Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
The Top 10 Leadership Qualities
Introduction
Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits.
A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion."
A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.
A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer “analysis paralysis” but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.
Analysis
Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.
Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.
Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.
Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.
Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.
Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.
Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, “What if … ?” Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question ... ”
Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.
Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.
Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being underassertive or overassertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.
A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.
Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.
Events
- Best Practices for Search and Display Integration May 17 @ 11 am PT
- The Status Quo: Defeat Your Biggest Competitor in Marketing and Sales May 17 @ 1 pm PT
Related Activity
72 Comments
Great article!
A leader should be loyal with his follower as well in achievement
of goals.
Great ideas David. It's remarkable how much a little self-awareness can help build great leaders. Savvy leaders understand their own behaviors and how they affect others. Imagine workplaces where leaders help their people shine instead of getting in the way, fantastic.
Love Love Love it!! Very well written. Thanks for the in site.
thank you for these good ideas
a good leader must be in a good habits
This article is so true to be a good lead you have to lead by example such as a bad leader make bad follower the people are not bad, but the way they are being lead teaches them the wrong way. On the other hand a good leader show a way that is positive and is always uplifting and pushing towards the the goals of success, and is very prosperous for himself and others. He will push people to be successful and work at a professional level. A good leader can bring the good out of people.
A good leader is one who loves to listen and learn from others and always knows his time of acting.he does less of the talking and more of the action.
George W.Eliau
Marketing Executive (infotech computer limited)
georgeeliau@yahoo.com
The best definition so far as I am concerned, has been given by Mr.Narayana Murthy,Chief Mentor of Infosys,, Bangalore. He defines in a very short sentence thus, "A leader is one WHO MAKES THINGS HAPPEN". In this short definition everything is included. A leader will not give excuses, but produce results despite adverse situations. That is what is meant by "Make things Happen" In order to produce the desired results he must cultivate in him the following qualities:
1. Lead by Example.Should not dictate or order his followers. He must do it HIMSELF and show it to followers 2. Be a great Motivator. Otherwise he is unfit to be a leader. (Test this on you. How many times you have motivated your wife/husband/children by appreciating their good work at home) 3.Should have a great Vision.He should be far ahead of others in his ideas and see a bright future in his mind. (Big Dream). 4.Excellent Communicator so that he can inspire his team and galvanize them. 5. Prepared to take Calculated Risks. Turn adversities into opportunities. 6. Have a Mission (Goal) to achieve, which gives direction to followers. 7. Above all have a Positive Attitude. In all the literature concerning leadership I have read, understood, assimilated and digested, these 7 are the basic ingredients of leadership. Any other qualities you think of, can be included in these seven. I therefore, say these are the seven basic prescriptions of good leadership.
M.J. SUBRAMANYAM, BANGALORE, INDIA
What is Leadership?
Natural born Leadership styles are the type of Leaders that are followed by people who follow them because they want to. These types of Leadership styles vary slightly but in general have a lot in common with one another.
The Definition of a Leader:
“One who has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to
make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of
others.”
Let’s breakdown that definition and spell out what is a
Leader or what Leadership styles truly answer the the age old question
of what is a Leader. Before we do, it is important to understand that
people need the boundaries and the Leaders who set those boundaries.
Without boundaries there is chaos and discord. People are not happy with
chaos, in general the population wants order – whether it’s a worker, a
manager or even a child. Al all stages of life there needs to be
Leaders that set the guidelines and maintain the order. Some might try
to argue this, especially if they have been exposed to Leadership styles
from individuals not fit to be in the role. Unfortunately a really good
Leadership style is a truly rare commodity. Only a small percentage of
population are fortunate enough to have experienced Leaders with
“Natural Born Leadership Styles”. It’s written as a plural because each
true and natural Leader have slightly different Leadership styles.
Quite similar overall, but go about it form different angles and to
different degrees.
So, back to the question – what is Leadership? The
definition above is accurate but it compacts the whole shebang into one
sentence. This is inappropriate and unacceptable when attempting to
instill Leadership styles into your subordinates and future Leaders.
