Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader

Having a great idea, and assembling a team to bring that concept to life
is the first step in creating a successful business venture. While finding
a new and unique idea is rare enough; the ability to successfully
execute this idea is what separates the dreamers from the
entrepreneurs. However you see yourself, whatever your age may be,
as soon as you make that exciting first hire, you have taken the first
steps in becoming a powerful leader. When money is tight, stress
levels are high, and the visions of instant success dont happen like
you thought, its easy to let those emotions get to you, and thereby
your team. Take a breath, calm yourself down, and remind yourself of
the leader you are and would like to become. Here are some key
qualities that every good leader should possess, and learn to
emphasize.
Honesty
Whatever ethical plane you hold yourself to, when you are responsible
for a team of people, its important to raise the bar even higher. Your
business and its employees are a reflection of yourself, and if you
make honest and ethical behavior a key value, your team will follow
suit.
As we do at Onevest, the crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs and
small businesses I co-founded, try to make a list of values and core
beliefs that both you and your brand represent, and post this in your
office. Promote a healthy interoffice lifestyle, and encourage your
team to live up to these standards. By emphasizing these standards,
and displaying them yourself, you will hopefully influence the office
environment into a friendly and helpful workspace.
Ability to Delegate

Finessing your brand vision is essential to creating an organized and

efficient business, but if you dont learn to trust your team with that
vision, you might never progress to the next stage. Its important to
remember that trusting your team with your idea is a sign of strength,
not weakness. Delegating tasks to the appropriate departments is one
of the most important skills you can develop as your business grows.
The emails and tasks will begin to pile up, and the more you stretch
yourself thin, the lower the quality of your work will become, and the
less you will produce.
The key to delegation is identifying the strengths of your team, and
capitalizing on them. Find out what each team member enjoys doing
most. Chances are if they find that task more enjoyable, they will
likely put more thought and effort behind it. This will not only prove
to your team that you trust and believe in them, but will also free up
your time to focus on the higher level tasks, that should not be
delegated. Its a fine balance, but one that will have a huge impact on
the productivity of your business.
Communication
Knowing what you want accomplished may seem clear in your head,
but if you try to explain it to someone else and are met with a blank
expression, you know there is a problem. If this has been your
experience, then you may want to focus on honing your
communication skills. Being able to clearly and succinctly describe
what you want done is extremely important. If you cant relate your
vision to your team, you wont all be working towards the same goal.
Training new members and creating a productive work environment all
depend on healthy lines of communication. Whether that stems from
an open door policy to your office, or making it a point to talk to your
staff on a daily basis, making yourself available to discuss interoffice

issues is vital. Your team will learn to trust and depend on you, and
will be less hesitant to work harder.
Sense of Humor
If your website crashes, you lose that major client, or your funding
dries up, guiding your team through the process without panicking is
as challenging as it is important. Morale is linked to productivity, and
its your job as the team leader to instill a positive energy. Thats where
your sense of humor will finally pay off. Encourage your team to
laugh at the mistakes instead of crying. If you are constantly learning
to find the humor in the struggles, your work environment will become
a happy and healthy space, where your employees look forward to
working in, rather than dreading it. Make it a point to crack jokes with
your team and encourage personal discussions of weekend plans and
trips. Its these short breaks from the task at hand that help keep
productivity levels high and morale even higher.
At Onevest, we place a huge emphasis on humor and a light
atmosphere. Our office is dog friendly, and we really believe it is the
small, light hearted moments in the day that help keep our work
creative and fresh. One tradition that we like to do and brings the team
closer is we plan a fun prank on all new employees, on their first day.
It breaks the ice and immediately creates that sense of familiarity.
Confidence
There may be days where the future of your brand is worrisome and
things arent going according to plan. This is true with any business,
large or small, and the most important thing is not to panic. Part of
your job as a leader is to put out fires and maintain the team morale.
Keep up your confidence level, and assure everyone that setbacks are
natural and the important thing is to focus on the larger goal. As the
leader, by staying calm and confident, you will help keep the team

