When we hear the word leadership, many people think about position and influence. Many would want to have that role because positional leadership do have a lot of perks. You are the boss, people follow you, and you have the final say over every decision.
But not everyone realizes that with leadership comes responsibilities—huge responsibilities. Because people are following you, you have to ask yourself, where are you bringing them? Are you leading them to success or failure? Are you getting the organization to succeed in doing its mission and vision?
Leaders are shapers of the nation, community, and organization. Everyone has the potential to lead, but not everyone becomes a good leader. Not everyone realizes this, but leadership is more than position; it is serving. And to serve effectively, a leader must possess these characteristics that will qualify him/ her to be a good leader.
Integrity.
A leader with integrity acts by his words. He is reliable and trustworthy because people know that he will work on it when he says something. Not only that, but leaders who possess integrity own up to their mistakes and own up the mistakes of their subordinates. He doesn’t blame others; instead, because he has the final say on every decision, he knows that whatever the outcome, it’s on him. He doesn’t hide mistakes or make excuses, but he owns it and makes himself accountable for it.
Ability to Delegate.
A good leader does not do things independently; instead, he knows that he has a team who can work with him to achieve the desired goal for the company or organization. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of his team and delegates the tasks based on the team’s skill set. The goal of delegation is not to do anything or free up schedule; the purpose of delegation is to facilitate teamwork and provide autonomy.
Communication.
Communication is essential in effectively leading people. A good leader can have various ways to communicate things to different sets of individuals, from his team to other leaders, to clients and customers.
Good communicators are also good listeners. A good leader listens to his team to achieve the goals desired for the organization. Good communication brings light to problems and decisions that need to be accomplished. This is why quality and effective communication directly affects the success of the organization.
Respect.
Good leaders respect people regardless of their position in the organization. Whether those people are in the leadership position or those who work in the field, a good leader knows that everyone deserves respect. This comes with an understanding that leadership is more than just position but serving. A good leader constantly asks himself how to serve the people better. This took away the sense of pride instead replaces pride with humility to serve given his position.
Empathy.
A good leader also has good emotional intelligence. Being in leadership means you are handling different individuals with different skill sets and attitudes. People are emotional beings, and whether we like it or not, to lead them effectively, you must go beyond just being the boss but being the leader.
Without empathy, it is difficult to connect with your team. With that connection that you are building, you are also gaining trust to make leadership more effective.
Key Takeaway.
We all can be great leaders and we must the characteristics mentioned above to be great leaders. For our businesses to succeed, great leaders must rise and lead well.
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