Everyone displays their “Leadership styles” at one point or another in
their lives, whether it’s as a parent, in a social group, or in a
professional capacity. The # 1 problem that is seen
ones who push or force people to do something, instead Leaders
.”
In “The Leadership Engine”, Noel Tichy describes a Leader’s
responsibility: “Enhancing the value of assets and sustaining growth are
still the ultimate goals. This is accomplished by developing others to
be leaders, creating Leaders at every level, and getting them aligned
and energized.”
Leadership as it pertains to Leading a Facility(s): Word of mouth
is powerful… build a reputation of credibility person by person.
Build a management team that has knowledge and understanding of
Leadership and you build credibility. A team with strong credibility
throughout the facility can achieve desired goals while maintaining a
high level of morale. In order to achieve the higher levels of morale,
it starts at the top. Leaders should leave their personal issues at the
door and maintain a high level of morale. The Leader’s state of mind can
become contagious. Momentum can grow and a sense synergy can be
realized. Achieving goals requires teamwork. Achieving teamwork requires
credibility. Combine a high degree of both and the result will be
synergy.
All management in a given operation can be (and, often are) judged by the individual actions of any member of the team. In other words, one bad apple taints the rest …Or, an entire team can be considered credible.
Assess individual strengths/vulnerabilities of existing teammates
and determine where each would be well placed. Identifying, placing and training
a management team that covers all areas with precision and consistency
requires discretion and good judgment. Sharing these judgment calls with
partners (HR, Superiors, Peers, etc) can help.
Specific steps to support a Leadership strategy:
Learn Operations … Understand.
Learn all reports, examine formulas, and understand. Teach.
Determine low hanging fruit and learn/teach all resources available that might help achieve.
Delegate/assign w/ expected timelines clear. Avoid overloading team. Prioritize.
Daily start up meetings to get and keep entire team on same page.
Coach, train, and develop.
One on ones…
Provide daily leadership training and direction to management team on an individual basis.
Smile and be upbeat, create appropriate start to each day.
Redundantly explain to mgmt. the importance for each player to involve his or her teams with desired goals/objectives.
Show by example how to treat people respectfully. The
specific words used are not as important as tone and body language.
People perceive insincerity (or, sincerity).
Explain that smiling and respectfully greeting the staff is
not an option, that it is a mandatory requirement.
More smiles.
Show by example how to involve staff . Teach delegation! Be available!! …communicate availability.
Allow as much autonomy as possible – at all levels.
Be approachable to associates at all levels
More trust… give it and get it.
Develop trustful partnerships unilaterally.
Empowerment:
Teaching independence in decision making (at all levels)
Training to properly assess the needs of the business/company and make adjustments.
Say what you will do and do what you said. ….Communication/Credibility!!
Laugh (especially at yourself). Having a sense of humor is a significant part of the program.
Communicate communicate communicate – there can be no leadership without communication!
Recognize accomplishments ….even the smallest!!
Discipline and consistency are paramount. All players are equal and boundaries must be enforced! If not… credibility is lost
Take on full partners. Everyone is a full partner. …there are no individual failures!!!
Teach the value of teaching.
Be aware. Know what is happening.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Keep balance in own life …promote balance of teammates’ lives.
My name is Tom Gurda. I've won many award on a global level for my styles and achievements. If you wish to view my site where there are incredibly helpful articles, see us at http://www.leadership-business.com
Every business needs a strategy and people to carry out the strategy!!!!!
But…
“At the end of the day, you bet on people not strategies.”
Larry Bossidy, CEO Honeywell
Best regards,
Tom Gurda
Great ideas David. It's remarkable how much a little self-awareness can help build great leaders. Savvy leaders understand their own behaviors and how they affect others. Imagine workplaces where leaders help their people shine instead of getting in the way, fantastic.
a leader must be a reader and also a good listener...
good work david, i think a good leader should be tolerant.
A leader should also learn to understand the needs of his followers,in the case when you give an instruction, without following up on the outcomes of the team or asking for feedback, can reduce the leadership influence.Its quite improtant to understand the team needs for them to function properly
A leader should also be able to identify what jobs comes first on the priority list in cases when the work load is quite high on a days work
A leader should be able to motivate the followers at all times by getting involved and being ahead of the team
Great article for dynamic leadership!
