MODULE 8

Leadership qualities

· Honesty

One of the leadership qualities that define a good leader is honesty. When you are responsible
for a team of people, it is important to be straightforward. Your company and its employees are
a reflection of yourself, and if you make honest and ethical behavior as a key value, your team
will follow. So remember to lead by example.

· Delegate

Regardless of the situation and position you are in, always remember that you can’t do
everything on your own. Good leaders recognize that delegation does more than simply passing
the task to someone else. It is trusting and believing that your employees are able to handle the
task given to them.

Delegating to others shows that you have confidence in their abilities, and this can result in a
positive morale in the workplace. Your employees want to feel appreciated and trusted. So by
giving them a task, they would generally feel honored that they got selected and they would feel
the importance of having them around.

· Communication

Communication is the key to success, said everyone. Without clear communication, your
employees will have trouble to understand your mission, goals, and vision.

Good communication is a leadership attribute for a number of reasons. Communication should

· Confidence

Another one of the leadership qualities is having confidence. Admit it, there may be days where
the future of your brand is cloudy or the monthly sales do not look promising. Any company or
businesses would have gone through these issues before; so it is not something new.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to maintain the team morale and keep moving forward. Keep
your confidence level up and assure everyone that setbacks being looked into. By staying calm
and confident, the team would not worry as they put their trust in you.

· Commitment

Nothing shows commitment like getting your hands dirty with the rest of the employees. There is
no greater motivation than seeing their leader working alongside everyone else. By proving your
commitment to the company and especially your team, you will not only earn the respect of your
team, but will also instill that same hardworking drive among your staff.

Showing your commitment sets the example for others to follow, and leads to greater loyalty and
respect for you as a leader. Set the tone of commitment, and others will follow suit. Remember
that if you expect your team to work hard and produce quality work, you would need to lead by
example.

· 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 won’t mind staying that extra hour to
finish a report, or devoting their best work to the brand.

· Creativity

As a good leader is someone the team could look up to for answers or solutions, it is up to you
to think outside the box when any issues arise.

You could also gather the team and start brainstorming ideas to build upon some of your ideas.

When you get your employees involved in a decision or an idea, they often the importance of
their existence in the company. They feel respected and wanted and at times, even looking
forward to work!

· Inspire
Another quality that defines a good leader is being inspiring. Being able to inspire your team is
great for focusing on the company’s vision and goals, but it is also important for the team during
their current projects.

When your team is drowning in workload or their morale is low, you as a leader need to be
inspiring and start finding ways to inspire your team. It is your job to keep spirits up, and that
begins with an appreciation for the hard work that they have put in. Start off by giving words of
encouragement once in a while.

· Empathy

Having empathy as a leader goes a long way. Empathy is the ability to understand or feel what
other people are experiencing. In other words, they put themselves in other people’s shoe.
Extraordinary leaders praise in public and address problems in private.

At times, leaders need to look after their team‘s feelings. The best leaders guide employees
through challenges and are always on the lookout for a solution. Instead of making things
personal when they encounter problems, or assigning blame to individuals, good leaders look
for constructive solutions and focus on moving forward.

· Accountability

A good leader takes responsibility for everyone’s performance as well as their own. When things
are going well, they praise. However when problems arise, they identify them quickly, seek
solutions, and get the team back on track.

· Enthusiastic

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.

· Focus and drive

A good leader is generally focused and they are able to think rationally. Not only does a good
leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to narrow down the cause as well as find the
solution to the problem.
Leaders should also be self-driven to work harder in wanting to achieve better results for the
company. They are the driving force in the team and also someone the team could look up to
and encourage the rest to work together.

· Responsible

The last quality that defines a good leader is being responsible. Great leaders know that when it
comes to their company or workplace, they need to take personal responsibility for failure.

A good leader does not make excuses; they take the blame regardless and then work out how
to fix the problem as soon as possible. Responsibility is definitely a key leadership attribute.

4.2 Objective 2

The Characteristics of a Good Leader

While successful leaders may exhibit these leadership skills to varying degrees, all good leaders
leverage at least some —or most — of these characteristics. Together, they make up the
backbone of leadership across leader levels, industries, and continents. Without these skills,
true leadership is impossible.

If you don’t feel like these characteristics of a good leader adequately describe you, don’t panic
— there are ways for you to improve on your leadership capabilities, including all 10 of these
core skills. At CCL, we believe that leaders are not born, but made. We know that leaders are
molded through experience, continued study, and adaptation.

In other words, you can strengthen any of these 10 characteristics and qualities of a good
leader if you’re open to growth and you put in the time and effort towards self-improvement.
Similarly, organizations can help their people hone these skills through leadership development
training and real-world experience.

It’s also essential to realize that leadership is a social process. Leadership isn’t a destination —
it’s something that you’ll have to work at regularly throughout your career, regardless of what
level you reach in your organization. Leadership is less about a strong or charismatic individual
and more about a group of people working together to achieve results. That’s why we say that
leadership is a journey — different teams, projects, situations, and organizations will require you
to apply these skills in different ways.

We teach our program participants that leadership consists of 3 elements: direction, alignment,
and commitment. If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader but fail to
grasp this, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well liked and
respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals without
agreement on objectives, coordination to meet them, and a dedication to making it happen.

Organizations can foster deeper levels of leadership at work through a variety of development
opportunities ranging from on-the-job learning to an offsite leadership development program.
But individuals don’t have to wait to begin strengthening these characteristics and qualities of a
good leader within themselves

Qualities of good leader

1. Positive Attitude

Being the most significant characteristic that defines leadership, positive attitude is essential
energy that a leader must have. Attitude is what shapes a leader

2. Accountability

Passing the buck on to others in situations challenged by failure is easy. But taking the
responsibility of it and being accountable is what separates an employee from a leader.
Accountability and Transparency go hand-in-hand.

3. Empathy

Committing mistakes is part of parcel of our life. Leaders – who understand that they are leading
a team encompassing humans, and not robots – will eventually be a beneficiary of robust
engagement, high productivity, and ever-lasting loyalty

4. Responsibility

A good leader is never afraid to take responsibility. Inculcating this value will not only show that
you are accountable and transparent but also will inspire others to take responsibility for their
share of actions
5. Communication

Communication, as the definition goes, is the process of disseminating information from one
party to another. A leader must have the ability to communicate the vision in mind to his/her
team members in a more definite and precise manner.

6. Ability to challenge failure

Disappointment will happen in any workplace; however, the way the frustration is taken care of
will decide how high the authority is inside the organization. Ability to manage failure is first and
foremost skill to succeed in life or the company.

7. Focus

The more a leader is focused, the better the outcome of his/her engagement with the team. The
subordinates will typically follow the point of discussion set forth by the leader. ‘Focus is a trait
that defines the pace of productivity and commitment to the team towards work.

8. Innovative

Innovation is the ‘life and blood’ of any industry. In fact, the only aspect that can decide the fate
whether a company will survive or die is its ability to innovate great products.

9. Delegation

Delegation refers to the breaking-up of a job into multiple tasks and assigning each work to a
team member. A leader must be able to attach responsibility to each of them. He or she should
not take up all the burden alone.