Rise and Shine

Ten qualities of good leaders

 

The last couple of weeks, we have been focusing on different styles and levels of leadership. The next logical topic is the qualities of the good leaders. Today, we will discuss ten of the most important qualities of good leaders.

  1. Vision: Good leaders will have a vision of where they want to be, where they want to take their team to. They can see the future now. This vision is formed by their knowledge of the past, while sensing and feeling the present. They then rally all their followers to see that vision and to all work towards that vision.
  2. Focus on Goal: You may have a good vision but if you do not develop it into some actionable goal then you will not achieve anything. That is why good leaders will always draw up their mail goal representing what they want to achieve in order to realise the vision they set out.
  3. Able to make decisions: Many people are afraid to make decisions. This is one of the many things that set apart good leaders—they are brave enough to make decisions. If you want to become a good leader, you need to start to take the courage and make decisions. Of course, some decisions will be wrong but you have to make the decision.
  4. Focus on important matters: As a leader, you will face many issues. People will come with many ideas and requests in addition to the numerous problems that they give you! You need to filter all these and isolate the important ones that you need to focus on as you push to achieve your goal.
  5. Communication: Communication is very key to leadership. Good communication means that everyone gets aligned and understands the vision and goal for the team. Clear and transparent communication avoids conflict and problems. Great leaders master the art of communication using multiple formats and channels. A research paper published in the Harvard Business Review a couple of years ago indicated that great chief executive officers (CEOs) tend to communicate the same message to their staff using multiple methods including word of mouth, phone call, email and so on.
  6. Interested in wider benefits: Have you observed that today, many people keep pushing their personal agenda, not the wider interests? This is one of the reasons why good leaders are scarce. Good leaders focus on other people’s interests—not theirs.
  7. Leading by example: You have probably heard of the cliché that good leaders say: “Do as I do” and bad ones say: “Do as I say.” Good leaders walk the talk. They lead by example. They do what they expect from their followers.
  8. Use of intuition: Science shows that the bulk of our brain power is in the subconscious part of the brain. If you can enhance how much you use of your subconscious brain, you will stand apart. Use of the knowledge and information that we gather from experiences over time, stored in our subconscious brain is that is commonly known as intuition. Become the master of your intuition and you will be on the path to become a good leader.
  9. They know themselves well: Do you really know who you are? What are you good at and what are your weaknesses or areas that need further development? You cannot be a good leader unless you know what and who you are very well as all good leaders do.

10.Who goes on the bus: Good leaders are very clear about who should surround them. They do not leave this to chance. Who comes along with them on the bus is very important to them. This means that they will make sure that they assemble a team of great individuals that add good value to the efforts towards achieving their agenda. Since they are good at making decisions, they will not hesitate to remove those that are bad members of their team or followership.

Now, we know ten of the most important qualities of good leaders. If you can master and adopt these qualities into your leadership, you will surely become a great leader. Good luck as you polish yourself to rise and shine as a good leader!

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