A leader is a person who is moving towards his goal and is able to lead other people behind him. Leaders are not born, but become, and you can become one. To do this, you should know what qualities of a leader distinguish him from the rest.
Qualities of a leader
1. Having a goal and seeing the result
The goal is the driving force of the leader, this is the meaning of his existence.
She is his God, a lighthouse in impenetrable night, and nothing excites the leader so much as achieving his goal.
What the leader does is also important. But the way to achieve the goal, the business that the leader is busy with, does not concern him as much as seeing the end result.
There are two fundamental attitudes in the leader’s head: for what and with whom.
Leaders know where they are going and how they are going to get there.
2. Self-motivation
A leader does not need external motivation; he motivates himself.
This comes from his passion, pride and desire to become better, to do his job better than others and achieve his goal.
To become a leader, you need to be motivated, but no one else can do it for you.
3. High standards
Leaders support themselves and surround themselves with people in accordance with higher standards compared to others, both on a personal and professional level.
Leaders understand that in order to achieve higher standards they must have meaningful values, be accountable for their words and actions, and never make excuses.
Remember that most of the time you spend surrounded by about 5 people, so it is very important who these people will be.
4. Confidence
Unfortunately, self-confidence can be one of those qualities of a leader that are not in the baggage of your skills.
But confidence, like almost everything in this world, can be developed and developed to the highest level.
Confidence is associated with your internal perception of yourself as a person and a professional in a particular field.
It is built on the basis of your experience and interaction with other people in the process of life.
To become self-confident, you must be open to new knowledge and actions, it is important for you to be prepared for failure.
Otherwise, you will never grow and find the strength in yourself to expand the limits of your own abilities.
You will gain strength, courage and confidence through every event in which you have to face fear.
You need a healthy level of self-confidence that will give you a sense of faith in your cause, and also make you move forward without any excuses, regrets or negatives that slow you down.
5. Optimism and positivity
When others feel that the project or task is too complex, leaders look at these issues with energy and optimism.
Positiveness is contagious, so be sure to focus on your attitude and understand that you are setting the tone for your project and the people around you.
6. Responsibility
It is you who must take responsibility for the expected results, both positive and negative.
Don’t blame other people or events that are beyond your control.
Until you take responsibility, you will take the position of the victim, and this is the exact opposite of the leader.
Leaders take the initiative to influence the outcome and take responsibility for it.
7. Courage and boldness
Aristotle called courage the first virtue because it is it that makes all other virtues possible.
Leadership sometimes involves making unpopular decisions that require a certain level of courage.
If you want to become more courageous, you should try to get involved in new problems and solve them, especially if other people left these problems unresolved.
Leaders are ready to take the initiative and hit the road, despite the possible risks.
8. Presence and personal involvement in the process
People with leadership qualities are able to fully focus on a problem without being distracted.
But even when they are very busy, they still take a personal part in the process with the team members and do not give an order from the outside.
9. Uniqueness
Leaders have individuality and originality, which makes them one of a kind.
They are not afraid of their uniqueness. They are not embarrassed that they are different from other people, because even without them, being alone, leaders feel comfortable.
They understand that the qualities that make them stand out from the rest to determine their character.
10. Sense of humor
Many leaders are perfectionists who strive to do everything perfectly.
But if some kind of trouble can happen, it will definitely happen. That is life.
You are strongly advised to have a healthy sense of humor and not take yourself and life too seriously, otherwise, you risk harming your nervous system and also turn people away from you.
Leaders know how to laugh at themselves and understand that they are people too and can make mistakes, like everyone else.
11. Passion
Leaders tend to have a strong, uncontrollable desire that encourages them to move forward.
How much you are passionate about the idea directly affects your attitude to the matter, your energy and the energy of your team.
Use your passion and spark this feeling in the hearts of your environment.
12. Integrity
The presence of high moral values, the consistency of actions, the ability to remain oneself in any situation is an important quality of a leader, allowing others to clearly understand what you are.
Honesty and openness assure the people around you of the sincerity of your intentions.
13. Respect from people
A deep sense of admiration and loyalty on the part of your team members is the key to successful leadership.
With respect, you can easily put your plans into action, and people can quickly gain your vision.
Leaders earn respect by letting their actions speak louder than words.
14. Ethics
When making a tough decision, leaders are guided by their inner values and strive to ensure that the perfect choice does not lead to devastating results.
In addition, when you take the lead in the moral principles of the people you lead, you can develop a code of ethics that will help better regulate their corporate behavior.
15. Support
When talking about loyalty and leadership, it often refers to the environment, but loyalty is not a one-way street.
You should show strong, ongoing support to your team if you hope to get a similar attitude in return.
16. Charisma
Successful leaders are attractive and charming, which cannot but inspire their associates.
