Skills that Make a Leader Great
Leadership skills are valuable for almost all aspects of our lives. However, leadership is more than taking charge of a situation. It’s about understanding your team and making sure they’re motivated to follow. A great leader doesn’t only think about their own needs but also those around them. The people who work with them will view them positively if he/she shows interest in them and take time to learn what makes them tick. Understanding how different people operate can help build trust and foster strong leadership skills. Everyone wants to be respected for their individuality rather than treated like another cog in the machine. Great leaders therefore rely on their abilities to motivate and direct others to accomplish set objectives and goals by the organization. Let’s find out some of the top skills that great leaders must possess!
- Decisiveness
Leaders are often the ones who have to make difficult decisions. Great leaders are very decisive, which means that they make use of the information available to them to make decisions fast. Decisiveness is a quality that is developed over time. The experiences that people face are what give them the ability to nurture and hone this skill. Great leaders make vital decisions that help the projects and tasks they are in charge of accomplishing faster and more efficiently. For it to be effective, decisiveness requires the input of other processes such as thorough research and evaluation and good problem-solving abilities. This helps them to quickly decide the option that would provide them with the best chance of success. Great leaders leverage decisiveness to make ‘high-quality’ choices that will improve the company they lead.
- Integrity
This is commonly understood as being honest and trustworthy. A great leader will always choose the path of integrity when faced with an ethical dilemma. Great leaders know that portraying integrity from the ‘top’ gives the company a better reputation and a positive image. A great leader who possesses integrity will equally demand integrity from his or her staff or colleagues because they continually advocate for practices or dealings that are fair and honest. They shun all dubious and unorthodox activities that can paint their team, organization, or company in a bad light. Integrity is an admirable leadership skill.
- They Are Great Communicators.
Great leaders need to communicate with their team and get buy-in for the decisions they make. They know how important communication is, and they use these skills to help them in this process. Good communication skills allow leaders to:
1) Build trust with their team so that they will follow their lead
2) Listen well so that they understand what others want or expect from them
3) Ask questions of those involved to better understand where people stand on the issue at hand
4) Provide feedback about what has been communicated back to ensure a clear understanding of expectations and goals.
Though great leaders must be excellent communicators, not everyone is born with these skills. However, it is possible to improve communication skills over time by using active listening and empathy to better understand the other person and their perspective.
- They Know How to Motivate Others.
Successful great leaders know how to inspire others through recognition and rewards and provide support when needed. They also know how critical it is for employees to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. This sense of belonging significantly boosts motivation.
- Team Building Skills
Leaders are the backbone of any company. They put in all their effort and time to ensure that everything is running smoothly. Team building skills help leaders identify and bring out the best from every person on the team to achieve their goals together.
For this to work, great leaders should first assess what type of culture is present at the organization before figuring out how they want their teams structured because having different types of cultures can lead to issues like miscommunication or lack of productivity. Great leaders, therefore, use many different approaches to build their teams and achieve the desired results.
Whether it’s a small or large corporation, these techniques will help any leader with the critical task of steering the team to great heights of achievement.
- Great Leaders Are Dependable.
Dependability is one of the ‘core’ qualities that all great leaders portray. A dependable leader is one whose followers, e.g., staff, can rely on. These are leaders that are men and women “of their words.” They do what they say they will do and use transparency when possible, so everyone knows where things stand at all times. In the workplace, a great leader always finds a way of realizing their goals despite the challenges, to avoid letting down their colleagues and Board of Directors. Dependable leaders always try to be the source of potential solutions and are widely perceived by many people as being “problem-solvers.”
- Great Leaders Possess the Ability to Mentor and Teach Other People.
The ability to mentor is a great leadership quality. Mentoring is the process of guiding someone by example and with advice. It also means to give instruction, guidance, or training. Great leaders have the ability to mentor others because they can share their knowledge and experience without making others feel like they’re being talked down to. Great leaders mostly think of the bigger picture and consider the success of their organization or company as paramount. This means they are happy to mentor their juniors on ways to achieve their goals. They recognize that as long as their employees, peers, and colleagues are imparted with the qualities they need to be successful, the organization or company will also benefit.
Final Thoughts
Great leadership is a skill that takes time to develop. Here is a summary of qualities that a great leader should have. They have excellent communication skills, integrity, and decisive thinking combined with strong team-building skills.
