Everyday Carry for Leaders 

By George Belsky

If you do an internet search for the phrase “Everyday Carry”, or EDC, you will find numerous sites, articles, videos, forums, and chat rooms dedicated to those essential items you should have on your person or within arm’s reach whenever you leave home.  Everything from small multi-tools to IFAKs (individual first aid kits) to pen and paper to portable chargers and all sorts of tech and tools for the well-prepared individual.  Having been somewhat of a gear-do in my younger days, I enjoy watching or reading about what all the cool kids and experts carry around.  

While tech, tools, gadgets and “hacks” are pretty interesting, the real EDC is not what gear we carry (our toolset) or even our ability to use those tools (our skillset). Rather how we think (our mindset) and our way of being (our heartset) are our most important aspects of our Everyday Carry. What is in a Leader’s EDC? What are the essentials a leader simply cannot leave home without? After years of study, trial, and error my leadership EDC comes down to just seven things:  character, courage, integrity, sincerity, compassion, poise, and humor. A leader with these items in their kit bag can handle anything that comes their way. 

Character is the biggie. Character matters. It always has and it always will. There are those that say character doesn’t really matter just performance or results.  Those people are wrong.  In an address to the West Point Corps of Cadets, GEN H. Norman Schwarzkopf, said, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.” “Character,” as Edgar F. Puryear writes in American Generalship, “cannot really be defined; it must be described.” [1] Character combines numerous traits demonstrated over time by someone. Leaders of character are selfless, decisive, and can handle criticism.  They are competent, loyal, and trustworthy.

In Courage: The Backbone of Leadership, Gus Lee and Diane Elliott-Lee write that courage “is the mental and moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” [2]   We can look at courage as having three aspects: physical, moral, and intellectual.  Physical courage is the act of being there; showing up for the people that need you to, even when we don’t feel like it. Moral courage is the ability to do the right thing regardless of the personal cost, Aristotle’s Practical Wisdom. Intellectual courage is the courage to question what we think we know as fact and approach subjects with an open mind and heart.

Integrity is the quality of being morally upright and honest. For leaders, it is paramount that your word is your bond.  Honesty is not a sometimes thing.  Are you worthy of the trust others place in you? Are you trusting of others?   Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson once said it best, “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

Sincerity is the genuineness a leader shows to others in his/her interactions with them. As I wrote in the article Sincerity as a Leadership Trait, leaders look for opportunities to connect with others. Folks can see through the badges, schools, titles, and pomp that goes with leadership positions quickly and determine how sincere you are in relating to them. They will discern if you are willing to “walk your talk” or not. 

Rasmus Hougard and Jacqueline Carter in Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way, define compassion as “understanding what another is feeling and the willingness to act to alleviate suffering for another.” [3] Along with sincerity, compassion demonstrates leaders care about others and are willing to help them. Organizations are made up of people. All of them from the top link in the chain of command to the lowest link in the chain are individuals with various needs, desires, strengths, flaws, etc. When leaders display compassion for their people, they feel better about themselves and the organization.  Nothing in sincerity or compassion stops a leader from doing what is necessary to enforce standards of conduct or performance. This is not pampering or overindulging our people; it is just showing them some humanity.

Poise is the ability to appear calm and confident even in the most stressful situations. Leaders with poise don’t get rattled easily. They appear to take things in stride and emit a sense of calm, even if they might not be feeling particularly calm. Fear and courage are both contagious; leaders with poise can nip fear by their presence or even by being a calming voice on the radio or phone. Poise allows us to stay balanced and not get knocked off balance when emotions start to flare up.

Lastly, humor. Many people would not consider humor to be a leadership trait, but I think leaders that have and maintain a good sense of humor are important to the success of the organization.  Leaders with a good sense of humor don’t take themselves too seriously. This doesn’t mean they can’t be serious or solemn when needed. It doesn’t mean playing practical jokes on people or behaving in a cruel, sophomoric or immature manner.  In her article Leading with a Sense of Humor (Seriously), LB Adams notes leaders using humor open lines of communication and gives them a way to talk to and relate to others.

These seven traits alone may not solve every leadership challenge you may face, but you won’t solve any leadership challenge without them. That is the Leader’s EDC. Character, courage, integrity, sincerity, poise, compassion, and humor.  Toss them in bag and don’t leave home without them.  

Notes:

[1] Edward F. Puryear, Jr: American Generalship – Character is Everything: The Art of Command. (Presidio Press, Novato, CA, 2000) p. 340

[2] Gus Lee with Diane Elliott-Lee: Courage:  The Backbone of Leadership. (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2006) p. 35

[3] Rasmus Hougard and Jaqueline Carter: Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way.  (Harvard Business Review Press, Boston 2022) p. 53

[4] LB Adams: “Leading with Humor (Seriously)”. (Practical Dramatics October 14, 2024) https://www.practicaldramatics.com/communique/leading-with-humor-seriously