Being a leader is about having the skills, qualities and attributes to inspire and mobilize other people to carry out an idea or a project.
How to identify a succesful leader? Find out with these main features.
- Continuous Innovation: True leaders understand that change is inevitable, they first learn about the change, and then use their skills to find new ways to manage these problems.
- Skilled Listener: Listening promotes many things, makes employees feel engaged and valued, ensures that leaders are more understanding of their workers, and allows ideas to come from the widest range of people—Great leaders recognize that not always they have the solutions and listen to the different ideas of their work team
- Assertive Communication Skills: You must have the ability to communicate, not only what you need, but also why you need it and how it can be done. Communication comes in many forms, from speaking confidently in front of hundreds of people to simply giving someone a brief word of encouragement as you pass
Communication is not just a one-way street
- Emotionally intelligent: Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and regulate your own emotions, as well as understand how your emotions affect others. The best leaders don't let their emotions get the best of them and instead take a more rational approach to challenges. The best leaders can also distance personal emotions from the job at hand. Self-awareness is essential to knowing when you need help—even top leaders have periods of weakness.
- Passionate: Passion is genuine enthusiasm for a particular topic, and the best leaders are passionate about their work. If a leader isn't passionate about their job, how can they expect their staff members to develop passion for their roles? Sometimes passion comes to cloud judgment and lead to instinctive actions. Leaders must know precisely where to draw this line, staying passionate but also retaining the ability to remain impartial and make rational decisions that are not clouded by emotion.
- Resilient: Resilience is essential when dealing with an ever-changing world. A leader takes the punches and doesn't let things dampen their enthusiasm and commitment to the job. Many thrive on challenges and use them as fuel to power their way towards their goal. Resilient leaders will overcome any difficulties that may arise and bounce back from any setbacks they experience along the way. They will do all of this while remaining emotionally stable and collected, setting an example for the rest of the staff.
- Responsible: As the person in charge, you are responsible for everything that happens under you, both good and bad. The leader must be prepared to be held accountable for all actions. As a leader, you must also be able to understand that each team member is responsible for making sure they are held accountable whenever issues arise.
- Support: Providing support can come in many forms, from supporting a staff member through a demanding and exhausting project to putting an arm on the shoulder of someone going through a difficult time. A bond between manager and staff member can be a powerful thing, building loyalty and inspiring confidence.
- Naturally Empathic: It is not possible to lead someone effectively if you cannot understand things from their point of view. Why are they failing a task? Do they need additional help? Are there outside influences affecting your performance? A leader will not only put himself in the shoes of a staff member, but will also take proactive steps to improve that person's life.
- Quick learner: Being a quick learner means quickly understanding a staff member's motivations or adapting a work practice to suit a new goal. Not learning quickly on the job will expose a weakness and could make you a less valuable member of the team. How is he expected to lead if he can't do something that another team member with a lower rank can easily do?
Make a successful leader
There are many desirable qualities in a successful leader, some of which are simple and some of which need to be learned over many years. Identify your strengths and develop your leadership style around these characteristics to become the successful leader of your company.
There are many ways to lead, you just need to find the one that suits you best.
By: Andrea Rivera