Becoming charismatic can be a daunting task. It is usually required that people go beyond their comfort zone, improve communication skills, talking with strangers, and also can attract attention and learn to speak beautifully in front of an audience of any size.
17. Love for your work
It sounds like a stamped out, but you really have to do what you love and what you are passionate about.
If you don’t do what you love, you will never find the strength to push yourself to a better life.
18. Emotion control
The ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as the emotions of those around you, is crucial.
One of the important qualities of leaders is the realization that they feel what these emotions are and how these emotions can affect other people.
Once you learn to recognize your emotions, you can manage them.
The ability to remain calm, adequately evaluate oneself, and then adjust one’s behavior, is self-control.
If you can control emotions and your reaction to external events, you will have a greater influence on the results achieved.
19. Understanding Opportunity Costs
Leaders know that many situations and decisions involve risk.
Opportunity cost is the value of lost profits. They are usually defined in monetary terms, but they can also be considered in terms of time, man-hours, or any other end resource.
Leaders are aware of the possible consequences of their decisions before making them.
20. Moderation
Leaders are modest in seeking feedback and focusing on the needs of others.
You must be open to feedback and criticism and be able to admit that you are not perfect when you make a mistake.
21. Discipline
This is not a means of punishing or rewarding people, but self-control, inner calm and external determination.
A high level of determination and willpower plays a significant role in your ability to be self-disciplined.
22. Perspective
When the best solution is right in front of your nose, you may not notice it.
Leaders know how to move away from the situation and consider it from different points of view, observing a consciousness independent of other factors.
23. Risk Management
You need to be able to identify, evaluate and minimize risks in order to have the greatest possible positive impact on the result.
Leaders know which risks are acceptable and which should be avoided.
24. Time management
One of the main qualities of a leader is the understanding that time is their most valuable resource.
You need to be able to effectively plan your time and rationally distribute the direction of its use: for yourself, your business, family or friends.
25. Maturity
Contrary to popular belief, age is not a measure of maturity.
Young leaders are able to act as experienced professionals, and many older people can act like teenagers.
Maturity is based on actions corresponding to the behavior of a mature personality, which is especially evident in difficult situations.
In addition, your self-confidence and your ability to move forward without excuses are some of the most important indicators of maturity.
26. A good example for others
Actions mean more than words. People will definitely notice if you are selfless and do your best to develop your business.
But if you’re lazy and you don’t care how things are, your team will follow suit.
Great leaders are always an example to others.
27. The ability to build relationships
The thing is who you know. Leaders do not need to remind once again that there is a lot of truth in this statement.
You need to understand the value of building long-term relationships in your industry with other people and rely on mutually beneficial partnerships.
Creating a collaborative network of valuable people is critical to your long-term success.
28. Social skills
Most often, a leader is charismatic, sociable, friendly, and open-minded.
He speaks with people in a calm, respectful and attractive manner.
Just as employees want to work with people they like, customers also prefer to shop with people they like.
Therefore, you need to become one of these people if you want to succeed.
29. Public communication skill
Leaders should not have any problems with public speaking.
Situations in which public communication arises can range from a simple presentation at a meeting to a new idea in an audience full of people.
Communicative skill not only allows you to effectively convey information to students but also increases your credibility as a leader.
30. Honesty and openness
Every year the world becomes more transparent, and there are fewer secrets in it, which is why honesty is the best policy.
People respect those who are able to honestly share information with others and calmly respond to good and bad news.
This is the only way to act on the situation and timely adjust the plan for moving forward.
31. Listening skills
In order to give your team members feedback, support and attention, you need to make every effort to listen when they share information.
Leaders first listen and only then speak.
Listening is more than silence because you also need to ask the right questions.
32. Devotion
Leaders remain true to their values and relentlessly move towards their goals, despite the external pressure that tries to change them or make them fit into their usual framework.
Each success story that you have heard, most likely, has a flip side: long hours of exhausting work and many unsuccessful attempts.
But the leader just can not be stopped, because he has fidelity to his word, dedication and long-term focus on his goal.
33. Empathy and compassion
By focusing on your goals, you should also pay attention to the needs and feelings of others.
Goals are achieved not at the expense of people around, but with their help.
In the end, the law of the market states: identify the need and satisfy it. Everything that you do, you do for the end user.
You need to know not only the extent of your influence on people but also what you need to do to show understanding and sympathy for others.
34. Ability to resist others
Most people try to avoid confrontation for fear of contentious issues. But leaders know how to offer an honest and mutually beneficial way to solve a problem.
Solving the problem at the initial stage of its occurrence will save a lot of time, not to mention a headache, in comparison with the situation when it remains unresolved.
35. Delegation of rights and duties
As a leader, you should help others succeed by entrusting them with making the right decisions.
Delegation of authority is not only to give your team the freedom to make their own choices but also to provide all the necessary tools to make the decision effective and productive.
