A leader is a person who shows you the way, he can make a difference in your success and failure. He is the person with a good vision of the future and he can turn your ideas into a success story. Not every person is a leader which is why it is said that titles don’t define leadership. The boss of a company may be the head of the organization but not a good leader.
A true leader is one who invites others to become passionate about a vision and bring it to reality. If you have been given the leadership role, becoming a better leader will be a struggle for you, because not all of us are born leaders.
Here are 3 most important traits of an effective leader:
- They are humble
The best leaders are those who are not just good at their job, but are humble too. They always think about their team instead of themselves. All top executives have one characteristic in common and that is humility. Why? Because nobody wants to work under such a leader who just cares about himself.
Only those leaders are the best who are selfless and concerned with the wellbeing of their team. Let’s be honest, you cannot be a good leader if you feel you are better than your subordinates. The teams that are run by such leaders are always less productivities and their turnover ratio is high.
A wise man once said, when I talk to a manager, I get the feeling he is important but when I talk to a leader, I get the feeling that I am important.
As a leader, you have to remove ego from the equation. The only way you can show humility is if youmaintain an objective judgment. You would never want your team to believe that you only do whatever is best for yourself. Hence, they will have a hard time trusting you. Nobody wants to work with someone whom they can’t trust.
- They radiate positive energy
As a leader, you have to stay positive even in the times of uncertainty. You may be sabotaging the growth of your organization by putting energy in the wrong places.
Yale University conducted a business experiment. Two groups of peoplewere given an assignment in which they had to decide how much bonus to give to each employee from a specific fund. The goal was to give abonus to certain employeesby being fair to the entire population of employees. Group‘A’ seemed to be in stress while group ‘B’ was happy with the results. The actors who were secretly assigned to manipulate the feelings of people about the project were responsible for the difference in the emotional response. The actor in group ‘A’ was negative while the actor in group ‘B’ was positive. This shows theemotional tone of the leader radiate in its group members.
As a leader, your decision and even body language will radiatepositiveenergy in your team. Leaders can use two sets of emotions for motivating change; it’s either positive or negative. Yes, negative emotions can be effective in preparing yourself for quick actions but when you are working in an organization that demands continuous change, you cannot rely on negative emotions to bring change all the time. Positive emotions, on the other hand, motivate people to commit to change and act on it too.
- They lead by example
There is a significant number of leaders who would never consider doing what they ask their subordinates to do. You can lose trust and respect of people if you fail to lead.
Just take any phenomenal leader from the history and you will see that they all were self-starters. They always lived what they preached. Before demanding excellence from others, they demanded excellence from themselves.
If as a leader you feel you are not seeing good results from your team, it is maybe time to do a quick audit on yourself. Do you say who you are? The answer to that will tell you where you stand. Learn the key tips to lead by example, follow them and be persistent.
Other traits that make you an effective leader
- Effective communication
A powerful leader knows when he should stalk and what he should listen. If your team members are unaware of your expectations or they aren’t able to understand what you are communicating, this could affect everything within the organization.
You need to be able to communicate on all levels, whether it’s one-on-one basis, department basis or if you need to talk to the staff on the email or the phone. Your way of communication should say that you are an approachable person and you can talk to people from different levels.
- Have a vision for the future
All exceptional leaders have an eye for the future. They are also visionary about managing change within the organization to strike a balance between growth and stability. They know they must build a team that can adapt to the changing requirements of the business, hence allowing the business model to evolve.
- They foster creativity and innovation
Leaders must build a team that experiments. That’s only possible if you encourage your team to be creative. This will foster innovation in your organization and you will be able to survive the twists and turns of the changing business landscape.
- Promoting teamwork
Great leaders always build strong and successful teams. They know how to use the talent of their diverse and unique team with different personalities. With their leadership skills, they create an unstoppable workforce that drives the organization towards success.
Great leaders do more than just inspiring others to follow him. They don’t just motivate their people to strive towards the goal of the company, they build an impactful relationship with their partners, clients, customers and even competitors. They believe in creating lasting relationships. They do not believe in burning bridges and ending relationships on bad terms.
All these qualities combined make you an effective leader.
