Although February is the shortest month of the year, there are several days set aside to celebrate special events. For instance, we celebrate Black History Month, Louis Riel Day, Valentine's Day and Festival du Voyageur. As well, I recently learned that February has also been declared National Parent Leadership Month.

That got me thinking, and so I have decided to celebrate February simply as leadership month. After all, the leadership candidates for the U.S. primaries are vigorously squaring off during February while the Canadian NDP is counting the days until the party's national leadership convention. So, let's celebrate leadership and take a look at what leadership is all about as we move through 2012.

Leadership is one of the most studied concepts in the business world and there is still no consensus on what is the best leadership style for the coming times. Some say that in rocky economic times, we need leaders who can manage crises well and who are more decisive. Still others say that successful leaders need to be able to be commanding while at the same time being collaborative.

Coming at the topic of leadership from a human resource perspective, I want to share my own thoughts on what characteristics I believe successful leaders will need to have. These include the following:

Environmental sensitivity - I believe that leaders who attain success will be those who are continually sensitive to the immediate as well as global business environment. These leaders will spend considerable time scanning all of the elements that affect their world. This includes the political, environmental, technological, social and financial factors that can have an impact on their business. They keep this knowledge at their fingertips and are always seeking opportunities, overcoming various perceived barriers and adjusting their organization to confront any challenges.

Ability to create a problem solving culture - Successful leaders will ensure there is a culture of problem solving, where everyone is taught a problem-solving methodology and clearly understands and exercises their scope of authority. The problem-solving culture will also focus on decisiveness as procrastination of any kind will be a killer in a fast paced world.

Good people judgment - I believe that successful leaders are those who surround themselves with a strong team of professionals and who will not be intimidated by other strong ideas or criticisms. They are also able to effectively assess the necessary team skills and will then go out and find individuals with these skills. Successful leaders then use a combination of both intuition and formal psychometric assessments to correctly gauge the capabilities of their new hires.

Strong intuition - Thankfully, the concept of intuition is no longer discounted because in my view, it is a critical skill for successful leaders. Reading and understanding facts and figures is one thing, but being able to interpret and read between the lines is another. The skill of intuition allows leaders to just know and enables them to discover, anticipate and project into the future.

Financial management strengths - There are no two ways about it; money makes the world go round. And successful senior leaders need to know how to lead and manage this resource in all types of economic environments. This includes being able to identify threats and opportunities as well as the various risks that come with a fast changing global world.

Inspirational role model - In my view, those individuals who lead by example, willingly reach out and develop others around them are seen as motivators who inspire others. These individuals will not only be personally successful, but they will help others be successful. They have vision and conviction and their inspirational style results in an energizing organization culture.

Interpersonal communication strengths - I view successful leaders as individuals who can genuinely talk to anyone at all levels of the organization. They are never condescending and when they speak, listeners know they are being treated with respect. Successful leaders are good at initiating conversations and are also good listeners. Finally, successful communicators develop healthy interpersonal relationships throughout their entire personal network.

Honesty and integrity - I believe that successful leaders don't just command people to follow them; they model and build followers through honesty, integrity and leadership excellence. After all, people want to know and trust their leader. They want to know that decisions are being made for the benefit of the organization as a whole, rather than simply for the leader. As well, employees want to see consistent honesty and integrity between the personal and the corporate.

Ability to influence - Influencing is both an art and a science and is all about getting people to do what you want them to do. This skill requires an individual to be a good listener and to have the ability to make people feel good about themselves through praise, compliments and general acknowledgement. When people like and can relate to your ideals, they can be influenced. While simplicity suggests this might have more to do with charm and charisma, I believe that influence can be learned as a skill.

Positive attitude - In my experience, I see that successful leaders are continually optimistic; they avoid negative thinking and are able to quickly turn challenges around through constructive problem solving. As well, leaders with positive attitudes attract others who are positive and optimistic; then as a team, they look at the world from the point of what can be rather than what is wrong. I truly believe that a positive attitude is a state of mind that every leader needs to have.

An ability to look in the mirror - A successful leader is able to look in the mirror and see what others see. In other words, they make an extra effort to know and understand their various stakeholders, their needs, their prejudices and their values and know what image they are projecting. This is essentially "market intelligence" which helps the leader to build corporate value that has meaning to its investors.

As you can see, I have taken some personal and professional liberties in naming February leadership month. My thoughts were stimulated by my recognition of how many leadership issues are hitting the front-page news. As well, I also find it interesting that while so much research has been done on leadership, there is still no consensus on what leadership style is best suited for our future. Maybe there is no real answer. And, so, based on all of my experience as a human resource professional, I just had to add my own thoughts.