It’s easy to recognize a poor leader, but defining what makes a great leader can be challenging. A good business leader is much more than a person who makes money for their company. There are several attributes and skills that the best leaders share. The qualities of a good leader aren’t always easy to achieve or fine-tune, but they are worth the effort to try to hone. With a commitment to improvement and executive leadership training, you can also learn how to enhance your skills and become your best version. Below are five of the most critical qualities all leaders share that you can use as a framework to improve your own skills.
A Great Leader Works With Integrity
Good character is one of your most essential qualities as a leader. It’s an individual’s adherence to a moral standard, encompassing characteristics like integrity, honesty, reliability, trustworthiness, and other essential values for leaders to possess. Good business leaders are reliable because they have integrity – they do what they say they will do and don’t make empty promises or mislead their colleagues or clients. They also ensure that everyone on their team acts with integrity by setting clear standards for behavior, both at work (such as by showing up on time) and outside work (by not using company resources for personal use).
Working with integrity isn’t solely about doing what you say you’re going to do; it’s also about being self-aware and staying true to your values. Great leaders acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses and can admit mistakes when they happen. Perhaps more importantly, they know how to recognize and address errors to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Being willing to admit errors shows maturity, confidence, and humility, too–all of which are essential for acting with integrity in the workplace.
Motivated and Enthusiastic
Great leaders also share a true passion for the work they do. They’re enthusiastic about their company, its products or services, and its goals. Genuine enthusiasm is hard to fake. But, when a leader has sincere passion, it’s infectious; their spirit permeates throughout their team and inspires their staff.
Motivation is an essential quality of a good business leader. Ideally, a quality leader is both highly motivated and an excellent motivator. A great manager needs to encourage and inspire their team members to perform to the best of their ability and produce the best results for your company.
A Great Leader Trusts Themselves and Their Instincts
Trusting your instincts is not always easy. Confidence in your abilities and decision-making can be difficult for anyone, especially when you’re new to business leadership. But it’s vital that as a leader, you trust yourself enough to make decisions without hesitation. When you trust your instincts, your team will be able to trust you.
Even if you’re in a position of power, don’t be afraid to say no or ask for help when needed. You don’t have to know everything! If something isn’t making sense to you, say so and seek advice from people who are more knowledgeable than you are. Watch other businesses so you can learn from their successes and mistakes. Schedule time to do more research on subjects that puzzle you. Taking a leadership assessment as part of a leadership training program is a fantastic way to become more confident in your skills and learn to trust your instincts more.
Listen and Practice Empathy
Empathy is one of the most crucial qualities of a good leader. Business leaders should listen to the people around them and try to understand how others feel. They don’t rush to judgment but try to keep an open mind. Leaders also practice active listening to build trust and demonstrate to their team that they genuinely care about what they share. Listening is often a challenge for leaders whose confidence and passion leave them frequently dominating conversations. Leaders must balance sharing their ideas and ensuring that their team members feel heard.
A good leader also displays empathy through their actions. They’re compassionate and know how to forge connections with others. They don’t make decisions based solely on their feelings or experiences; instead, they understand that every situation is unique and must be handled accordingly. This type of emotional intelligence is invaluable in the workplace, both when working with others and when talking with customers or investors. Empathy helps leaders build trust and gain deeper insights into whomever they’re talking to.
Commitment to Continuous Learning and Improvement
It’s easy for someone who has already succeeded in their field to become complacent and stop learning new things. But there is no such thing as perfection; there are always ways to improve and grow in any aspect of life, especially in work. The most effective business leaders are committed to continually learning. They are always looking for ways to improve their skills and leadership profile so they can continue to do what’s best for their organization. They seek out new information from a range of sources, prioritize skills development opportunities, and never stop learning new things.
A leadership assessment can be a powerful tool in determining which qualities of a good leader need the most improvement. This skills assessment can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as a leader and then provide essential insight on how you can develop those areas.
The traits listed above are guiding principles of leadership. From being enthusiastic and confident about your work to practicing empathy and active listening, many different qualities contribute to being a fantastic manager. To become a good business leader, you should be actively working to incorporate every single one of them into your work as a manager and leader. You can easily accomplish this by looking at your leadership profile and how each trait applies to the decisions you are making in your day-to-day routine. Are you interested in becoming the best business leader you can possibly be? Visit our Contact Page or book in a Q&A discussion with one of our experienced facilitators HERE to learn more about all our leadership training programs and workshops.