Each Leader has unique leadership qualities. But some leadership qualities of a good leader are exhibited by every leader to positively interact with their team members and achieve greater goals.
If a team wins the success is considered to be everyone’s but the failure is always said to be of a leader. Basically, a leader requires the guts to go through the failures also and come back with better actions. This is the most important leadership trait.
A leader should always learn from whatever comes in life. Plus, should also be stable in any situation as the team members will look upon the leader for guidance.
Along with this, there are many other characteristics of a leader. A leader is not born with all those leadership traits but has developed them over time. Therefore, we can also learn these leadership traits from good leaders with practice and consistency over time.
So let’s get started.
What Are the Leadership Qualities that Make a Great Leader?
A leader has a lot of qualities such as integrity, positivity, empathy, vision, delegation, confidence, and many more. Additionally, they also have the quality to work under pressure and plan strategically with cooperation among their team. Without a good leader, success is far away to achieve.
People are always quick to identify a bad leader but often fail to identify a good one. So how do recognize a good leader? What are the leadership traits or characteristics of a leader to look for in a leader? Basically, what are the leadership qualities of a good leader?
Here is the list of the most important leadership qualities and skills to look for in a great leader.
- Integrity
- Communication
- Accountability
- Humility
- Positivity
- Empathy
- Resilience
- Vision
- Innovative
- Influence
- Delegation
- Confidence
1. Integrity
Integrity should be possessed by everyone and not only by leaders, which sadly isn’t of much importance these days. It is telling truth to everyone and following one’s belief in every situation. Ethics and honesty are the things that help gain trust and respect which to be a leader is most important.
Furthermore, a leader with integrity is always valued and trusted more as he would always stand for his words, whatever may come. Make sure you follow and encourage integrity around yourself to be a good leader. Refrain from making false promises and taking shortcuts, this would definitely help you in long run.
Respect can be lost in no time but requires a lot of time and effort to achieve. Hence, always possess integrity in every situation to become a good leader.
2. Communication
Communication is the key to conveying our message to everyone. Good leaders know how important it is to understand everyone and also to convey their message to everyone. They are good communicators and hence know when to talk and when to listen, allowing others to express themselves.
Lack of communication skills might even lead you to miscommunication between group members, resulting in disputes. You need to communicate well with all of the group members to keep them on track. Additionally, being a leader you also need to present your group and ideas to the world effectively.
Sometimes the teamwork and everything is on point but the leader lacks communication skills and that’s where the team loses. The work/message is not properly conveyed resulting in problems like delayed work or miscommunication.
3. Accountability
Accountability is the sign of a good and strong leader. A leader is always blamed for failures and hence a good leader needs to be accountable for everything. Furthermore, a good leader also needs to model their teammates to be accountable and recover from mistakes. This creates a sense of responsibility and helps them work better.
To be an accountable leader, accept your mistakes, and establish standard goals and targets focusing on the future. Provide honest feedback for everyone’s work, give credits, and take responsibility whenever necessary. This would also help build trust with your team.
4. Humility
Humility is an essential leadership trait to become a good leader because leadership usually brings arrogance along. Therefore, a leader must be humble even after achieving lots of success. They should also accept mistakes politely and improve the errors rather than being aggressive. This would help to make a better bond with people.
Acknowledge others humbly and see them improve. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses as well as others and help out others by being their friends. A humble leader understands the fact that leadership is all about working together for better success and being humble would be a step forward on that path.
5. Positivity
The positive nature of a leader even in stressful situations helps in maintaining a positive workspace. A positive workspace is more likely to evolve positive thoughts, resulting in quality work. Teammates are inspired not only by their leader’s goals but also by their leader’s outlook and attitude in any situation.
Moderate your behavior even in challenging situations. Always keep your mind stable and think positive about what’s happening and plan accordingly. Help your teammates to do the same and maintain a positive workspace that is better to work even in stressful situations.
As we know a positive mind achieves positive goals. So always be positive about situations but also keep in mind the worst-case scenario.
6. Empathy
Good Leaders care about their fellow mates. They not only communicate to express but to understand their teammates’ perspectives through communication. They listen to their problem and help them out. This helps your people to know that you value them.
Check on them if they need help and make sure you meet their requirements. Understand their thought process and provide support whenever needed. Basically, Make them feel comfortable. Help them evolve showing them the development path.
