Good leadership can be broken into two broad areas: the individual character traits of the leader and how the leader interacts professionally with their co-workers and direct reports. Both areas work together to set the standard for the company’s culture and performance. We’re offering five tips for each category.
5 personal traits of a good leader
1. Integrity. Obvious components include honesty, reliability, and morality. Fairness matters. Humility is important, if authentic. To quote Dwight D. Eisenhower, “The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.”
2. Empathy. Empathetic leaders connect with their staff on a personal level and are sensitive to their needs. Keep in mind, however, you are probably not qualified to be someone’s therapist or counselor, nor should you be expected to fill that role. You can, however, help ensure persons needing those services connect with providers in the community.
3. Accountability. “Pass the buck” is a euphemism for shirking responsibility. President Harry S. Truman famously had a sign on his desk proclaiming, “The buck stops here.” As an effective leader, the buck must stop with you. You must be accountable. You must take responsibility…for the error if it’s yours but for the solution no matter the source of the error.
4. Decisiveness. This is the ability to make decisions promptly and confidently. Ineffective leaders are often paralyzed by indecision, the quintessential “analysis paralysis” as every possibility is weighed and none emerges as preferred. Having given due consideration to available options, the effective leader chooses one and affects its implementation. There may not be one clearly superior course of action; pick one and proceed. Know that such decisions are often evaluated in retrospect as genius if they succeed and foolishness if they don’t. It’s just one more of the risks inherent in running a business.
5. Vision. This involves having a clear, strategic vision and inspiring others to pursue it. Vision is focused on details, but only as they pertain to the long-term objective. Myopia is near-sightedness and this is no place to be myopic. As American financier and investment banker J.P. Morgan said, “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther.”
5 professional traits of a good leader
1. Communication. Good leaders clearly convey their vision, expectations, and feedback to foster an open and collaborative environment. Good communication requires talking to others, but it also requires talking with them, encouraging them to contribute to the discussion, and creating an environment where it is safe to do so.
2. Adaptability. Things change, sometimes because we perceive a need and make our own changes, and sometimes because change is visited upon us by outside forces. No matter. A good leader knows when to stay the course and when to make corrections in the face of shifting conditions. According to 19th-century humorist Josh Billings, “There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't.”
3. Inspiration. Effective leaders motivate and energize others. They lead by example and create an environment where team members feel valued and driven to do their best. Effective leaders recognize that individuals actually are individuals, and that each person has a specific set of skills that can support the overall vision and purpose. Sometimes leaders have to inspire their team members to do the drudge work; every project has some of that. But they must also inspire members to do that for which they are uniquely qualified and for which they have a natural desire to undertake.
4. Problem solving. This starts as a personal trait of a good leader but it must not stop there. Good leaders engage their team members in problem-solving: the awareness and identification of the problem and the crafting of an effective solution. Shipping costs and in-transit product damage were a serious threat to IKEA’s business model, so founder Ingvar Kamprad and his team devised the idea of flat-pack furniture, which could be disassembled and packed flat, reducing shipping costs and minimizing damage. The concept has spawned countless memes on social media, but the simple fact is it was effective and remains a cornerstone of IKEA’s operations to this day.
5. Delegation. Good leaders know how to delegate tasks and responsibilities effectively. They trust their team and empower others to take ownership of their work. Assign tasks to team members whose competence is proven in the area, but also assign tasks that require a bit of a reach for the person(s) involved. Managing a business successfully starts with successfully managing the persons associated with that business. As John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
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