What makes a good leader? The official definition is “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country.”
Good leaders support their team through delegation, integrity and influence — helping the company cogwheel to turn. To become a leader, you must have strong leadership qualities to guide your employees, clients, and the business itself.
Here are several qualities a leader should have.
Integrity
Communication Skills
Confidence
Creativity
Empathy
Responsibility
Honesty
Accountability
Vision
Listening
Why?
Integrity
Integrity shows that the leader is honest and reliable. A leader that you can’t trust or rely on to get things done isn’t a very good one. Leaders who have the integrity to do the right thing, tell the truth, stick to their word and get the job done are paramount to any organization.
Communication Skills
If a leader has bad communication skills, how can they lead? Without communicating, they can not only be hard to approach, but they also wouldn’t know how to convey a problem. Leaders have the role of instructing and disciplining their team. Without this quality, the company could suffer.
Confidence
Leaders are the ones who make the big decisions. If the leader isn’t confident in their answer, they are the ones to blame when everything goes wrong. A leader needs this quality in order to act in perilous and tense situations.
Creativity
When the employees go to the leader with problems, it’s the leader’s job to come up with a solution. That’s where creativity comes in. Creative thinking is crucial to innovation and problem-solving. It can be the difference between boosting the business or adding to its downfall, so possessing this skill is important.
Empathy
Empathy is a great skill for a leader to have. It shows they have the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This quality can also allow the leader to pick up other skills like creativity, emotional connection, collaboration, and negotiation. Empathy shows that they understand and resonate with their team — helping to build a rapport.
Responsibility
A leader must show responsibility on all fronts. Without a responsible trait, how can they encourage others or keep them motivated? Responsible leaders should consider how any given situation can affect not only themselves but the entire team. A responsible leader will always ensure their team that they are dependable.
Honesty
Integrity isn’t anything without honesty. As a leader, you must be honest and upfront with your teams at all times. If a leader wants to earn their team’s trust, they must be honest and respectful. This also helps to create a cohesive team.
Accountability
Good leaders hold themselves accountable for not only their faults, but for the entire team’s wrongs because they were the ones put in charge. When things get rough, the leader doesn’t back down but perseveres. They hold themselves accountable and fix the problem.
Vision
A visionary leader “thinks about or plans the future with imagination or wisdom”. Being a visionary can help boost and motivate the team. This leader plans ahead and puts in the work to get there.
Listening
As a leader, you will have to listen most of the time. It’s your job to get the job done and help the team with their problems. If the leader doesn’t listen, how will they know what is going on?
Read More: https://akandle.com/blog/why-delegation-is-important-for-achieving-organizational-goals/
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