36. Negotiation skills
Leaders know how to get what they want, and can be very convincing in this.
To achieve the desired result, they satisfy the needs of others by building trusting relationships.
In resolving disagreements over major deals, leaders are practical, fair, and firm in the negotiation process.
37. Clarity
Leaders are able to clearly convey their thoughts in such a way that they can be easily understood, after which they are convinced of the absence of misunderstanding.
This ensures that projects and tasks delegated to other people are completed without error.
38. Ability to train others
Leaders should share the methodology and processes that form the basis of their projects with members of their team.
If your managers are poorly trained, your employees will be at the same low level that will negatively affect the final result.
The best way to understand something new is to teach others about it.
39. Interest in feedback
Leaders not only have the quality to transmit knowledge, but they themselves value learning and are willing to ask for advice.
They are open to feedback and able to relate to criticism in a positive way so that they can be used to make the necessary adjustments that can benefit the path to success.
40. Trust in his team
This quality of a leader can be called into question, but the credibility of your team largely depends on the people you hire, their propensity for training and the work that you delegate to them.
It is important for you to trust your team to get the desired results without managing every element of your projects.
41. The ability to inspire
It is difficult to love all the components of your work, and no matter what you do.
But leaders inspire members of their team, letting them know that their work has a huge impact on everyone around them because their work is a way to touch something great.
What do you even understand … Nike is not sneakers, but a triumph of athletics. Apple does not create electronic devices but changes the world.
A leader is able to guide others to do what he needs because other people want to do it.
42. Transforming goals into reality
Not only do leaders have their own goals and vision. They have the ability to turn goals into a working strategy that will be accepted by other people and eventually realized.
43. Take the best from others
Understanding what people really want, you can help them better perform their functions, properly stimulating them to perform their work, and not only by providing material wealth.
To get the best from others, the leader must understand his motives, as well as the motivation of his team, to be positive, generous and impartial.
It is important for you to find out what your environment wants for yourself: fame, money, recognition? Develop by developing your people.
As Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote: “If you want to build a ship, do not urge people to gather wood, share labor and give orders; instead, first teach how to yearn for a vast and endless sea.”
44. Remuneration
A person is inclined to expect recognition from the people he adheres to, so it is important to reward your team members for their contribution, especially when their results stand out from the rest.
A monetary reward is always appropriate, but a well-thought-out system of various ranks and qualifications, presentation of personal awards can be no less effective.
45. Ability to act on circumstances
One of the qualities of a leader is the ability to thoroughly and quickly assess a situation or person.
Being decisive does not mean making a quick decision, it means making the right decisions in a timely manner.
At the same time, do not let your determination to alienate team members from the decision-making process.
46. Conduct effective meetings
Unfortunately, most meetings are never as productive as originally intended.
If you are an entrepreneur, you usually have to interact with people you like, which can distract from the workflow.
Effective leadership is the most efficient use of the time allotted for the meeting.
Start with an agenda, eliminate distractions, determine when to start and end a meeting.
Encourage everyone to participate actively in the discussion, remind you of the importance of taking notes, and monitor the effectiveness of the meeting upon completion.
47. Respect for others
When you show respect for other people, it is much easier to build trusting, mutually beneficial relationships.
You must fulfill your promises, stop gossiping, believe in the ideas of your team members, if necessary, stand up for their defense and, thus, really care about the general well-being.
48. Key People Coaching
You should definitely build on the success of your team members and help them grow in your organization.
In order for you to successfully lead an increasing number of people, promote the most significant employees, which will undoubtedly be facilitated by various seminars and trainings.
49. Justice
The ability to fairly evaluate people and events is important because this quality allows you to adequately assess the situation and be attractive to the environment.
Not taking justice into account, you will notice how the project moves forward and the outflow of your team members will exceed the emergence of new people.
Leaders who are honest and fair with respect to their environment receive loyalty and respect in return.
50. Swiftness
Competitors do not rest on their laurels. There is always someone who will breathe in your back.
Leaders understand that in most cases we are talking about primacy in any field, so they value perseverance and speed of action.
51. Decision
Decisiveness implies the presence of confident and effective thinking that promotes quick decisions and rapid action.
To make the best decision, carefully evaluate each option, and don’t let indecision paralyze you.
52. Leaders are not afraid to make mistakes
Often behind the defeat hides one of the greatest opportunities in life.
In terms of training, failure will yield far more than success. In fact, failure is the next step to success.
Leaders understand that they have to act in conditions of uncertainty and risk, which are an integral part of any business.
Michael Jordan said: “I missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. Lost in three hundred matches. Twenty-six times they trusted me with a decisive throw, and I missed. I have failed again and again. That’s why I succeeded. ”
53. Flexibility
The business world is changing rapidly, and pauses in the changes are not expected.
An important quality of a leader is the ability to recognize these changes and make appropriate adjustments to the business lines and organization management.
