10 Qualities of Great Leaders
| by Steve Flick | ||||
One question asked endlessly in business, academic, political, and other circles is, ”What’s the difference between a manager and a leader?”
The most often quoted answer seems to be, “The manager does things right – the leader does the right things.” What exactly does that mean – “doing the right thing”? Does that mean history tells us whether the leader did the right thing? Can someone be a leader even if they end up on the losing side?
A leader is one who knows that though the risk of failure may be great, they don’t give up on themselves or others. Leaders are people of exceptional character who are capable of bringing others through a crisis. All leaders share certain qualities or characteristics, including:
1. Self-respect and respect for others. If you don’t have a healthy self-respect, you won’t respect others. If you don’t respect others, they will not respect you. You can’t lead people who don’t respect you.
2. The ability to communicate effectively. Leaders say what they mean and mean exactly what they say. Effective communicators are far more persuasive than those who don’t communicate well.
3. Integrity and character. Leaders are not swayed by unsubstantiated opinions or unfounded rumors. Fame, power, or material gain don’t motivate them. Leaders have integrity, that strength of character that resists assault.
4. Having a vision, a mission (or a purpose), a sense of direction, and a clear set of goals. Moreover, they know that their job isn’t done when one set of goals is reached. Leaders know that life is a journey.
5. Being grounded. Leaders have a vision of what the world around them ought to be, but they are also pragmatic. Things will not always go smoothly, but leaders understand that and have the presence of mind to deal with that.
6. Courage. Fear is a powerful motivator; it causes many of us to turn away from our goals when our belief in ourselves and our cause isn’t strong. Leaders aren’t fearless — leaders make a conscious choice to act in spite of their fear.
7. Persistence, commitment, and dedication. It’s like they always say: “Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win.” Nothing worth having comes easily. When setbacks crop up, leaders don’t flag because they always have their eyes on the prize.
8. Humility. Leaders aren’t self-promoting or self-aggrandizing. They don’t take all the credit. They give credit to others and refuse it for themselves.
9. A sense of responsibility. Leaders are willing to bear the ultimate responsibility for their undertakings. They don’t point the finger of blame when things go awry.
10. Decisiveness. When action is called for, real leaders don’t waffle. Knowing that a window of opportunity exists (“the time to act is now”), they act quickly and effectively, based on the best available information.
Most importantly, leaders have these characteristics in balance. Some may tell you there is one characteristic more important than the rest. They’ll say something like, “Oh, you have to have that ‘vision thing’ above all else.” Not true – people won’t follow someone who has vision without courage or humility, for example.
What about you? What do you think are the most important qualities in a leader? Who do you consider a leader and why?
Thanks so much for your time.
Categories:
Business Communication • Leadership
Tags:
effective communication • goals • internal communication • leadership • management responsibility • objectives • quality • quality management • quality manager • vision statement
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Originally published in 2010 by Bizmanualz, Inc. under the title 10 Qualities of Great Leaders. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted with attribution only. www.bizmanualz.com
11 Responses to “10 Qualities of Great Leaders”
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August 31st, 2010 at 10:02 am
Leadership development has been a very ‘hot’ and ‘expensive’ management development program for years. Consultant and organizations often use different kind of psychometric assessment tools to help the manager to know their preferences, and then emphasis on many interpersonal skills. How often participants are really understand the value of confronting themselves? to know and to have peace with themselves? No much, I’m afraid.
Transformation of leaderships take time and a lot of efforts from the manager him/herself. let’s don’t forget people believe what they can see, but not what they hear.
If we check the leadership quality from downside upwards, I will not surprise people expect the different sequence from the quality list.
Also what about the health and being able to have a balance life style?
August 31st, 2010 at 5:34 pm
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCEREN
Dear sir,
Leading is a dynamic personal process . Leading is never-ending process for a manager . Not only do the problems and plans of an enterprise keep changing, thereby creating new issues calling for leadership. But we as individuals also change. Our attitudes, abilities, and feeling are continuously evolving through life .
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Mehdi, you are correct. Leaders are open to change — they accept that it is part of life. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances is one thing; anyone can manage by the books when all is going well, but it’s the leader who realizes the old rules are no good.
The ability to anticipate change and even to be an agent of change is what separates the great leaders from the good. That ties into my point about being grounded. Very good point.
Agnes, the 10 qualities I presented aren’t in order of importance (I should’ve made that clear and didn’t). Also, my list is certainly not exhaustive. I think you make a very good point when you say leaders ought to have balance in their lives. Great leaders surround themselves with great people and they trust those people to get things done; by being able to delegate and trust, maybe the leader doesn’t have to be “always on”.
On the other hand, isn’t being “always on” part of the makeup of a leader? That ability to motivate oneself cannot be taught, as I believe you pointed out.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I share your views on leadership qualities and I also think a leader must be very caring and have a sense of fortitude
September 6th, 2010 at 5:54 am
This is the fourth or fifth time that I am reading the 10 qualities of great leaders. I work in an educational environment and we tend to lose sight of what is important for management education.
Yes, we need the theory to form the framework, the peer learning learning for the experience and the case work to duplicate reality, but what we lack in terms of management education is cultivating leaders that are, “PRINCIPALLY DRIVEN”. This, unfortunately, cannot be done nor tested in a masters programme.
It is a conscious decision that an individual must (m)ake and can only be mastered through introspection and addressing the wrongs of the past so as to charter a better way forward. It is just that I have seen too many “fly by night” managers who are supported typically by others of the same calibre. It’s sad.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:00 am
I agree (with) the above comments; leadership is very unique things that can’t be expressed (in) only (a) few words. (Leadership) is inborn, a gift from God. You can see someone who has little (formal education) but has a good leadership style. He/she can organize things easily, (easily) influence people’s opinions, and make changes easily. Mandela and Gandhi are examples.
September 8th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Interesting comments, all. I’m now attending an ASQ leadership course, filled with all kinds of facts and theories. There’s a lot of name dropping (Juran, Ishikawa, and Deming…oh, my!). My head will be full to overflowing soon with the minutiae of leadership…but can I be taught in a few weeks how to lead? Will the granting of a certificate — and a few more letters after my name — make me a leader?
Of course not, and I think this was the point of the article. Leaders have more than diplomas and certificates – they have integrity, courage, and more. These are passed from one person to another not by lectures or rote memorization, but by daily immersion. You don’t actively acquire the characteristics of a leader — they are given to you, often from your earliest days.
October 6th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I am very happy for your (article) about leaders. I learned more about what is a leader from it.
December 25th, 2010 at 5:52 am
I think a leader must be someone who can inspire others. The leader must also have a sense of humour. He must be someone who can instantly manage unfavourable situations for the better.
January 10th, 2011 at 6:16 am
Awareness. A leader must always possess an acute awareness of the dynamics between himself, his peers, subordinates and surroundings. It gives him insight into actions, reactions, counteractions, or interactions and how to appropriately respond to these sans personal prejudice. This state of impartial cognizance should tie-in with most, if not all, of the qualities listed above, for it delineates that very thin line separating a good leader from a tyrant.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:31 am
I think a leader must be someone whose powers are not underestimated.