10 Leadership Characteristics That Makes You A Good Leader
#1 High-level personal integrity
Integrity is the quality of having strong ethical or moral principles and following them at all times, no matter who’s watching. A person with integrity acts with honesty, honor, and truthfulness. You must have high-level integrity whether you are anyone. But if you are a leader, it is one of the most essential characteristics you should have. You should not always keep changing your decision. You have to be fixed on one. Always have a high level of personal integrity.
Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. Showing a high level of integrity means not swinging between your decisions. It is, to be honest, truthful, and have strong moral principles. You should have the accuracy of your actions. Without accuracy in your actions, you can’t be a great leader. You should have the mastery of the details of your actions. Without your honesty, truthfulness, and honor your leadership journey cannot endure long. To handle your team cooperatively, you should have high-level personal integrity. Never swing between decisions. The thing you do, that only your followers do. So if you want your followers to be truthful and honest, you should first endure this characteristic inside you.
#2 Work on your priorities
As a leader, you should always work on your priorities. You can’t do everything yourself. So you should work on your priorities first. You should make the habit of delegating as a leader. Without the habit of delegating, you can never succeed. Delegating means to entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person. And you have to do that. You have to make the habit of delegating. If you don’t have skill in something, then just DELEGATE DELEGATE DELEGATE that works to an expert. Don’t waste your time learning that. Whether do the work in which you are perfect. You can’t do and everything so you should always make your priorities list. As a leader, you should never do something which is not your priority. Always work on your priorities first.
As per your field, your priorities would be different from others. You can’t do everything but you have to do important things. Do what you have to do today, strong reasons make strong actions. And with your FIRST PRIORITIES, you should have a strong reason to fulfill that. If in your priority list there is something then you have to do, then you should have a strong reason to do that. Without a strong reason, you can’t do that. The summary of this point is to prepare your priorities list every day and work on that with a strong reason.
#3 Work with commitment and dedication
As a leader, you should work with your commitment and full dedication. But as a leader we expect our followers to be committed towards their work and work with dedication. But do we?. Followers do what leaders do. If a leader will sleep all day, followers will also sleep all day and not work. So as a leader, you must induce this quality inside you and expect from your followers. Commitment is to commit to doing any work with full dedication. Dedication means to leave procrastination and do yours with full focus and with a committed attitude.
As a leader, while doing any kind of work you should be fully committed and dedicated towards it. Because if we are not committed to it, then we cant do it properly. Doing with full dedication will also help you to set an example for your follower. And they will see you and will do the same as you. Whether it’s your work or not but as a leader, you should do it with very focus and dedication. This characteristic also differs a leader from a follower. Never do work with a bad face or irritatedly in front of your follower, as it will set a very bad example for you in front of him.
#4 Have vision and goal
Everyone should have their vision and goal. And for leaders, it’s one of the most important things. A man who does not have a vision and a goal, then for what will he work for. A leader should know why he is doing anything. He should have his vision and goal towards which he will work with his team. The vision and gal could be anything. It could be to generate sales to you would have a turnover target. Vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. And the goal is a target that you have to reach.
So to fulfill your dream or your expectation, you should have a vision and goal with your team. Without vision and goal, you would be a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later, you would land on rocks. If you don’t have any vision or goal, then you would be walking without knowing where to go. It’s like you went out of the home to go somewhere but you don’t know where. So as a leader, you and your team both should have the same vision and goal as it will let you and them achieve their goal. You should share your vision and goal with your team so that all can work towards its attainment.
#5 A lifelong learner
Without learning you can’t grow. A good leader is a lifelong learner. Learning is the ability to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. If you’re a “quick study” or can excel in unfamiliar circumstances, you might already be a learner. But anybody can foster learning ability through practice, experience, and effort. Explore how great leaders are great learners, with strong learning agility to get started. Leaders make the best response to organizational change and uncertainty. Today we need leaders who are quicker in decision-making and who can take immediate action in crisis times. We live in a fast-paced world, and work trends are evolving in no time. Therefore there is little time for all to take calculated decisions. Also, the strategies and policies that worked well in the past can be obsolete today.
