Good Leadership

Leaders shape our world, guiding us through essential decisions. While society quickly spots poor leadership, recognising excellence is crucial.

What Good Leadership Looks Like

Research reveals that outstanding leaders consistently embody these 12 inspiring qualities:

  • Respect
  • Compassion
  • Self-Awareness
  • Vision
  • Communication
  • Learning Agility
  • Integrity
  • Courage
  • Collaboration
  • Influence
  • Gratitude
  • Resilience

RespectConsistent respect eases tensions, builds trust, and boosts effectiveness. It’s more than avoiding disrespect; it’s valuing others’ perspectives and fostering belonging—crucial for supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Compassion

Compassion goes beyond empathy or listening. It requires action. When concerns are shared, meaningful responses build trust, enhance collaboration and reduce turnover.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is understanding oneself, including personality, behaviours, and emotions. This inward-focused trait is paramount for effective leadership. Knowing how others perceive you is key.

Vision

Vision is your aspiration for the future. Inspiring others and gaining commitment to that vision are vital aspects of leadership. Purpose-driven leaders connect their team’s daily tasks and individual values to the organisation’s direction. This helps employees find meaning in their work, boosting engagement, trust, and progress. Communicate your vision in ways that others can understand, remember and share.    Change is constant, but how we lead through it is crucial.

Communication

Communication takes many forms, from sharing information to active listening. Effective leadership and communication go hand in hand. Top leaders communicate skilfully in various ways, both verbally and in writing, with diverse people across roles and backgrounds. The quality of communication among your leaders directly impacts your business strategy’s success.

Learning Agility

Learning agility is knowing what to do when you’re unsure. If you excel in unfamiliar situations, you may already be learning agile. But anyone can develop this skill through practice. After all, great leaders are exceptional learners.

Integrity

Integrity is about being consistent, honest, moral, and trustworthy; a vital leadership trait for individuals and organisations. It’s particularly crucial for top executives steering the company’s direction. Research suggests leader integrity can be a blind spot, so reinforce its importance at all levels.

Courage

Courage empowers team members and leaders to take bold, positive actions. Speaking up at work can be challenging, whether sharing ideas, giving feedback, or raising concerns. That’s why courage is key, it takes guts to do what’s right! Leaders who foster psychological safety enable open communication without fear, nurturing a culture of courage and candour.

Collaboration

Collaboration involves working effectively with diverse colleagues. In our complex world, good leaders span boundaries and work across divides. Valuing collaboration leads to increased innovation, higher-performing teams, and an engaged workforce.

Influence

Influence, the ability to persuade others authentically, is crucial for inspiring leaders. It requires emotional intelligence and trust.

Gratitude

Gratitude, the uplifting emotion felt after receiving something valuable, can boost self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve sleep. It can even enhance leadership skills. Yet, few express thanks at work, despite most people willing to work harder for an appreciative boss. Top leaders know how to show genuine gratitude regularly.

Resilience

Resilience is adapting to challenges, not just bouncing back. Resilient leaders project positivity, helping others maintain emotional strength to commit to shared visions and overcome setbacks. Good leaders prioritise their own wellbeing and that of their employees, enabling better performance for all.

Core Truths About Good Leadership Characteristics

Organisations can nurture these leadership qualities by offering training, support for learning from challenges, and access to coaching and mentoring programmes.

Leadership is a collective effort

It’s crucial to understand that leadership isn’t about one charismatic individual, but a group working together to achieve results. Even if you possess many good leadership traits, failing to grasp this point may hinder your progress. You might be well-liked, but struggle to accomplish team goals.

Good leadership is an ongoing journey

Leadership is a continuous journey, not a destination. You’ll need to work at it throughout your career, regardless of your position or industry. Different situations will require various leadership qualities to succeed. Keep learning and growing to become an agile leader with a long-lasting career.   Individuals can also proactively develop their leadership skills.

 

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