Great job David! Attributes mentioned were indeed essential to be an effective leader, really helpful, for short a leader should lead with a pure heart, an open mind and a pleasant disposition.But one thing every leader should never forget is to be committed to lifelong learning and growth. :) God bless!
Good Work DAVID keep it on. Do not listen to person lik Mitch Miccrimmon because they mentioned only the mistakes but do not inspires others
it is also necessary deciviness, willingness, moral, percuasition, self confidance.
David,
Good awareness about leadership. But again handling the situation is one of the important aspect where the decision making ability counts. Thanks for info
Excellent post for leadership qualities!
Thank you.
Lowell Mims
Your Top 10 Leadership qualities article is so much rare and it is important for every persons. Famous People
Your Top 10 Leadership qualities article is so much rare and it is important for every persons. Famous People
Very interesting article! I especially liked the part about creativity. I saw this blog post by KRT Marketing on leadership, and I thought it was a great twist to this article. http://blog.krtmarketing.com/2011/11/04/a-lesson-on-leadership
Very interesting article! I especially liked the part about creativity. I saw this blog post by KRT Marketing on leadership, and I thought it was a great twist to this article. http://blog.krtmarketing.com/2011/11/04/a-lesson-on-leadership
thank you for these good ideas
leader without brain is a tree without leaves.
leader must be with strong willpower.
Leaders should be able to create motivation in other to encourage effective team work.
Peace Sylverson
NUC
I agree with most of the comments that a leader should be a little tolerate but firm, the leader must know that he or she is not in this world alone.Therefore ,patience,fairness,consideration and structure should be provided to all involved. "do the right thing" because its right and there will never be any skeltons in your closet to bury.There is never an i in team so give credit to your help when possible
it is a great article, it takes time to groom people to get to that Leadership stage. Thanx for the Leadership article.
Leadership is also showing and having respect for others which the above does not show. I agree in principle to both David Hakala and Dr. McCrimmon have worte about. An individual leader must have qualities that will inspire others both top down and bottom up. In either case if these qualities or traits are not present in top down management or bottom up the "leader" themselves will not have the confidence of the individuals they were meant to lead. A strategic decision can only be made and attained by collaborative effort from the individuals involved. Then the "boss," the one placed in the position of leading the organization can make an accurate, well informaed decision. A good example of this is when a military leader is given an objective to obtain - terrain, person, or location. If all the information is not presented from others in his organization then the decision can not be made. Playing the what if game, if the military leader has all the information for his sources except, say, from the weather officer then there is a risk if he plans to attack with heavy armor if it rains and makes traversing the terrain impossible with heavy tanks. Both of these men have different perspectives that they are looking at the topic of leadership as a whole. I appreciate both perspectives but also don't agree totally with either. These traits need far more discussion than what is available in these short comments.
Leader is only one who create leadership not only lovers , workers and followers ,
...hope that leaders will find this article so that they can assess themselves...
Though the same thing which i studied earlier, here describe differently . Thank You
hey i im happy
hey i im happy
A Leader is a man who has the ability to make others do what they don't want to do and like it.
a leader is one who dears to do the imposible beacuse to me the word imposile is somthing that has not been done.
Fantastic article for every one who are to be Leaders.
Lion Nandanathilake MJF/JP
really good article on a common but difficult subject matter.
a good leader is one who knows his responsibilities and does all his work on time with fill perfection.
thank U for this very substantive article on leadership...
Leadership also mean listening and understanding the needs of your people. Followers always expect many things from you when they work to your expectations. In achieving goals, mitigating targets, leaders forget the growth of their followers / subordinates. Without their growth, without their ability to achieve higher positions, leader can not think of him self to drive alone.
Many leaders are seen that organization becomes help less in their absence. This is not a healthy sign. Leader should develop Systems. If you develop a System and motivate your subordinates, organization will always get a success. If an organization or Group can work in the same speed and motivation in absence of their leader, then only a leader is called successful. Leader can be elevated further in such cases only.
