Leadership
in the Hand
A leader is someone who has the necessary ability or authority to guide, direct, or inspire others.
Leadership qualities are indicated by a strong Jupiter mount and a long second phalange on the preferably long index (Jupiter) finger. A star of Jupiter on the mount increases the person’s drive and ambition to reach the top in his or her field. A long, strong, low-set thumb which forms a wide angle to the palm is also a sign of a natural leader. A clear, preferably long, destiny line that heads toward the middle finger and a life line that sweeps well out into the palm are also useful for anyone in a leadership role, as they provide stamina and a sense of direction. A strong little finger provides the ability to motivate, persuade, and influence others. People with fire hands frequently make natural leaders.
Several years ago, a good friend of mine asked me to help him decide if any of his managerial team were capable of taking on a leadership role in his business. It was an interesting request, as although he employed more than one hundred people, Don was a hands-on, controlling CEO who trusted no one and found it hard to delegate. Consequently, although he had a management team, none of them were really managers, as Don micromanaged everything and was the only person able to make decisions about anything relating to the business. Few managers could put up with this for long, and most left after a year of two. None of his current managers had been with the company for more than two years.
Don was an entrepreneur. He’d started his logistics business twenty-five years earlier with a small truck and a dream. He had an earth hand and frequently told me that the best days of his life had been when he was struggling to get established in a highly competitive market. His short fingers, stubborn thumb, and short, straight head line were useful when he started his business, but meant his personality was too impulsive and abrasive when it came to running a large business that worked internationally. Don is an extremely outgoing and entertaining person to meet socially, but I could imagine how difficult it would be to work for him.
He was planning to hold a dinner for all his employees and their partners to celebrate the company’s twenty-fifth birthday. There’d be a band and other entertainment. He asked me if I’d read palms as part of the entertainment, and while doing this, see what leadership qualities I could find in three of his managers. This was because he didn’t want the staff to know that he was using palmistry to evaluate them.
I explained that anything I learned as a result of looking at someone’s palms was confidential, and that I couldn’t pass on information about anyone without their permission. I thought this was the end of the matter, but in his excitable, impulsive way, Don was unable to keep it a secret. During a managers’ meeting, he told them of his friendship with me, and how he’d been helped by my knowledge of his palms. He explained that he had a new role in mind and wanted to appoint someone who was already working for the business rather than recruit someone from outside. He asked if any of the managers would agree to have me look at their hands and let him know what I’d found.
Three of the eight managers were excited by the idea, but the others raised objections. One objected on religious grounds, one was concerned about the accuracy of palmistry, and the others simply felt uneasy about the whole idea. However, by the end of the meeting, they’d agreed to have me read palms at the company dinner. After seeing me read palms, and presumably after they’d spoken to staff members who’d had a reading, they’d have another meeting and decide whether or not they’d let me look at their palms.
The dinner was a huge success. In the early part of the evening, several magicians and I worked the tables. They did card tricks and I read palms. After dinner, there was a standup comedian, followed by dancing. During the evening, Don introduced me to a few people and asked me to read their palms, but I had no idea if they were part of his management team.
A few weeks later, I was invited to attend a meeting where Don told the eight managers his plans for the future of the business. He was intending to become the chairman and was looking for someone to take over the role of CEO. Disbelief was followed by several gentle jokes about how Don would be unable to let go of the day to day operation of the business. Don explained that one of his sons was seriously ill, and the real reason for stepping sideways was because he wanted to spend more time with his family.
He then asked me to tell them what I’d be looking for if I read their palms. Fortunately, they’d all heard good things about my readings at the dinner, and when I explained that I wasn’t fortune telling, but would be looking for leadership potential, everyone agreed to let me see their palms. I returned the next day and took palm prints.
While all of this was going on, I read everything I could find on leadership. Unfortunately, much of it wasn’t particularly helpful. After all, how can you compare the personalities and leadership styles of people as diverse as John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Florence Nightingale?
Leaders come in all sorts of varieties. Some are natural leaders from birth, while others discover their potential much later in life when they’re forced to take on a leadership role. Some are extroverts, while others are introverted. Height, weight, gender, color, and personality have no bearing on someone’s leadership potential.
There are a virtually unlimited number of qualities that would be useful for a leader to possess.
I started by looking for quotations on leadership. One I particularly like is by Robert Townsend: “True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.” Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States, said, “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.” Ralph Lauren, the American clothing designer, said: “A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”
Eventually, I came up with a list of ten qualities that I thought every leader should have: integrity, ability to inspire others, passion, courage, communication skills, accountability, creativity, ability to delegate, relentless positivity, and ability to focus on the future.
Integrity
Integrity is an essential quality. Oprah Winfrey said it all: “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” A true leader always does the right thing and acts fairly, honestly, and honorably. If you’re not honest yourself, you can’t expect the people who work for you to be honest either.
