Decent leadership guides us through decision-making to ensure the world marches on. These individuals shape our communities, manage organizations, and even lead nations. But not every leader is good, and bad leaders are quickly identified in our society. So while it may be easy to disregard someone as evil, how do you identify good leadership? What do most people believe are the positive traits found in a good leader?
Traits of Good Leadership
After much research, it was discovered that the top leaders in the world possess ten consistent essential qualities. Some aspects of this list may seem obvious, while others focus on the emotional characteristics of a leader. In any case, decent leadership exhibits communication skills, integrity, delegation, self-awareness, learning agility, influence, gratitude, respect, empathy, and courage. When used together, each of these qualities plays a role in the development of tomorrow’s leaders.
Communication
Effective communication is intertwined with effective leadership quality in some top leaders worldwide. In addition, communication skills serve team members and corporations in that information transmitted to others is compelling, inspirational, and motivational for everyone involved. Good leaders in possession of communication skills are agile communicators who know how to listen, as well as how to be heard.
Integrity
This one may feel obvious, but it is underutilized in the process of employee evaluations. In any case, this quality is one of the essential traits a leader could possess for the treatment of organizations and individuals alike. Top-level executives benefit from integrity when rooting out an organization’s blind spots.
Delegation
As one of the core leadership responsibilities, delegation can feel tricky to delegate effectively. However, this skill enables team member growth, improved decision-making skills, teamwork facilitation, and more. It isn’t about freeing up your work schedule – delegation molds people. This skill also facilitates trust within the workplace, furthering the overall effectiveness of delegation.
Self-Awareness
Some leadership traits may seem inwardly focused, but self-awareness does more than point out prospective areas of personal growth. Leaders effectively recognize their strengths and weaknesses by harnessing self-awareness in an environment of humility to understand themselves better. In addition, influential leaders understand precisely how to control their emotions to cultivate calculated responses that generate growth in others.
Learning Agility
When you don’t know what to do, regardless of your seniority within the office, learning agility is the ability to be a quick study of uncertain circumstances. Anyone can foster this skill through effort, practice, and experience. Contrary to popular belief, great leaders are fantastic learners first. Even when leaders don’t directly know the answer, they are confident in their ability to locate a feasible solution.
Gratitude
Did you know that a sense of gratitude works to lessen anxiety, increase self-esteem, and reduce depression? Thankfulness goes to great lengths in a better sleep cycle as well. Good leaders are grateful leaders who regularly appreciate coworkers and other team members. A simple “thank you” from an appreciative boss may be all it takes to increase employees’ willingness to put more effort in during their shifts.
Empathy
Empathy plays a crucial role in leadership effectiveness and emotional intelligence and correlates directly with overall performance. By practicing empathetic behaviors and inclusive leadership skills toward team members, your boss will more likely recognize you as an ideal leader. Additionally, inclusion and empathy do wonders for workplace condition improvements.
Influence
This word may feel dirty, but influence is a person’s ability to convince another individual through emotional, logical, and cooperation tactics. It’s important to note that influence varies greatly from manipulation. When working to influence someone positively, it must be done transparently and not for selfish gain. This trait requires trust, emotional intelligence, and more to be done correctly.
Courage
Speaking up at work can be challenging, especially when you want to voice a solution or new idea. Courage is especially helpful when speaking to a superior about a concern for another employee while avoiding conflict or other problems. However, courage enables good leaders to step in and push things toward the correct decision. Therefore, to further foster a courageous, supporting, truth-telling coaching culture, a workplace must set high standards for solid conversational skills and psychological safety practices.
Respect
One of the essential roles of a leader is treating people with respect every day. Not only does this create an environment of trust and improved effectiveness, but it also serves to ease tension and conflict. Respectful office culture is more than an environment free from disrespectful behaviors and attitudes. More often than not, it all begins with a leader with good listening skills who seeks to understand their team members’ perspectives.
Becoming a Good Leader
Good leaders possess a certain degree of leverage within these characteristics. When used together, though, these shared traits create a strong foundation for effective, honest leadership regardless of industry. Unfortunately, without using these qualities, achieving any level of outstanding leadership is impossible. Good leaders aren’t born; they develop through dedication, time, and effort. Experience, adaptation, and continued study are a few additional ways good leaders develop talents for future use. By working to strengthen these ten characteristics, you can become a good leader in your own right. Remember to remain open to growth, put time toward self-improvement, and, most importantly, create time to learn and listen.
For the Greater Good
The social constructs behind leadership are essential to understanding how to achieve this status. It isn’t strictly about a charismatic individual within a leadership role and is more about the collective group of employees striving to work together toward a common goal. While you may be respected and well-liked by demonstrating a few of the ten characteristics, reaching goals as a team will be impossible.
Leadership Continues Onward
The journey of leadership is what it’s all about. Maintaining your role and thriving as a leader is about regular improvements, continuous learning, and humility. By adhering to a few disciplines, you will be ready to soar, regardless of the height accomplished professionally. Teams, situations, projects, and leadership come in all shapes and forms and require specialized leadership techniques and competencies. Leadership requires a regular application of emerging characteristics at many points during your career.