So to keep progressing you have to keep learning. To be a leader, you have to be a learner first. A true and good leader wants to learn anytime with anyone. They don’t differentiate between people’s age, gender, or anything like that. A true leader can learn from anyone. He just wants to learn and progress himself. So as a leader you should never leave the habit of learning.
Learning can be in any form like reading books, blogs, articles, or listening to videos, or talking to someone. 88% of financially successful people read at least 30 mins per day. If so many successful people can read daily for at least 30 minutes, then how can not you. If you say that you don’t have time to read, then you are just ignoring your and your team’s progress. And one day you and your team will face many competitions even you are in the first position right now.
#6 Self Motivated
“The great leaders of business, industry, and finance, and the great artists, poets, musicians and writers all became great because they developed the power of self-motivation.
— Napoleon Hill
One of the most essential characteristics of a leader is they are self-motivated. A leader’s job is to keep others motivated. Leaders motivate their employees to do work and also boost their energy up. So as a leader you should not need any motivation as in tough conditions if you are self-motivated, you will set an example for your followers. The follower’s best motivation is their leader and if you do not have the power of self-motivation. As a leader, you have to motivate your followers and if you can’t do that and also you are not self-motivated, then definitely your leadership will not endure long.
#7 Strong Communicator
Good communication skills are a key part of leadership as this can crush your leadership. As a leader, if you are not a good communicator, then a simple conversation can also crush your leadership. A good leader knows at what time, at what place, and especially whom he should use what kind of words. Great leaders are never harsh and they also know how to put their words in front of anyone who is harsh. He knows how to put his message in front of anyone. They know how to express their thoughts and messages. You may notice that when you talk with a leader, they reply very consciously but they can do this because they practice it.
A leader is not harsh because he plans and he knows his next move. Hey had already planned his keywords, expression according to the situation. And prepares how to express his thoughts and feelings. They understand how important it is to have good communication skills. They are very conscious and learn from others’ behaviors, which gives them a deep understanding of human complexities.
#8 Maintain High-Level of Enthusiasm
A leader should always maintain a high level of enthusiasm. As it will give the leader curious behavior. Enthusiasm means having an intense and eager interest in something. A leader should always have curious behavior. As followers do not want to learn too much and know the WHY? before anything. A follower does not ask you much Why?. But as a leader, you should know the Why? before anything. There is a quality of a leader is the ability to organize details. So as a leader you should know the why and have a curiosity to know anything new. You should have an eager interest or enjoyment for something.
If you are a good leader you should always have a high interest in anything as it will also give you better results on whatever you do. Mastery of detail is also one of the greatest qualities of a leader which you can fulfill by maintaining a high level of enthusiasm.
#9 Keeping your feet on the ground
Keeping your feet on the ground means not be excited too. No matter you have a high level of enthusiasm, you should always keep your feet on the ground. I have seen many people that they enjoy success very enjoyably. But if you enjoy your and your team’s success that much that your team forgets about work always focus on that. A bad impact would be created on your follower. Do not overdose success. As a leader, it’s necessary to maintain self-discipline and social humility. Always remember this point as it will help you very much. As a leader, you must maintain self-discipline. If you want your followers to maintain self-discipline and social culture, first you have to apply this. As followers copy their leader as if you do not maintain it as a leader, how can you expect that from your followers?
#10 Help others, develop along the way
A leader’s first and most important work is to make others successful, make their team successful by helping them. As a leader, your priority is to make others make your followers successful and help them to be successful. You have to develop along the way. Because if your followers would be team would be successful then automatically you would be successful. Always your priority should be to make your team successful. And if your want priority will be finished, you will see yourself successful.
As you will develop along the way. The line is clear that help others, you will automatically be successful as you will develop along the way. You will as develop along the way. But if you keep learning with your team. You will definitely be successful. Your priority should never be to be successful or to fulfill your dream. It should be to fulfill your team’s dream as while doing that, you will automatically fulfill your dream.
