Michael Snyder for Idaho

7 Qualities to Become a Successful Leader

The need for leaders has always been evident. Leaders are people who guide and motivate others toward achieving collective goals.

Many people think you’re either a natural-born leader or you’re not. This can’t be true, as one can still develop their leadership skills later in life. There is just a set of qualities that one must possess and develop to become a successful leader.

1. Communication

Effective communication is key to success and happens to be one of the critical qualities of a great leader. A lack of communication will confuse and frustrate your team. A great leader uses clear language to communicate as well as to build relationships with his teammates.

Communication isn’t only you expressing your thoughts and ideas. It’s also listening to others when their turn come. A good leader will make their colleagues feel heard and inspired. The more you make your employees feel listened to, the more they’ll follow you.

2. Decisiveness

Leaders should be very committed people. Through their commitment, they show others how one should hold up their end of the bargain. A decisive leader rarely backs out, and does so only when absolutely necessary.

The reason a decisive leader rarely changes their minds is because they never rush a decision. They seek out appropriate information from different resources so they make sure their decision is well informed. Sometimes there won’t be enough time to take into consideration all the information. But a great leader sets out to make a clear-cut and timely decision.

3. Empathy

It’s not easy to put yourself in others’ shoes and understand their feelings. But this is one of the most important qualities of a successful leader. Leaders try to understand their colleagues, where they came from, and their hopes and their struggles so they can create deep personal connections with them. This will help to improve work strategies and inspire loyalty among the team. 

The empathy of a leader helps create a human environment in the workplace. So employees won’t feel the constant pressure to be perfect. They will feel comfortable enough to talk to you about what they’re struggling with.

4. Open-mindedness

A great leader isn’t only assertive and decisive. They are also self-critical and very open to new ideas, feedback, and suggestions. This openness will be useful to employees as well because they will be more willing to consider novel and creative approaches to their job. Another advantage of openness is the trust built between yourself and others.

To become an open-minded leader, one should try to accept and welcome feedback and suggestions and create a climate where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions. It might take time for trust and understanding to be built. But in the long run, it’s worth it.

5. Humility

We associate the term humility with a lack of confidence and uncertainty, whereas we think of leaders as people who are strong and self-confident. That’s why people might not consider humility as a quality of great leaders.

The truth is humility is what differentiates leaders from great leaders. A great leader knows their weaknesses, admits when they’re wrong, and is open to taking criticism while seeing all this as an opportunity to grow. A humble leader is way more relatable to other team members than an overly self-confident one.

6. Courage

Another essential quality of a leader is courage. Some may think that this is something people are born with. But learning to be courageous and fearless is something doable. Courage isn’t something you can just learn in school one day. One can obtain it through experiencing various situations, epsecially where risk-taking is involved.

7. Accountability

Responsibility is crucial. Great leaders know they have to take responsibility for what happens on their watch. They don’t make excuses for their failures, and don’t unnecessarily deflect blame. They take the blame when it’s right to do so and they try to work out a solution as soon as possible. It’s easy to just point fingers. But a good leader knows that this isn’t the right approach.

These qualities are the foundation of great leadership. Even though some of these qualities might be inherently present in some leaders, they’re qualities that definitely can be developed and strengthened over time.

Which of These Qualities Can Help You Become a Successful Leader?

If you have ideas that you feel like sharing that might be helpful to readers, share them in the comments section below. Thanks!