Great leaders get buy-in from others, commit to strategic planning, and are bold when making decisions about their organisations. By doing this, they are able to influence others to willingly cooperate and accept the responsibility for decisions that are made. Great leaders influence others to work toward common goals by exercising honesty and integrity, staying focused, practising forward-thinking, and being humble.
A great leader is capable of recognising and cultivating leadership traits in even the smallest members of a team. Even the most junior members of the team can learn to become good leaders, as long as they are using their talents to motivate and help their teams to keep moving forward and eventually achieve their goals (individually, departmentally, and organisationally).
Leaders help motivate others, provide direction, raise morale, enhance work environments, and start actions. The ability to motivate and move others to get involved with the mission is a positive leadership skill that separates good leaders from great leaders.
To be an effective leader, you need to know how to foster teamwork and collaboration, motivate your team members to bring their best to work, and inspire your colleagues to complete seemingly impossible tasks. To be an effective leader, you must work hard to become an expert in your field and aim to develop core leadership skills. Leadership coaching can help increase self-awareness and find out what works best for you. Try to do some research to find out more about the top corporate leadership training programs available and whether you can adjust your schedule accordingly.
In addition to it, most leaders reflect on their most effective leadership qualities and strive to practice these every day. The best leaders are the ones who always do the right thing, drawing from their values to drive decisions.
They are accountable for their decisions, keep an optimistic attitude, and focus on mapping out new courses of action. Effective leaders take ownership and accountability for their mistakes and expect others to do so too. They value the support and encourage individuality. But also understand the structure of an organisation and the need for rules and policies to be followed. The best leaders are trustworthy and constantly do what is expected of them and support others when needed.
Leaders understand the need for continual change and are willing to experiment with new approaches to solving problems or improving processes. Great leaders possess vision, courage, integrity, humility, and attention, as well as the ability to strategically plan and foster collaboration across teams. They then identify the most effective ways of communicating their vision to the rest of their employees and motivating them to achieve it. Good leaders are capable of creating a challenging vision, making sure that the goal is attainable, and communicating that effectively so they can gain the buy-in of others.
Good leaders are self-motivated and possess strong social skills that help them to create connections and healthy relationships. Rather than getting distracted by details, they focus on setting an overall direction, and making good, confident decisions, even when pressed. Great leaders today are capable of quickly changing directions, when needed, to both expected and unexpected circumstances, and they do so by working with and mentoring the teams and individuals they are leading. Successful leaders find a way to get just the right combinations of charm, passion, and confidence, likely with a healthy dose of luck and good timing.
They need to know when to jump on opportunities and how to motivate employees to work harder for the good of the company. Successful leaders mobilise their teams to implement a transformational vision and maintain momentum by continually reinforcing that. True leaders are always ready to help their team members look for ways to develop new skills or improve on an area of weakness. They can identify and implement strategies that will help the entire organisation grow and, perhaps most importantly, can look inward to determine areas that need work and then act on those.
A great leader will be able to think critically about the organisation or the team that they are working in and develop a solid understanding of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (and the ways that they, as individuals, can work to either sustain or overcome their weaknesses). Strategic leaders effectively listen to team members’ input as they pursue an organisation’s goals. Great leaders embrace the things that they are bad at and are self-confident enough to surround themselves with people whose strengths complement their own.
Humble, assertive leaders realise the truth that leadership is all about working toward a greater good. Every leader has the impulse to lead, inspire, and contribute to the bigger picture.
Ultimately, people flourish under leaders who have a strong vision and are empathetic, empowered, and effective communicators. When people resonate with their vision, then the job of working towards that leader’s goal becomes much easier; because then, both the organisation members are empowered to authentically do their jobs and have a sense of purpose for what they are doing. The vision defines the purpose of the leader, team, and organisation in general.
These types of traits in leaders enable their followers to find meaning in what they are doing, feel more connected to others, and grow as individuals while accomplishing the company goals. Leaders that display the traits mentioned above are capable of taking the organisation to new heights by having employees working toward common goals for maximising profitability.
All in all, developing leadership qualities can enhance your professional marketability, whether you are just starting your career journey or looking for a new opportunity. Becoming a leader in your workplace can help you perform well in your job and grow your career.