CEOS. Parents. Dishwashers. Teachers. Children. Anyone can be a leader, including you. When you bring the best out in others so they become higher-performing with and for others – you are a leader. Here are three traits that such leaders share.

1. Act Like You Want Others to Act

Gandhi said “We must be the change we wish to see in the world”. To lead, we must demonstrate the attitudes and behaviors we want to cultivate in others. If you’re a business leader and you want your staff to dress professionally, you set the example by arriving in a suit every day. As a teacher who wants students to learn to make and keep agreements, set deadlines for turning in homework and the timetable for when they will get their corrected assignments back. Keep your part of the agreement.

2. Prove You Care and Value Others Who Do Too

The second element of true leadership is to inspire others to care, not just for those closest to them but as an attitude of support towards all others.

One of my mentors, Dr. Tim Goddard, lost his daughter, Cpt. Nichola Goddard, when she was killed in Afghanistan in 2006. The family was devastated. Thoughout their time of grief for the loss of their daughter, they also sought ways to find positive outcomes from their tragedy, and hope for peace in the world. One way was to start a scholarship fund in memory of their daughter. Scholarships are awarded to graduate students at the University of Calgary are citizens of Papua New Guinea, Nichola Goddard’s birthplace, as well as to citizens of Afghanistan, where she died and to Canada’s First Nations, Inuit or Métis people, with whom Captain Goddard spent many of her formative years.

Canadian Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, thought this scholarship was such an important tribute that he added $25,000 from the Canadian government.

By instinctually acting to care for others, leaders demonstrate an “I’ve got your back” attitude of support that inspires others to act the same. That contagious mutual support enables us to feel part of a larger whole, to be resilient and thus ready to serve each other.

3. Expect Their Best

Leaders empower others by acting as if we can accomplish great things. One of the key ways leaders demonstrate that ‘act as if’ attitude is by appealing to the best side in someone, their strongest talent and deepest belief. When I was coaching a resourceful, dedicated director of a university international language program, she kept describing the barriers she faced. She was frustrated with the limited funding and time she had. I replied that her deep caring for her students and her ingenuity to leverage what she did have were priceless lessons for her students. Her very resourcefulness could be a source of inspiration for her students along with the topic she was teaching. In short I appealed to what mattered most to her and what we both knew she did well. Later, she told me that was a pivotal conversation for her, as she realized that her first order of business was to serve her students and help them become the best they could be.

By practicing these three traits in your work and life situations you’ll hone your natural strengths as a leader and raise the bar of performance for yourself and for others around you.

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