A leader should know that there is another height of success greater than the one his team has achieved
A good leader is that who use his power & money given by the government in a best, useful & suitable way.
A good leader is that who use his power & money given by the government in a best, useful & suitable way.
A good leader must not be a liar and hypocrite .
Dr Hussain Ahmed
Agreed with Helena Cullina.
There are many leadership styles, and definitions of a leader. Honestly, how can we define the perfect leader? We cant do that. Where do I start with all the leadership approachers? Skills, Trait, Style, Situational... Team, Transformational... I could go all day.
These style cannot be effectively defined. The real world leader, with the people he may lead, or manage (uh oh, yeah I said manage) depends on situations, time, and goals.
Lets get real, of course we can try to come up with the Top 10 category for naming characteristics and compiling them all in one big list. But can we really say that a leader is just a list of terms?
On a nother note, lead with what you have. I think leadership is a characteristic in itself. Which brings it back to the full circle of my opinion that you cannot define a leader by a random list of terms.
As a college student at the age of 21, maybe being in a leadership class as well, helps with the outlook of... the outside- looking in. Tell me my experience isnt great nor that I am in the work force yet, but I think I am on to something.
And, hopefully, this posting gets me extra credit points in class!
GOOD TO KNOW THIS
And the ability to count...must be the 10th quality. Ha
Further to my earlier posting, I wish to inform that there is one more succinct way of defining a leader. A leader should have the quality of head and heart, of a man and a woman. This is beautiful brought out by the a Hindu Spiritual Guru,considered as a great dynamo, Sri Adi Shankaracharya (the First Shankaracharya) who has given the concept of ARDHA -NARISWARA, half man and half woman God. A wonderful mix of the qualities of a man and a woman is what makes a perfect leader! When to display the quality of a man and a woman, is governed by the situation, person and experience.
I don't think any Westerner can match this definition of an Indian spiritual Guru and the Indian definition, at least it appears to me, is the best and very apt in this regard.
Westerners any not agree. But that's a different matter.
Truth is truth, nobody can deny it.
SUBRAMANYAM JAMBUNATHAN.
That was a wonderful article, surely I think dedication is number 1 quality of a great leader, and dedication is associated with passion. Leaders are born not made, and this passion is built in feature of born leader.I found an article on Col Sanders (KFC) at http://unschooledleaders.blogspot.com/2012/04/colonel-sanders-of-kfc.html and was amazed to see that he was not even schooled but found his path of success.
I really like this info about leadership and learned that is something very important for a human..to know
thank you focus
this is a great article for everyone to read eventhough it is simple it is easy for anyone to understand.
who is the best leader that you can think of?????????????
Hi All,
Every one is adding one or two qualities to the list!! In fact we can call a leader as one who has all qualities from A to Z! If properly understood, a leader leads.What is more important is man management and everything else comes behind. To say that a leader should be honest, impartial, sincere, straight forward, bold, fearless, frank,etc is not the correct way to define leadership. I have mentioned the "most important" qualities of a leader. If we go on listing each and every quality then even a manager also has these qualities. But the leader surfaces from the crowd only if he has certain qualities to steer the organization forward and produce the results he wants. To this end, he must possess certain innate qualities. Only that I have touched. If people go on adding each and every quality and link it to leadership, I feel they have not understood what leadership is. So let us not indulge in such things.
M.J.SUBRAMANYAM, BANGALORE, SOUTH INDIA.
David defines leadership as follows: "Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow." This is fine as far as it goes, but like most who think about leadership, David talks only about influencing people who report to the leader. Hence leadership influence is really meant to be applied downward. I think leadership can be shown upward and sideways as well whenever colleagues influence each other by showing a better way, which can be done either by example of by overtly promoting a new direction.
Another point worth thinking about is this: if leadership is genuinely an influence process, then how are we to classify decision making, such as when the person in charge makes a strategic decision? For me, this is management. Leadership must be restricted to influence. Otherwise we have no way of accounting for bottom-up leadership where the person showing it has no authority to decide for the people being influenced (led).
