Is Civility a Leadership Trait?

Most of these posts address leadership characteristics and leadership issues in general, how we manage our time, how we interact with each other and the aspects an employee is looking to find in a leader.

One leadership trait I haven’t previously considered is civility.  I recently read an article online about the decline in civility in our society and the responsibility we can all take to be civil in our actions – both personal and professional.

You can read the complete article here.

I love the concept that is we take responsibility for our actions, we can make our society more civil.  I consider it so vital that it should be a trait of all successful leaders.  After all, the best leaders cannot be the best if they aren’t civil.  Treating people appropriately has to be the number one trait of a great leader.

Unfortunately, not many companies consider it an important trait and we see unhappy employees, staff turnover and endless internal problems as a result.

What do you think? Is civility a leadership trait?