Leadership Qualities That All Great Leaders Must Possess

We admire those who can successfully lead people. And even though we may not understand all of the qualities necessary to be a great leader, what we do know is that it requires a particular set of qualities that are difficult to master.

Great leaders pay a heavy price in acquiring these qualities. Often times it is trial and error, and failures mount very high during the process. Many of those on the road to becoming a great leader, cannot deal with the defeats. But for those who do make it there, they are often admired or even revered.

Here is a list of the qualities one must acquire to become a great leader:

Persistent / Focused / Passionate

Anything worth doing requires a high level of focus and passion. A great leader must fully believe in the company and the team, and be willing to go through the rough times in order to reach success. Sometimes you can find that you missed an important step and need to go all the way back and retrace much of the work you’ve done. This is where persistence is so important, because with it you will continue on no matter what the challenges.

Confident / Decisive

A leader will be called on to make important decisions on behalf of the group and must be prepared to make decisions and take on the responsibility of having made them. A great leader is sure of himself and clear about how he or she derives at a decision.

Positive / Inspiring

Leading means that there will be unsolvable challenges that present themselves regularly. The team will go through a range of emotions from anger to frustration and sometimes all in the same day.  Great leaders remain positive no matter what challenges present themselves and to spread that positivity throughout the team. The leader must also inspire each member of the team to greatness by creating a clear vision of the importance of reaching the goal. Great leaders get their teams to overproduce and overachieve. They do this by inspiration.

Personable / Patient / Authentic

Great leaders understand the importance of authenticity. This vital quality allows them to develop a shorthand with their teams. The team knows that the leader is being honest with them, therefore they don’t think, they act. When things do not go as planned, a great leader sets the tone for the group by remaining patient and calm. The most effective way great leaders execute these qualities is by using a personable manner, and positioning themselves as a part of, rather than above the team.

Open minded / Insightful / Accountable

Although leaders are confident about the decisions they make, they also keep an open mind for any new information that may impact their decisions. Impactful data can come from anywhere, and great leaders solicit data from everywhere. At the end of the day however, great leaders take the responsibility for using the data or not. They know that this accountability brings them both respect and harder effort from the team.

Empowers / Generous

At the heart of a great leader is ability to empower members of the team to contribute. They delegate well and when success occurs,they make sure that everyone shares in that success.

Restless

Great leaders stay motivated and are restless about reaching their goals. This restlessness is infectious and gets channeled directly into action by the entire team.

Communicates

Leaders must always focus on the way they communicate with those they lead. It is said that, “It is not what you say, but how you say it that makes the difference.” With this firmly in mind great leaders understand that they must excel at great communication.

Innovates

Great leaders never rest on their past accomplishments because they understand that what occurred in the past often has very little to do with what will happen in the future. For this reason they stay current on new products, services, business models, and the needs of customers. Great leaders are always looking to innovate, to increase efficiency and improve the company’s bottom line.