What makes up a good leader? How about a great leader? How do you know the difference? Good leadership is crucial to any endeavor and its presence often spells the difference between failure and success. It is important to know that leadership resides in one person. A committee cannot exercise leadership any more than a committee can command loyalty. Even when a group rules by consensus there is one person who leads the group. This is the leader.
Which started me thinking, what are the traits of a good leader? Do the traits of leadership change under the circumstances or are they constants? Here are my suggestions:
1) A leader must be competent. This is trait number one because an incompetent leader is not a leader at all. Rank, position and title do not a leader make, as we can see from the failure of our so-called leaders in government, business and other institutions. When the leader is incompetent little gets done because there are numerous underlings vying to fill the leadership vacuum in the organization. This is detrimental to getting anything done.
2) A leader must be a Role Model, and this role model must be consistent with the task at hand. A General must be an exemplary soldier while a religious leader must be an example of their faith. Leaders can still be human and display the doubts and fear that naturally arise, but at the same time his character must be consistent with the goals of the organization.
a. The leader must set an example.
b. He/she should be cool and self-confident and be able to “keep his/her head when all others about are losing theirs.”
c. Selfless. He should be able to recognize the talent in others and support and encourage them.
3) Politically savvy. They need to maneuver around and gain consensus from a variety of competing interests. The official chain of command is not always the actual chain of command. To lead the leader needs to identify and connect with the real influencers.
4) A leader must be a good listener. They must also be observant. Both these skills are essential to “Management by Walking Around”
5) Easily reachable. People must have access to the leader and feel free to communicate with him. He should foster communication rather than stifle it.
6) A leader needs to be a fast learner. In today’s rapidly changing and evolving world this skill is critical.
7) A skilled manager – Management is a skill separate from leadership. I would argue that leadership is the more difficult of the two as leadership tends to be more subjective and ethereal whereas management is a more objective science. Recognize and reward talent. Identity and correct lack of talent and skills.
8) Risk taker. “He who does not risk cannot gain.” – ADM John Paul Jones
9) Honesty and integrity – Have there been highly effective and popular leaders who are dishonest and who lie, cheat and steal? Absolutely, but my intent here is to focus on the ideal here. The ideal leader would be honest with himself and with those they lead.
10) Pragmatic and adaptable – Leaders operate in the real world as opposed to the rational and crystal clear world of academic theory. Because of this a leader must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and chose practical solutions and actions.
11) They must have a good sense of situational awareness – I call this taking the pulse of the situation. A leader cannot isolate himself from the goings on around him, nor can he afford to be clueless about relationships and interoffice squabbles. He must also possess the skills to know the weaknesses of his organization and be able to correct them.
12) Team builder – The leader must be able to build up an effective team by recognizing talent and matching the specific talents of his team member’s in the most optimum manner. He must choose team members who complement each other well. He must look to the goals of each individual as well as the organization.
13) A leader needs to lead. This means he can (and should) take input from the various team members but realize that in the end it is he, the leader, who must make the final decision and stick by the results of that decision.
It is difficult to find all these traits in a single individual. In fact, I doubt if any one leader possesses them all. It is essential however, to set a lofty ideal for leadership. Leadership should not be easy, because it is to leaders that we trust our jobs, hopes and even our very lives.
