Leaders! When you hear this word few names and images come to your mind, like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, or APJ Abdul Kalam. But have you ever thought about what made each one of them an effective leader? Is it because of their position or designation they were holding or due to the qualities they possessed?
Every day we come across people who show leadership skills in one or the other aspect of life. What are those skills? What makes one an effective leader?
Who is a leader?
A person who can inspire, motivate, have a vision, lend support, uplift the team, empathize and take responsibility is a leader. Not all leaders have these qualities but to be a good leader one should have all of these. An effective leader must know to balance the adverse situations and lift the team spirit to march towards the common goal.
10 Traits to look for in an Effective Leader:
Effective Communication: To be a good leader first and foremost quality one should have is effective communication skills. One should master all forms of communication, be it verbal or written communication. A leader should be a good listener to communicate well with others. They should always be available for the team members to listen to their issues related to working or personal. All effective leaders are capable of handling all kinds of communication to ensure clarity.
Motivation: A leader is someone who can motivate his team to perform better by building up the self-esteem of the team members. They do it by giving rewards and recognition, giving out new responsibilities, setting effective goals, mentoring, and praising the team.
Delegation: A leader should know and recognize the capabilities and skills of their team members. Delegating work to a team is an easy task, but delegating it to the right person is important. So, a good leader can identify the skills of their team members and delegate work according to their skill sets.
Positivity: Who doesn’t like a positive person to be around? A positive attitude helps create a happy and healthy work culture. When a team feels positive, the team members stay stress-free and can perform better. One can create a positive work environment by developing rapport, being friendly, empathetic, helping others, and caring.
Trustworthiness: Good leaders make their team members comfortable in opening up with them. It helps to demonstrate the values of accountability, confidentiality, respectfulness, business ethics, and reliability. Building trust between the team makes it easier for the members to work strongly towards achieving the targets.
Creativity: one common traits among all the good leaders is their ability to think out of the box, be creative and innovative when they face problems. This inspires the team and open them to critical and creative thinking.
Feedback: It is the most critical skill to be possessed by a leader. One should be versed in not only giving but even in taking feedback. While giving feedback a leader should maintain clarity along with empathy. Feedback should never sound rude or judgmental instead it should be more in the form of mentoring or coaching.
Responsibility: A leader takes responsibility for the team – be it a failure or a success. Effective leaders accept the failures and lay out the corrective solution for the team to overcome the situation.
Commitment: Unless the team members see their leaders’ commitment towards a goal, they aren’t likely to strive harder. The best to show the commitment is action. It always starts at the top.
Emotional Intelligence: Since it is all about people, a leader needs to employ emotional intelligence as much as possible. It is important to understand the psychological state of the team members. Each person is unique and so should be the one-on-one communication. It is about developing meaningful relationships with the team members, understanding their interpersonal skills, and equipping them to manage their emotions well enough.
If you possess all these skills and showcase them at your workplace, no one can stop you from growing each single day. Your teammates and colleagues will look up to you as an effective Leader. You may possess all these qualities but might not be just aware of it. Get in touch with leading Leadership Coach in India, Johncey George, to explore the way to get better along the way.