5 Traits of a Good Leader
1. Communicate
A good leader is able to effectively communicate with his or her team members. This means knowing what to say, when to say it, and when to withhold saying something that may cause someone unnecessary emotional stress. A good leader not only communicates friendly things, but also communicates conflict properly and is able to confront things that are an issue to him/her.
When selecting a leader for your team, a good indicator of someone’s ability to communicate is how well they are able to speak with the other members of the team, and how well they are able to communicate with their clients. This is very important because a leader must be able to communicate with the members of his group and communicate with different personalities. One person may just need a simple directive and they’re off to the races, whereas another person may need step by step instruction on how to complete something before being comfortable enough to execute.
A sales person who is able to adapt to different clients under different situations and not lose patience could potentially have the ability to communicate with different members of a sales team if he was to be promoted.
2. Make Thoughtful (and tough) Decisions
Being able to make decisions and not get stuck in analysis paralysis is important. You have to be able to think on your feet and understand that you’re not always going to make the right decision. Inability to make a decision is one of the biggest causes for inefficiency. Make a decision quickly and move on.
3. Inspire Others (share setbacks, help others dig deeper)
Make sure you’re paying attention to people and in the moment when you’re with them. Don’t be on your phone. Listen, and be sincere in offering advice and how you think they can best get through their situation, based on your personal experience.
4. Empower Others (Great leaders don’t do it all, they teach others how to do more)
As a leader you want to be building other leaders within your organization. This is key to scaling, growth, and building an enterprise. You will have to build others up so that one day they can replace you as a leader, and you can lead leaders.
A hard part about this for many leaders is relinquishing responsibility to others under the anticipation that they won’t do it they want they want it done. And this is probably going to happen beacuse that other person is not you. If they can do 70% of what you would do, that is exceptional!
5. Exemplify Accountability
Be accountable to yourself and to others. Call yourself out and encourage others to call you out too. You can’t expect people to be accountable to themselves if you are not accountable to yourself.