The 7 Qualities That Set Strong Leaders Apart

Leadership may be defined differently by different people. However, despite what being a good leader might mean to you, leadership qualities can often be the main difference between success and failure when it comes to running or managing a business or team of professionals. A good leader is often somebody who has a strong future vision and knows how to turn these ideas into success stories in real life. No matter what industry you want to become a leader in, it helps to have a certain skill-set and range of qualities that you can use to inspire others and facilitate success. Here are some of the main leadership qualities that often set the best leaders apart from the rest. 

Ability to Inspire Others

While the ability to inspire others is often something that comes naturally to a good leader, there’s nothing to stop you from developing the skills that you need to do this when you take an online leadership master’s degree from St. Bonaventure University. Persuading others to follow them is often one of the most difficult tasks for a leader, and being able to do this successfully and with confidence is often one of the first things that you will notice about somebody who has excellent leadership skills. A good leader knows that the best way to inspire others is to do so by action, passion and setting the example that they want others to follow. 

Integrity and Honesty

According to the 24th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, integrity is the supreme quality to be found in a good leader. Without integrity, it’s hard to achieve success as a leader no matter what industry or business you are working in. Honesty and integrity are two of the most important qualities to be found in a good leader. Successful leaders tend to be people who always do the right thing and hold fast to their core values and beliefs. 

Commitment and Passion

As a leader, manager or business owner, you will want your teams to be passionate about and committed to the work that they are hired to do. However, teams who work under somebody who does not demonstrate this type of passion and commitment themselves are unlikely to feel very much dedication and passion about their workplace or the work that they do on a daily basis. Passion is infectious, and a good leader knows that demonstrating how they feel is just one of the main ways to lead by example. A good leader is not afraid to go for it and is passionate enough to get involved as much as is needed to make sure that things work out. As a result, they often give off an infectious energy that teams will pick up on. 

Confidence

An effective leader is confident in both themselves and the business. They do not feel insecure about what they do and as a result do not feel the need to mistrust or micromanage the people that they have hired to do the job. They are confident enough to know that they have hired the right people for the work and that they are clear enough with their instructions. Somebody who doesn’t demonstrate this confidence in a leadership position often ends up with team members who aren’t sure about ideas and instructions either. Leaders who demonstrate confidence on a regular basis will often earn the most respect from their teams and find it easier to motivate teams to try out new ideas or follow instructions with confidence regarding the outcome. 

Strong Decision Making

An indecisive leader is going to lose a lot of respect from their team very quickly. The best leaders understand the weight of the decisions that they make and just how important strong decision-making skills are in this role. With their clear vision of what they want themselves, their team and their business to be able to achieve in the future, a good leader knows how to make the right call at the right time and isn’t afraid to use data to back up their decisions or seek the advice of others to ensure that they are going in the right direction. Along with a strong ability to make the best decisions when they are needed, a good leader also knows the difference between a situation where they should stand by the decision that they have made, and when the best option might be to change their mind and stand down. 

Communication Skills

The best leaders make an effort to communicate with their teams on a constant basis. They know that communication is a two-way street and it is not all about giving instructions and orders, although good communication skills come in handy here for getting the message across clearly and ensuring teams don’t have any confusion when it comes to knowing what is required of them. A good leader knows just how important it is for them to also listen to their teams and allow team members the chance to communicate ideas, concerns and suggestions to them. They know that they will not always have the answers and that their team can be a very valuable source of information and ideas, so are always willing to talk and listen. 

Accountability

Finally, making mistakes is something that we all do – even those in leadership positions. However, the difference between a good and a bad leader is that they hold themselves accountable for their mistakes, own up to them and use them as learning curves. The best leaders will earn a lot of respect from their teams since they do not pretend that they have all the answers or always get it right. However, instead of letting their mistakes get them down or impact their confidence, they will see failure and mistakes as a chance to learn more about what went wrong and figure out how to improve outcomes in the future, and inspire others to do the same. 

Good leadership skills can help you gain success in almost every aspect of life. Which of these qualities will you work on improving first?