Na’aleh’s 28 Core Skills of Leadership – Mussar
Mussar: Develop a discipline of self-growth grounded in your character strengths.
Self-Awareness: Know your character strengths (middot).
We are each born with certain physical and mental capacities. Similarly, we have greater or less inclinations toward certain character traits (middot), such as compassion, courage, and curiosity, as well as foresight, loyalty, order, and humility, among others. For a more complete list of these, click here. Leadership begins with yourself, and it is through the effective use of our character strengths that we inspire and guide others.
Resources
- Take this quiz to identify your character strengths.
- Consider: What leadership character strengths would you like to build?
- A list of character strengths (middot) can be found on the Foundation for Jewish Camp website here: https://jewishcamp.org/camp-resources/making-mensches/
Being with Others: Engage in self-reflection on how you show up.
While we may think we are particularly good at something, this doesn’t mean we are always showing up as our best selves. For instance, some days and in some situations, we may be more compassionate or more filled with gratitude, and other times less so. It is helpful for us to reflect on when we are leading with our character strengths and when we falter in doing so.
Resources
- At the end of each day, reflect on how well you led with the character strength.
- A list of character strengths (middot) can be found on the Foundation for Jewish Camp website here: https://jewishcamp.org/camp-resources/making-mensches/
Action Toward Change: Improve how you show up.
While we may at times falter, we have the ability to improve. Developing our moral capacities is not so different than developing our physical and mental abilities. We can grow these through a cycle of trying, reflecting, intentionally adjusting our behaviors, and trying again. It will require perseverance, but we can improve over time so that we are more often showing up with our best selves – leading with compassion, courage, curiosity and with whatever middot defines our character.
Advanced Skill: Commit to a discipline that builds your character strengths (middot).
Developing our character strengths, and thus becoming more effective leaders, can be a lifelong project. It doesn’t just happen overnight. In this way, leadership is similar to other “practices,” such as sports, music, and martial arts. Becoming truly great at them requires that we develop a discipline of reflective practice.