Many leadership qualities have been observed throughout history.
Some were adopted by bad leaders while others were exhibited by good leaders.
In either case, the characteristics of those in charge correlated to their ability to accomplish their goals. Just as importantly, those same traits determined how much – or how little – their followers looked up to them.
Fortunately, you can put history on your side and use the learnings from others to develop admirable leadership strengths.
Here’s the deal:
There are seven specific qualities of good leaders that stand out as contributing to their greatness.
The good news is that each of these leadership attributes, characteristics, and traits can be learned through practice and repetition.
What Makes A Good Leader Great?
Great leaders find the balance between business foresight, performance, and character. They have vision, courage, integrity, humility and focus along with the ability to plan strategically and catalyze cooperation amongst their team.
7 Leadership Qualities Of Great Leaders
Here are the seven most identified qualities of great leaders and executives:
1. Vision
Great leaders have a vision… They can see into the future.
They have a clear, exciting idea of where they are going and what they are trying to accomplish and are excellent at strategic planning.
This quality separates them from managers. Having a clear vision turns the individual into a special type of person. This quality of vision changes a “transactional manager” into a “transformational leader.”
While a manager gets the job done, great leaders tap into the emotions of their employees.
2.Courage
One of the more important qualities of a good leader is courage. Having the quality of courage means that you are willing to take risks in the achievement of your goals with no assurance of success. Because there is no certainty in life or business, every commitment you make and every action you take entails a risk of some kind.
Among the seven leadership qualities, courage is the most identifiable outward trait.
3.Integrity
In every strategic planning session that I have conducted for large and small corporations, the first value that all the gathered executives agree upon for their company is integrity. They all agree on the importance of complete honesty in everything they do, both internally and externally.
The core of integrity is truthfulness.
Integrity requires that you always tell the truth, to all people, in every situation. Truthfulness is the foundation quality of the trust that is necessary for the success of any business.
4. Humility
Humility gets results. Larry Bossidy, the former CEO of Honeywell and author of the book Execution, explained why leadership characteristics, such as humility, make you a more effective leader:
Great leaders are those who are strong and decisive but also humble.
Humility doesn’t mean that you’re weak or unsure of yourself. It means that you have the self-confidence and self-awareness to recognize the value of others without feeling threatened.
This is one of the rarer attributes – or traits – of good leaders because it requires containment of one’s ego.
It means that you are willing to admit you could be wrong, that you recognize you may not have all the answers. And it means that you give credit where credit is due – – which many people struggle to do.
5. Strategic Planning
Great leaders are outstanding at strategic planning. It’s another one of the more important leadership strengths. They have the ability to look ahead, to anticipate with some accuracy where the industry and the markets are going.
Leaders have the ability to anticipate trends, well in advance of their competitors. They continually ask, “Based on what is happening today, where is the market going? Where is it likely to be in three months, six months, one year, and two years?” They do this through thoughtful strategic planning.
Because of increasing competitiveness, only the leaders and organizations that can accurately anticipate future markets can possibly survive. Only leaders with foresight can gain the “first mover advantage.”
6. Focus
Leaders always focus on the needs of the company and the situation. Leaders focus on results, on what must be achieved by themselves, by others, and by the company. Great leaders focus on strengths, in themselves and in others.
They focus on the strengths of the organization, on the things that the company does best in satisfying demanding customers in a competitive marketplace.
Your ability as a leader to call the shots and make sure that everyone is focused and concentrated on the most valuable use of their time is essential to the excellent performance of the enterprise.
7. Cooperation
Your ability to get everyone working and pulling together is essential to your success. Leadership is the ability to get people to work for you because they want to.
The 80/20 rule applies here:
Twenty percent of your people contribute 80 percent of your results.
Your ability to select these people and then to work well with them on a daily basis is essential to the smooth functioning of the organization.
Gain the cooperation of others by making a commitment to get along well with each key person every single day. You always have a choice when it comes to a task: You can do it yourself, or you can get someone else to do it for you. Which is it going to be?
Effective Leaders Are Also Strong Communicators
Another important trait that the best leaders strive to perfect is the ability to speak effectively and persuasively.
In fact, many tend to practice public speaking within their own businesses until they are ready to branch out into professional paid speaking gigs. Although talking in front of crowds is a top fear for the majority of us, conquering this fear is what makes a good leader become a great leader.
If you’re ready to overcome your fear of speaking and start leading more effectively, just take the first step and the rest will become history.
Great Leaders Lead By Example
Most of the time, leaders think about good leadership qualities and how to apply them on a daily basis.
They also know that they must lead by example to truly earn the will of their followers. The ability to commit to this principle is another huge characteristic of good and great leaders.
Remember:
The most important contribution you can make to your company is to be a leader, accept responsibility for results, and dare to go forward. "WE LIVE ONLY ONCE".
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