feeling the same. Remember, your team will take cues from you, so if
you exude a level of calm damage control, your team will pick up on
that feeling. The key objective is to keep everyone working and
moving ahead.
Commitment
If you expect your team to work hard and produce quality content,
youre going to need to lead by example. There is no greater
motivation than seeing the boss down in the trenches working
alongside everyone else, showing that hard work is being done on
every level. By proving your commitment to the brand and your role,
you will not only earn the respect of your team, but will also instill that
same hardworking energy among your staff. Its important to show
your commitment not only to the work at hand, but also to your
promises. If you pledged to host a holiday party, or uphold summer
Fridays, keep your word. You want to create a reputation for not just
working hard, but also be known as a fair leader. Once you have
gained the respect of your team, they are more likely to deliver the
peak amount of quality work possible.
Positive Attitude
You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success
of the company, and keep the energy levels up. Whether that means
providing snacks, coffee, relationship advice, or even just an
occasional beer in the office, remember that everyone on your team is
a person. Keep the office mood a fine balance between productivity
and playfulness.
If your team is feeling happy and upbeat, chances are they wont mind
staying that extra hour to finish a report, or devoting their best work to
the brand.

Creativity
Some decisions will not always be so clear-cut. You may be forced at
times to deviate from your set course and make an on the fly decision.
This is where your creativity will prove to be vital. It is during these
critical situations that your team will look to you for guidance and you
may be forced to make a quick decision. As a leader, its important to
learn to think outside the box and to choose which of two bad choices
is the best option. Dont immediately choose the first or easiest
possibility; sometimes its best to give these issues some thought, and
even turn to your team for guidance. By utilizing all possible options
before making a rash decision, you can typically reach the end
conclusion you were aiming for.
Intuition
When leading a team through uncharted waters, there is no roadmap
on what to do. Everything is uncertain, and the higher the risk, the
higher the pressure. That is where your natural intuition has to kick in.
Guiding your team through the process of your day-to-day tasks can be
honed down to a science. But when something unexpected occurs, or
you are thrown into a new scenario, your team will look to you for
guidance. Drawing on past experience is a good reflex, as is reaching
out to your mentors for support. Eventually though, the tough
decisions will be up to you to decide and you will need to depend on
your gut instinct for answers. Learning to trust yourself is as important
as your team learning to trust you.
Ability to Inspire
Creating a business often involves a bit of forecasting. Especially in
the beginning stages of a startup, inspiring your team to see the vision
of the successes to come is vital. Make your team feel invested in the
accomplishments of the company. Whether everyone owns a piece of

equity, or you operate on a bonus system, generating enthusiasm for

the hard work you are all putting in is so important. Being able to
inspire your team is great for focusing on the future goals, but it is also
important for the current issues. When you are all mired deep in work,
morale is low, and energy levels are fading, recognize that everyone
needs a break now and then. Acknowledge the work that everyone has
dedicated and commend the team on each of their efforts. It is your job
to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the hard
work.

Seven Qualities of a Good Leader

By Barbara White
How often have you heard the comment, He or she is a born leader?
There are certain characteristics found in some people that seem to
naturally put them in a position where theyre looked up to as a leader.
Whether in fact a person is born a leader or develops skills and
abilities to become a leader is open for debate. There are some clear
characteristics that are found in good leaders. These qualities can be
developed or may be naturally part of their personality. Let us explore
them further.
Seven Personal Qualities Found In A Good Leader:
1. A good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance
that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted
and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good
leader walks the talk and in doing so earns the right to have
responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the
good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.
2. A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also
about their role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person

of passion and dedication. Leaders need to be able to be a source of

inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action or cause.
Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the
leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the
goal. This kind of leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and
get dirty.
3. A good leader is confident. In order to lead and set direction a leader
needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a
person inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best
efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys
confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from
team members.

4. A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner

in situations of uncertainty. People look to the leader during times of
uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when
the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor.

7. A good leader is committed to excellence. Second best does not lead

to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also
is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all
areas.
These seven personal characteristics are foundational to good
leadership. Some characteristics may be more naturally present in the
personality of a leader. However, each of these characteristics can also
be developed and strengthened. A good leader whether they naturally
possess these qualities or not, will be diligent to consistently develop
and strengthen them in their leadership role.
Leaders have an important role in the organization and its success,
productivity and performance of its employees. The fundamental
role of leader is to build and maintain the high performance of the
team.l
Influencing and guiding relationship within the organization.
Have a good interpersonal and communication skill

5. Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed

and steadfast to the main purpose. Storms, emotions, and crises come
and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a
cool head.

