Patience and Restraint: Two Great Qualities in a Leader

Although the virtues of a good leader are many, only a few people are able to fully cultivate them in their lifetime. Others may become good leaders, but exceptional leadership is a rare forte. One requires a high level of emotional intelligence, empathy, diligence, and a host of other qualities to qualify as great leaders.

However, while each trait has its unique importance, there are two leadership qualities that have a pivotal role in a leader’s success. Nothing will develop the essence of leadership in you without the presence of patience and restraint.

Shape Practicing patience and restraint at the same time, every single day, with the people directly under you is a quality only the greatest of leaders had. Let’s have a look at how each – patience and restraint – helps to polish your leadership skills and make you admirable to your followers.

How Patience Nourishes Leadership

Cultivating patience essentially forces you to pin down your ego and wants and genuinely tolerate something undesirable. It helps you put aside your own differences and endure the harshness being hurled at you.

A person who is shortsighted won’t be able to comprehend the fruits of patience. They would take the situation to heart and take action in a fit of revenge. This is because they take the misdemeanor of others and the ordeals they’re facing as a failure of their potential. Their ego comes in the way of their patience.

A true leader, however, understands that by putting others first and enduring the situation, they’re in a better position to make a decision. Patience stops you from giving into your fierce emotions, so you become more emotionally stable.

For a leader, it is crucial to be present minded, rational, and far-sighted. Patience nourishes these qualities. It helps you see the bigger picture and act in a constructive manner instead of lashing out.

Powerful Ways Leaders Can Practice Patience and Restraint

1. Putting Yourself in Others’ Shoes
Being judgmental and using your authority for action against someone is the easiest thing you can do. And a lot of people do that – but those people aren’t leaders, they’re horrible bosses. If you want people to genuinely think of you as their leader, you have to make a conscious effort to empathize.

If someone comes to you with a complaint, look at the situation through their lens. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes, even if your own values are being compromised. No-one has ever lost anything by empathizing.

2. Being Unbiased
Be impartial when making a decision about the people under you. Stand by what’s just, even if you end up compromising what you want as a leader. Patience and restraint are not just about enduring others; it is also about not submitting to your own wishes.

3. Constructive Positivity
It’s not possible to always be optimistic. However, constructive positivity is something entirely different. It enables you to make the best out of every situation while being realistic and aware of your circumstances.

A national leader, in the wake of a natural catastrophe, can exercise constructive positivity by drawing a resilient policy and galvanizing the entire nation in the work of achieving it. When people see their leader not losing hope, they will naturally want to make their situation better.

This is because not losing hope and moving towards resilience requires a lot of restraint and patience. It is essentially a restraint towards giving up.

Ingratitude, hopelessness, and negativity are the easiest things to fall into when disaster strikes. However, garnering patience and restraint to not give up and rise from your ordeals is the mark of a true leader.

As a leader, you should cultivate both these qualities to carry on the legacy of all the inspirational giants who walked the face of this earth.