What are good qualities of a leader

“The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers” 

Peter Drucker

There are 10 essential leadership qualities that consistently distinguish the best leaders from the rest

Our nations, communities, and organizations are shaped by our leaders. What are good qualities of a leader? Is there anything that makes followers follow leaders? What makes a successful leader different from others?

In order for the world to move forward, we need leaders who can provide us with guidance and make the crucial large-scale decisions.

A bad leader is usually immediately identified by our society, but how do you identify a good leader? Who is considered to be a good leader by most people?

”As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others“

Bill Gates

These 10 essential leadership traits define good leadership

1. Integrity
2. Delegation
3. Communication
4. Self-Awareness
5. Gratitude
6. Learning Agility
7. Influence
8. Empathy
9. Courage
10. Respect

Integrity

There should be no doubt about the importance of integrity. In spite of the fact that integrity is not necessarily a metric for evaluating employees, it is an essential leadership quality. Executives who make countless decisions that determine the organization’s course are particularly important to pay attention to this. In our research, we found that integrity is often overlooked by organizations. It is therefore important that leaders at all levels are reminded of the importance of honesty and integrity.

Delegation

Leaders are responsible for delegation, but it can be challenging to delegate effectively. We don’t just want to give ourselves more time, but we want to give our direct reports a chance to grow, facilitate teamwork, provide autonomy, and allow them to make better decisions. Through effective delegation, the best leaders build trust in the workplace and on their teams.

Communication

Communication and leadership are intertwined. Leaders who communicate well can transmit information, inspire others, and coach direct reports in a variety of ways. In addition, you should be capable of listening to and communicating with people across roles, geography, and social identities. Your business strategy is directly affected by the quality and effectiveness of communication among your leaders. Effective communication can improve your organization’s culture.

Self-Awareness

The ability to be self-aware and humble is paramount to leadership, even if it is an inward-focused trait. Understanding yourself and recognizing your strengths and weaknesses will help you become a better leader. What do others think of you, or what does your work style look like? 

Gratitude

By being thankful, you can feel more confident, reduce depression and anxiety, and sleep better. Being grateful can even improve your leadership skills.

People rarely say “thank you” in work settings, even though most say an appreciative boss would motivate them to work harder. Leadership is about showing gratitude at work.

Learning Agility

A person with learning agility knows what to do when they don’t know what to do. It’s possible that you’ve already learned agile if you’re a “quick study” or excel in unfamiliar situations. Learning agility, however, can be fostered and increased by anyone through practice, experience, and effort. It’s no secret that great leaders are also great learners.

Influence

“Influence” can seem like a dirty word to some people. However, inspiring, effective leaders excel at persuading others through logical, emotional, and cooperative appeals. There is a big difference between influence and manipulation, and it needs to be done transparently and authentically. In order to succeed, you need emotional intelligence and trust. 

Empathy

Emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness are both enhanced by empathy. Your boss is more likely to view you as a better performer if you demonstrate inclusive leadership and empathy toward your direct reports. Moreover, empathy as well as inclusion are extremely important for improving the working conditions for those around you in the workplace.

Courage

When it comes to telling a direct report about your concerns, voicing a new idea, or providing feedback for someone above you, it can be hard to speak up at work. Leaders are known for their courage, and that’s one of the reasons they are so effective. By stepping up and moving things in the right direction instead of avoiding problems or allowing conflicts to fester, leaders can avoid problems and resolve conflicts.An organizational culture that fosters courage and truth-telling will be fostered by a workplace with high psychological safety and strong conversational skills.

Respect

An important aspect of leadership is treating people with respect every day. As a result, tensions and conflicts will ease, trust will be created, and effectiveness will improve. It takes more than avoiding disrespect to build a culture of respect. Being respectful can be expressed in many ways, but it often starts with listening well and genuinely trying to understand others’ perspectives.

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Leadership in Action: What Good Leadership Looks Like

Leaders may exhibit some or all of these 10 characteristics to varying degrees, but all excellent leaders utilize at least some of them.

Across organizations, industries, and continents, they are the backbone of strong, effective, good leadership. True leadership cannot exist without these qualities.

In order to develop the qualities of a good leader, we need to have three core beliefs:

For over 5 decades, the Center for Creative Leadership has researched the qualities of a good leader and the role of leadership. We believe that effective leadership is based on some core beliefs.

Good Leaders Are Made, Not Born.

To begin with, we believe that leaders are made, not born. In other words, leadership can be developed. The best leaders are molded by experience, continuous study, and adaptation. If you put in the effort and time to improve yourself, you can strengthen any of these 10 characteristics of a good leader. It is also possible for organizations to help their employees hone these leadership qualities through the intentional use of leadership experiences to drive their development as leaders.

The essence of good leadership goes beyond one individual.

A key aspect of leadership is realizing that it is a social process. In order to achieve results, a group of people must work together, rather than relying on one charismatic individual for leadership. In spite of demonstrating many of the qualities of a strong leader, if you lack this critical element, you won’t be able to succeed on your own. Although your team or organization may like and respect you, achieving goals will be difficult for you. Leadership aims to create alignment, commitment, and direction within an organization.

Leadership is a continuous process.

It should also be noted that leadership is not a destination, but a journey – it is something that you will need to work at regularly throughout your career, regardless of the level you achieve within your organization. Depending on the team, project, or situation, different leadership competencies will be required. In order to achieve success in your career, you will need to be able to utilize these leadership characteristics in a variety of ways. If you continue to learn and grow, you will develop into an agile learner with a long career.