Involves ability to persuade others.

6. A good leader as well as keeping the main goal in focus is able to

think analytically. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a
whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection.
Not only is the goal in view but a good leader can break it down into
manageable steps and make progress towards it.

Your ability to persuade and influence people to help you get the
things you want in life is one of the most important skills you can
develop. By learning how to persuade and influence people, you can
achieve greater personal power and get more of the things you want
faster than anything else you do. It can mean the difference between
success and failure. It can guarantee your progress and enable you to
use all of your other skills and abilities at the very highest level.

How to Persuade and Influence People to Achieve Personal

Power

Learning how to persuade people will earn you the support and respect
of your customers, bosses, co-workers, colleagues and friends. The
ability to influence others to do what you want them to do can make
you one of the most important people in your community.

People have two major motivations: the desire for gain, and the fear of
loss. The desire for gain motivates people to want more of the things
they value in life. They want more money, more success, more health,
more influence, more respect, more love and more happiness.

Your job is to become absolutely excellent at influencing and

motivating others to support and assist you in the achievement of your
goals and the solving of your problems. All truly effective people have
mastered the art of getting lots of other people to work with and for
them in the accomplishment of their objectives. You can learn this skill
set to achieve personal powerand master the art of influencing others.

Human wants are limited only by individual imagination. No matter

how much a person has, he or she still wants more and more. When
you can show a person how he or she can get more of the things he or
she wants by helping you achieve your goals, you can motivate them
to act in your behalf and achieve greater personal power.

How to Persuade Others Through Leverage

How Human Interaction Affects Your Ability to
Influence People
The opposite of being influential is having little or no influence at all
on the behaviors of other people. It is the difference between being
powerful and being powerless. You can either persuade others to help
you or be persuaded to help them. It is one or the other. Most people
are not aware that every human interaction involves a complex process
of persuasion and influence. And being unaware, they are usually the
ones being persuaded to help others rather than the ones who are
influencing people to help them.
All successful people with personal power are persuasion experts.
They give a lot of thought to how they can get other people to help
them. They plan and strategize before they act. They define their goals
clearly and then they choose the people whose cooperation they will
need to achieve those goals. They then think about what they will have
to do in return to get the other people to help them. They achieve their
goals of persuasion and influence indirectly.
The key to persuasion is motivation. Every human action is motivated
by something. In order to learn how to persuade others, you must find
out what motivates other people and then to provide that motivation.

You can learn how to persuade others by using leverage. Leverage

means that you learn how to multiply yourself and get far more out of
the hours you put in rather than doing everything yourself.
You leverage yourself through other peoples efforts by getting other
people to work with you and for you in the accomplishment of your
objectives. Sometimes you can ask them to help you voluntarily,
although people wont work for very long without some personal
reward. At other times you can hire them to help you, thereby freeing
you up to do higher value work.
The definition of management is Getting things done through others.
To be a manager you must improve your personal power and know
how to persuade and influence people to work in a common direction.
This is why all excellent managers are also excellent low-pressure
salespeople. They do not order people to do things, instead,
they influence people to accept certain responsibilities, with specific
deadlines, and agreed upon standards of performance. When a person
has been persuaded that he has a vested interest in doing a job well, he
accepts ownership of the job and the result. Once a person accepts
ownership and responsibility, the manager can step aside confidently,
knowing the job will be done on schedule.

Achieve Personal Power by Becoming an

Expert

A good leader has the motivation to prevent harm to

anyone

You can learn how to persuade others and can develop your personal
power by always remembering that there are only two ways to get the
things you want in life, you can do it all yourself, or you can get most
of it done by others. Your ability to communicate, persuade, negotiate,
influence, delegate and interact effectively with other people will
enable you to develop leverage using other peoples efforts, other
peoples knowledge and other peoples money. The development of
your personal power will enable you to become one of the most
powerful and influential people in your organization. By learning how
to persuade and influence people, it will open up doors for you in
every area of your life.

