When it comes to running your day, it’s easy to get swept up in distractions and tasks that don’t move you forward. The average person loses up to three hours each day due to interruptions from phone calls, email and coworkers, according to a study by CareerBuilder.

Sometimes the only way you'll truly know whether a leader's skills are genuine is to measure the manager that made your life miserable against the one that had you thinking often, "This is too good to be true." If you think your boss is some freak of nature and you're the luckiest person alive, I'll break it to you gently: He or she is most likely the kind of leader who demonstrates best-in-class behaviors identified in the research of those leading the most profitable companies on the planet.

When employees aren’t just engaged, but inspired, that’s when organizations see real breakthroughs. Inspired employees are themselves far more productive and, in turn, inspire those around them to strive for greater heights.

Great leadership is dynamic; it melds a variety of unique skills into an integrated whole. Great leadership is also founded in good habits. What follows are the essential habits that exceptional leaders rely on every day. Give them a try and see where they take your leadership skills.

As a leader, one of your key responsibilities is to develop the people who work with you, to push them to new heights, and to develop the next generation of leaders. It's true to say that not all of the people who work for you will become Leaders, but it is also true to say that they will all benefit from being developed in this direction.