It is amazing how many businessmen and managers refuse to make changes to their projects when there is an obvious need for this. The effect of the “established mentality.”
Top managers who refuse to learn and adapt to new conditions will eventually be left behind.
To be an effective leader, your mind must be open to everything new.
54. Perseverance
Leaders know firsthand the difficulties on the path to success because they have had to face adversity and problems.
If the situation becomes difficult, leaders move towards their goals with special strength and determination.
When most people give up and stay behind, leaders take a step forward, overcoming adversity.
Martin Luther King said: “The ultimate measure of a person is not where he is in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and contradiction.”
55. Resourcefulness
Due to this as the leaders can find a creative solution to the problem.
Being resourceful, you, evaluating the resources at your disposal, adapt by applying a new approach, sometimes breaking the rules, and you are never afraid to ask if you are missing something.
56. Making the right decisions
When you make the right decisions, you build trust on the part of your team, which allows you to make choices in the future in a shorter time.
Making the right decisions involves an analysis of possible alternatives and a careful study of each option.
Once you have made your decision, make a plan and be sure to learn from your mistakes and those of others.
57. Strategic thinking
To think two steps ahead, you need to engage strategic thinking using an analysis of possible options, your experience and previous decisions.
When you intend to take long-term actions, you need to do the planning and then start the process, while evaluating the situation as a whole.
The leader knows how to influence events, and also creates them, instead of waiting for some event to happen.
58. Management of uncertainty
After making any mistake, you usually have two options: refuse to continue the action or find the best way.
Leaders know when it is time to push, and when to quit. They establish control over uncertainty by making thoughtful decisions.
59. Organization
You better not go to sea on your ship if you do not know where the sail is. Similarly, you will not be able to manage your business if you are not organized.
Leaders know how to maintain order in their affairs because this is the only way to be truly effective.
60. Creativity
Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not an inherent quality of a leader. This skill can be developed.
Absorb new knowledge and gain new abilities, be open and constantly ask new questions.
Often the basis for creativity is not the creation of something fundamentally new, but the combination of already known elements in a unique way.
61. Intuition
If logical thinking is akin to mathematics, then intuition is rather an art.
Leaders often listen to their intuition.
In some situations, it may be difficult not to use logic, but risk and uncertainty in business sometimes force one to resort to intuition without fail.
Stop blindly believing everyone around and learn to trust yourself.
62. Gaining new experience
To be prepared for unforeseen events, leaders are actively developing an experience that allows them to learn and grow.
Create a new business, set more ambitious goals, challenge yourself to become better, while enjoying new experiences.
63. Reading and education
Read everything related to your field of activity.
Leaders know that education does not stop at graduation.
To stay in the trend, you need to be aware of both time-tested and new information.
64. Interest
Leaders often have an insatiable desire to learn, push themselves beyond their own abilities and explore what other people haven’t touched.
Expanding horizons can be as simple as reading a book. For this, you just need to ask yourself the question “Why?” and enjoy the journey into the unknown.
65. Professionalism
Professionalism requires the presence and continuous improvement of the skills necessary for the development of the project, as well as a serious attitude to their work.
A professional does what he has to do, and an amateur awaits inspiration.
66. Focus
Life is full of distractions, but the leader knows how to stay on track and focus on his goal.
It is important to be able to purposefully allocate your time and eliminate inconsequential work.
Max Lucado said: “A person who wants to lead an orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
67. Improving the lives around themselves
Leaders are focused on a brighter future, so they want to share their success with their environment: business partners and customers, family and friends, employees and their families, etc.
Leaders are generous and grateful, having a positive impact on the lives of those around them.
Improving the lives of others also means helping them to become better.
Help other people grow by unlocking their potential, both professional and personal.
Remember to be an example by letting people learn from your experience.
68. Helping others to succeed
From the ability to give you receive more satisfaction than from the opportunity to receive.
Leaders are proud to have helped other people succeed.
69. Self-development
Like a professional athlete, leaders strive to become better every day.
They know that there are always opportunities for the development of themselves and their team.
Leaders are very interested in knowing what they are capable of and how far they can get.
70. Perseverance
Persistence means the ability to maintain enthusiasm and faith in a beloved business, without giving up an indefinite amount of time before failures.
Without perseverance and discipline is unlikely to achieve impressive results.
Don’t give up for a long period of time – this is the quality of the winner.
71. Independence
Undoubtedly, a leader can collaborate with other people.
But he is deeply convinced that together with some person or without him, the leader will still achieve his goal.
72. Patience
Desired results will not occur overnight.
Leaders don’t give up when they face obstacles, work hard, but also know how to enjoy their life’s journey.
73. Energy
Leaders not only have a high charge of energy but also know how to effectively use their time.
To nourish energy, you must remain healthy and active, as well as passionate and positive in relation to your work.