7. Resilience
Leaders are risk-takers but sometimes the risk fails and the leader needs to set back. The ability to recover from it with the same quality of work is the ultimate comeback for the whole team. Additionally, a leader is the only one who can combine the team and support them to try again. A resilient leader has the quality to work under pressure and retain the position.
A comeback would also show that the leader is confident in recovery. A leader needs to stay strong in tough situations and recover from them, setting an example for their teammates. Always be with your team and support them through the thick and thin. Hence you should have the quality of resilience to become a good leader.
8. Vision
The leader needs to have a clear vision of the organization as team members will look upon their leader for guidance. A visionary leader is far-sighted and always reminds their teammates of the bigger picture challenging them to outdo themselves.
A leader should always be clear about what they are going through and know their long-term goal, and how they will reach their goal along with their strategic planning.
Having a clear and focused mind can also help your employees to think clearly. Keep your team updated as they should know what they are working towards to help them to cope with setbacks.
9. Innovative
Innovation is what helps the team to pop apart from the crowd. Also, a creative work atmosphere results in creative problem-solving skills. Therefore, leaders should possess creative thoughts and provide innovative problem-solving.
Think creatively and also help your teammates to think out of the box. Additionally, provide them with certain ideas and examples to help improve their thought process.
10. Influence
Good leaders influence people positively but most important thing is to influence their teammates first. Your teammates should be positively influenced by you. Build an emotional and long-lasting relationship with your teammates, understand them well and be clear in presenting your ideas.
This helps you to earn the trust of your teammates. Influence your teammates to work hard and innovatively. Give them the strength to deal with tough situations as well.
11. Delegation
Good leaders not only pay attention to self-development but also evolve others. Identify talents in your teammates and help them grow with their strengths and weaknesses. Provide them with everything they need, shape their thoughts and ideas towards the goal and let them work.
Focus on rising talents and not only goals. Let them represent their ideas and thoughts and shape them into innovative thinking. They might come up with the best of ideas and trouble-shooting.
12. Confidence
Lastly, One of the most important leadership traits is confidence. A leader must be confident. Confidence provides you with the ability to face challenges. You should be confident in making decisions, communicating, or showcasing your ideas even in challenging times.
The more you believe in yourself, the more effortlessly you can work. Be confident in your actions as your teammates will mirror you. Confidence reduces stress and tension in the workspace and would also provide self-esteem to the teammates. This would help them work better with less stress.
What should a Leader not do in his Life?
By now, we know what a leader should do. But here’s a list of things that a leader should not do:
- be arrogant
- behave as if they know everything
- lose integrity
- be angry
- think negative
- lose hopes
- be impatient
Best Leadership Skills – Final Summary
These were some leadership qualities of a good leader. Basically, a leader should have all the important leadership traits like Integrity, Resilience, Confidence, Positivity, and others. A leader is not a leader without their leadership qualities.
Again I would like to say that a leader is not born with all these skills but it’s developed by practicing over time. Anyone can become a leader by practicing these qualities. So start practicing and you’ll surely be a good leader.
Remember no one achieves anything overnight. Patience is the key. So be patient and be consistent in your work.
Were there any leadership qualities that should be on this list? Let me know in the comment section below.
More from Smashitbuck: Do check out my other articles on time management skills, short inspirational quotes, and the best youtube alternatives to read this year.
Commonly asked Leadership Questions
I would say that leadership is helping others to know their true potential and work better to achieve goals. Leadership is being positive and confident in any situation yet being humble. Additionally, it is working along with teammates and taking risks to achieve goals.
A leader should focus on the work and development of the team to achieve goals faster along with self-development. Plus, one should also possess all the characteristics of a leader to become a good leader. A good leader should always understand his team better and be humble with them.
A good manager maintains the balance between fellow teammates and understands them well. Moreover, a good manager knows their teammates’ strengths and helps them improve their weaknesses.
A good manager should help out their teammates to excel in their work to achieve company goals as well as personal goals. Good communication skills are also required for being a good manager and to convey messages among the team to keep them updated. They should be stable in any situation and should have the courage to go through it.
A leader without leadership skills misleads the whole team far from progress. Leadership is important in teamwork because it helps in a fluent workflow, maintains a positive workspace, and keeps everyone on track, maintaining a friendly workspace. Leadership provides a vision to the team.