Inspiration
A leader has to know how to motivate and inspire others. You can inspire others by putting joy and passion into everything you do. You need to remain positive and calm no matter what problems you encounter. Motivation and inspiration are contagious. As Lee Iacocca said, “Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can’t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people.”
Passion
Donovan Bailey, the Jamaican athlete, said, “Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.” A leader needs to be passionate about what he or she does. You can’t inspire or motivate anyone if you’re not fully committed to your goal.
Courage
A leader needs courage to achieve his or her goals. Walt Disney said, “Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised.”
Communication Skills
A leader can’t achieve anything until he or she has communicated his or her vision to the rest of the workforce. Words can motivate and sway others. The American lawyer James Humes said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
Accountability
It’s natural to make excuses or try to assign blame, but leaders accept responsibility and are accountable for whatever has occurred. Leaders take ownership of their mistakes as well as the mistakes of their team. Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” Leaders also ensure that every member of the team is accountable for his or her work and provide regular feedback on how they are progressing.
Creativity
Leaders need to motivate and encourage their team to be creative and to come up with innovative ideas.
Delegation
Leaders must be able to delegate tasks to others, as it’s impossible for them to do everything themselves. The art of delegation is to choose the right people and to let them get on with the job without checking up on them every five minutes. The American author John C. Maxwell puts it: “If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things, and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
Positivity
It’s impossible to motivate and inspire others without being positive yourself. Willie Nelson said, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” Leaders need to maintain a positive attitude to motivate themselves and everyone they work with.
Focus on the Future
Leaders need to be forward-looking people. They have to handle their day-to-day responsibilities while remaining clearly focused on the future they desire. They’re visionaries who study future trends, visualize their ideal future, and make plans to ensure their vision becomes a reality.
Finding Leadership Traits in the Hand
Fortunately, all of these qualities can be found on the hands.
Integrity is revealed by a long and straight little finger and well-developed mounts of Mercury and Apollo. A mount of Saturn that is displaced toward the index finger, a centrally placed apex on the mount of Jupiter, and a strong mount of inner Mars are all signs of integrity.
People with strong conic-tipped index fingers, a mystic cross on the mount of Jupiter, and a strong mount of Mercury have the ability to inspire and motivate others.
Passion is indicated by a strong, firm mount of Venus encircled by a well-marked life line and a firm mount of Apollo. People with spatulate fingertips also have an abundance of enthusiasm, passion, and energy.
Courage is indicated by the firmness of the two mounts of Mars, particularly the mount of inner Mars. This should be firm and strong. It’s even better if the loop of courage is also on this mount. This shows that the person is totally fearless and will never stop pursuing anything he or she believes in.
Communication skills are indicated by a long, straight little finger. This finger should reach up to at least the base phalange of the ring finger. If the little finger is set low on the palm, it should be mentally raised to the base of the ring finger. The Mercury mount should be firm and prominent. A clear hepatica line is also a sign of a good communicator. People with air hands are natural communicators who frequently choose careers that involve their communication skills.
Accountability is indicated by a strong, straight Saturn finger, a wide quadrangle, and a long destiny line.
Creativity is indicated in a variety of ways that we discussed in the previous chapter. These include a well-developed mount of Luna and a curving head line.
Positivity is indicated by prominent Apollo and Mercury mounts, a wide space between the ring and middle fingers, and a long, straight ring finger. A long first phalange on the little finger and a good mount of Jupiter are useful, too, as they enhance the person’s ability to get on well with others.
The ability to delegate is indicated by small, smooth hands. People with small hands enjoy being involved in large-scale projects and must be able to delegate, as there is far too much information involved for one person to handle. A gap between the head and life lines at their start enhances the ability to delegate.
Examining the handprints for potential leadership ability was a fascinating experience. All eight people possessed most of the qualities I was looking for. This wasn’t surprising, as they were all department managers.
One print was different, though. It was a small hand belonging to the only female manager Don had on his team. She had an air hand with long index and little fingers. The mounts of Jupiter, Apollo, and Mercury were all well developed. Her long and waisted thumb created a wide angle with the side of the palm. She had plenty of energy and stamina, as revealed by the large mount of Venus. Her destiny line started a third of the way down the palm and almost reached the mount of Saturn. The head line was long and curved toward the mount of Luna. There was a writer’s fork at the end of this line. She had a whorl fingerprint pattern on the index finger of her right hand, and loops on the other fingers. The tri-radius was centrally situated at the top of the mount of Jupiter.
I recommended her for the new position. Don was concerned about this, as she wasn’t one of the three people he was initially going to choose from. He had some sexist attitudes, as well, and expressed doubt that a woman would be able to lead a logistics company. Don was famous for making instant decisions, but in this case, he thought about it for three months before appointing her to the position. She’s been a great success, and the company has more than doubled in size since she took on the role of CEO.