determination, Payton Manning's brain, Rothlisberger's arm and on down the line until he had his ideal player.

So I'm going to put on my mad scientist lab coat and come up with the top 7 leadership attributes for business leaders in today’s emerging new economy.  Many of the traits and characteristics required to be successful in today's economy are the same traits needed for great leadership in any economic environment, but the priority of the traits I'm about to share have changed.

1. Pay Attention To Your Mindset

The world is changing, you need to be willing and open to change with it.  That means being open to learning new ways of doing business.  Keep tabs on your rational for making decisions - are your business choices to expand, sell and market your services being driven by a mindset of scarcity or prosperity?  A scarcity driven mindset is reactive, based on fear of loss, low risk tolerance, limits control and will limit your opportunity to grow.  A prosperity driven mindset is pro-active, based on opportunity of gain, requires higher risk tolerance, puts you in control and opens the door to growth.

A great quote I recently heard related to mindset goes like this, "if you think the way you've always thought you'll always get what you've always got."  Okay, so how do you change your mindset you might ask?  In many ways how you think and the basis for your thoughts and decisions is intrinsic to you and naturally ingrained.  Changing the way you think requires on-going, sometime uncomfortable repetition and practice.  Which is why people normally don't change.

This means reading more (turn drive time into learning time), associating with new people and applying strategies outside of your industry to your world.  A great line by famous speaker Guy Kawasaki related to this topic:

"Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant." In other words, (1) get out there, meet people, consume knowledge like crazy, attend seminars, etc. (birds eat a lot!). And (2) spread the knowledge, information, and contacts that you gained around, share of your time and talent (elephants are good at...well you know).

2. Lead From The Front

I'm not going to say too much about this because, it should be common knowledge but isn't always common practice.  Think about Emanuel Leutze's painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware river. Every time you find yourself at a tough decision or an obstacle, think of this image and ask yourself, "am I leading from the front on this."  You must be willing to show your team you're not asking them to do things you're not willing to do yourself.  That doesn't mean you have to do their job, but your actions on the frontlines will have more influence than delegating orders from the rear.

Which leads us to the next trait...

3. Immunity To Criticism

There's an old line, "People who lead from the front tend to get arrows in the chest and the rear."  Or another Southern saying, "The further up the pole you climb the more your ass hangs out."

It's an absolute unavoidable truth, if you're in a leadership role you will be criticized.  If you aren't being criticized by someone most likely you’re not leading as well as you should be.  This isn't to say your mission in life is to aggravate employees.  But, if you're trying new ways to grow the business (see trait 1.) and pushing people to be successful, particularly in a time when staff may feel there a lot of excuses for failure, you may not be loved and adored by all.

So other than drinking kerosene and eating nails for breakfast (kidding, this will only make you sick don't try it), how can you toughen' up?  Great leaders seem to have a natural ability to deflect criticism.  I think this comes from an emotional shield (consciously or subconsciously) developed from certainty and confidence.  The more certain you are about your direction, goals and potential outcomes the more confidence you will have.

But for many businesses the last few years have been and still are uncertain times, so how do you develop a sense of certainty?  It's actually a loop system that goes like this: Behavior (take action) > Outcome (positive or negative result) > Belief (confidence or lack of confidence) > Certainty > Influences Behavior

Be sure not to confuse confidence with arrogance.

4. Take Responsibility

The more you're willing to take responsibility for your success or failure the more you can control.  Excuses, off loading responsibility, superstition, and blame eliminate your ability to control the outcome on any business venture.  Surely you may fail from time to time, but taking responsibility for your failures will allow you to move forward.  I call this failing forward.

5. Zero Tolerance For Entitlement 

Your job as a business leader is not to provide jobs.  Your job is to produce a profitable business.  Entitlement has become an accepted social norm that has crept into the workplace.  The "inmates are running the asylum" in many businesses.  Owners are held hostage by employees who steal time, abuse resources and complain about compensation.  Meanwhile there are hundreds of thousands of people who are unemployed and eager for job opportunities.  Business is not the little league game where everyone gets a chance to play, no one's keeping score and everyone get a trophy regardless of how they played.  That's called Communism.  So score keeping is a requirement.

6. Be Willing To Make Others Look Good

I know a lot of the traits I've pointed out up to this point may seem hardnosed. This is a little softer, but very hard for people do to.  Great leaders champion the success of their team and are willing to give credit to others for group success.  In larger corporate environments this becomes more difficult as there are more layers of management and people are jockeying for position in the company.  Those leaders who are able to rally a team of devoted staff around them and publicly credit and reward team members who perform well will earn true loyalty that can endure tough times.  Crediting others develops your authority as a leader. People will respond to you because of who you are not simply because you're the boss.

Tear this article out and hang it on your wall and refer back to as often as you need.  When the time comes these 6 leadership traits will help give you the perspective you'll need to make the right decisions about your business.  This article will serve as a reminder of the core leadership traits required to be successful in the current economy.  If you have other traits or characteristics of great leadership that you think should be added please let me know.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.