One characteristic that needs to be possessed by every leader?

Integrity. When you have integrity, you stand by a set of standards, principles and values, on a personal level and on organizational level. You will not be liked by everyone, becaues not everyone has the same princples and values as you stand for, but you will be respected and the people who are aligned with your values and principles, will find you honest, reliable and trustworthy.

In order to have integrity, you will need to have strength, courage, descipline, and accountability. Many leaders, or so called leaders, talk about the pricniples and values that they stand for, but a few have the strength, courage or discipline to stand by them. A person of integrity is a person of strength.

To sum up. When you have integrity, you can truely lead by example and serve your people with waht you and them stand for.