A good leader ensures a safe place of work for staf

A good leader has respect for the law and regulations

A good leader maintains and develops skills,

knowledge and experience in themselves and others

A good leader is objective, fair and reasonable

A good leader takes responsibility for his own as well

as others actions

A good leader acts with conviction

# All managers need to understand how their actions affect employees'

personal lives. It's a responsibility to take seriously

A good leader provides clear direction

A good leader communicates efectively

A good leader discharges of a Duty of Care to

customers, clients and staf

What are the attributes and traits of a good

leader?

A good leader has the ability of the ethical person to

shine through to leadership

A good leader has the ability to demonstrate the

skills, knowledge and experience to undertake the
tasks expected from him/her, both in terms of the job
that is required to be completed, but with respect to
his/her contribution the wider organisation

10 Ways to Become a Better Leader

A good leader adopts a leadership style that lends

itself to ethical considerations, for example
transformational and adaptive styles both of
which engage followers in the decision making
processes

Understanding your current leadership style is essential. What are your

strengths? Which areas need some improvement? One way to start
assessing your skills is to take this leadership style quiz to get a
general idea of how you lead. Once you have completed the quiz, read
about the major characteristics of your dominant style. Are these
qualities helping or hindering your leadership? Once you've determine

1. Learn More About Your Leadership Style

which areas need some work, you can begin looking for ways to
improve your leadership abilities.
2. Encourage Creativity

Intellectual stimulation is one of the hallmarks of transformational

leadership. Followers need to be encouraged to express their creativity.
Effective leaders should offer new challenges with ample support to
achieve these goals. One way to foster creativity is to offer challenges
to group members, making sure that the goals are within the grasp of
their abilities. The purpose of this type of exercise is to get people to
stretch their limits, but to not become discouraged by barriers to
success.
3. Serve As a Role Model

Idealized influence is another of the four key components of

transformational leadership. Transformational leaders exemplify the
behaviors and characteristics that they encourage in their followers.
They walk the walk and talk the talk. As a result, group members
admire these leaders and work to emulate these behaviors. If you want
to become a better leader, work on modeling the qualities that you
would like to see in your team members.

4. Be Passionate

Would you look to someone for guidance and leadership if they did not
truly care about the goals of the group? Of course not! Great leaders
are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks; they
have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the projects they work on.
Start by thinking of different ways that you can express your zeal. Let
people know that you care about their progress. When one person
shares something with the rest of the group, be sure to tell them how
much you appreciate such contributions.

5. Listen and Communicate Effectively

Another important characteristic of transformational leadership

involves a focus on providing one-on-one communication with group
members. Good leaders should express sincere care and concern for
the members of their group both verbally and nonverbally. By keeping
the lines of communication open, these leaders can ensure that group
members feel able to make contributions and receive recognition for
their achievements.
6. Have a Positive Attitude

Transformational leaders have an upbeat, optimistic attitude that

serves as a source of inspiration for followers. If leaders seem
discouraged or apathetic, members of the group are likely to also
become uninspired. Even when things look bleak and your followers
start to feel disheartened, try to stay positive. This does not mean
viewing things through rose-colored glasses. It simply means
maintaining a sense of optimism and hope in the face of challenges.
7. Encourage People to Make Contributions

Let the members of your team know that you welcome their ideas.
Leaders who encourage involvement from group members are often
referred to as democratic or participative leaders. While they retain the
final say over all decisions, they encourage team members to take an
active role in coming up with ideas and plans. Research has shown that
using a democratic leadership style leads to greater commitment, more
creative problem-solving and improved productivity.
8. Motivate Your Followers

Transformational leaders also provide inspirational motivation to

encourage their followers to get into action. Of course, being
inspirational isn't always easy. Fortunately, you don't need
motivational speeches to rouse your group members. Some ideas for
leadership inspiration include being genuinely passionate about ideas

or goals, helping followers feel included in the process and offering

recognition, praise and rewards for people's accomplishments.
9. Offer Rewards and Recognition

A good leader knows that offering effective recognition and rewards is

one of the best ways to help followers feel appreciated and happy. It
may also come as no surprise that happy people tend to perform better
at work. According to researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer,
leaders can help group members feel happier by offering help,
removing barriers to success and rewarding strong efforts.

10. Keep Trying New Things

Who says leadership is a one-way relationship? As you work toward

honing your leadership skills, don't forget to look to your followers for
feedback an inspiration. Pay attention to the things that have been
effective in the past and always be on the lookout for new ways to
inspire, motivate and reward group members.