Interestingly, showing leadership upward doesn't require many of the qualities David talks about. You only need to be fair, for example, if you have responsibility for people. Leadership shown upwards works if the target audience is influenced and this can be done with a presentation of hard evidence if it is convincing enough. A technical geek with poor emotional intelligence might develop a new product, say an iPhone killer, and promote it to management in an aggressive or blunt manner but still show leadership if management buys his proposal.
In step with the first leadership quality, integrity, I feel it would have been appropriate to give credit to Dale Carnegie for outlining theses traits.
every one who should have zeal to make a leader ,must follow the steps and lead the remain towards the good result.
I very much like leaders that are honest and open with their employees. If you have something to say, just say it, don't tip toe around the subject. The same goes for humor. Nobody likes a grumpy strict leader to boss him around and treat him like some dog or slave.
These simple social skills are what makes or breaks a good leader, and so many people in our current society seriously lack these but they think it's normal. I'd recommend "Are leaders born or made?" written by David Grabovac (link here: http://whois.domaintools.com/grabovac.info) to these guys. Grabovac perfectly compares today's leaders with past leaders throughout history, pointing out the skills necessary to be a good leader but also the skills that make one not fit to lead.
A leader should be impartial too.
These attributes are quintessential instances of impeccable leadership traits !!!
Another element could be breaking rules and innovating new winning techniques
A comment by Mitch McCrimmon:
" David defines leadership as follows: "Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow." This is fine as far as it goes, but like most who think about leadership, David talks only about influencing people who report to the leader. Hence leadership influence is really meant to be applied downward. I think leadership can be shown upward and sideways as well whenever colleagues influence each other by showing a better way, which can be done either by example of by overtly promoting a new direction.
Another point worth thinking about is this: if leadership is genuinely an influence process, then how are we to classify decision making, such as when the person in charge makes a strategic decision? For me, this is management. Leadership must be restricted to influence. Otherwise we have no way of accounting for bottom-up leadership where the person showing it has no authority to decide for the people being influenced (led).
Interestingly, showing leadership upward doesn't require many of the qualities David talks about. You only need to be fair, for example, if you have responsibility for people. Leadership shown upwards works if the target audience is influenced and this can be done with a presentation of hard evidence if it is convincing enough. A technical geek with poor emotional intelligence might develop a new product, say an iPhone killer, and promote it to management in an aggressive or blunt manner but still show leadership if management buys his proposal."
I was wondering if the above example " A technical geek with poor emotional intelligence might develop a new product, say an iPhone killer, and promote it to management in an aggressive or blunt manner but still show leadership if management buys his proposal." is correct. How does that show leadership? The technical geek might be influential but that does not necessarily mean that he is a leader. He does not lead anybody. I think that not all influential people are leaders though leaders are influential people.
interesting article:)
Good stuff. If you have known great leaders, you will recognized these traits.
Its really good for developing more skills of the employees, for getting the positive attributes from them and as well its also really very helpful for the freshers and the upcoming leaders like students. so thanks for all this. its really pleasure to have such things to us.
Right !!! I Agree and I really liked these all things and will help in my professional life.
Some of our leader in Nigerian sepecially those one man business company they fall into the "not to follow qualities
Some of our leader in Nigerian sepecially those one man business company they fall into the "not to follow qualities
1. Influencing to their subordinates
2. Patience
3. Listens
4. Caring
5. Humor
6. Peacefulness
7. Honesty
8. Humility
9. Joyful
10. Faith-full
. Loving
2. Patience
3. Listens
4. Caring
5. Humor
6. Peacefulness
7. Honesty
8. Humility
9. Joyful
10. Faith in something... whatever it is for them that they can believe in
Nothing too revealing or inspiring,standard 'text book'stuff, which sees the business world from a one dimensional, static perspective. Applied leadership is less about the subjective qualities, ie; fairness, and more about surviving turbulent times and leading in uncertainty.
Helena T Cullina
British Tutors
enquiries@britishtutors.org
Answer This Question