We all strive to be great leaders. Some of us succeed and some fail. Our ability to succeed is not based on qualities that we were born with; we develop these qualities over time. Vince Lombardi, a professional football coach, once said, “Contrary to the opinion of many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work.” There are no universal characteristics or traits of a leader. Every leader produces their own styles, characteristics, philosophies, or personality traits. Leadership often emerges from your life story or from overcoming difficult experiences and using those events to give meaning to their lives. Leaders work hard at understanding and developing themselves and then they use honest feedback to help ground themselves and set the basis for their leadership development. Leaders that show authenticity to their philosophies help sustain organizational results through good times and bad.