Sara Luther Hagerman

New Westgate and Northside Financial Manager Sara Luther Hagerman, who joined North Shore Bank on June 11, admires and does her best to emulate former President Ronald Reagan. She selects these five leadership attributes for her road map to becoming a successful leader:

1) Be a congenial messenger with a vision
“People follow a leader only if they like that person,” Sara says. “Self-examination can help refine your personal qualities and strengthen your character.”

She notes that Reagan said, “America is too great for small dreams,” prompting her to ask herself and her team, “What is the greatest dream we can have for this organization?”

2) Communicate your vision to gain followers
“Having a vision is crucial for a leader, but more important is your ability to communicate this vision in a compelling way that attracts followers who become excited about it and who commit to achieving it,” Sara says.

She points to Reagan’s reputation as the Great Communicator. “He was able to articulate complex issues in simple, often visual ways that enabled people to understand and get excited about them.”

3) Lead, don’t micromanage
“The inability to delegate not only deprives an organization of contributions of the entire team, but also demotivates talented people.” Sara says. “By not having the freedom to do things their own way, they lose interest in their work and become mere robots, doing only what they are told.”

4) Use humor and stay human

“Reagan used humor throughout his presidency,” Sara says. Poking fun at himself, he said, “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.”

He was always gracious, greeting a foreign dignitary or a server in a restaurant with the same respect and consideration.

5) Live a balanced life
Reagan’s devotion to his wife, Nancy, was renowned. At Reagan’s funeral, former President George W. Bush said, “During his career, Ronald Reagan passed through a thousand crowded places, but there was only one person, he said, who could make him lonely by just leaving the room.” That person, of course, was Nancy.

“Reagan never allowed the demands of his responsibilities as leader of the free world to overtake his obligations to his family,” Sara says.