23 Traits Of Good Leadership

 

Recently, Rachel Farrell of www.CareerBuilder.com asked five business leaders what were the qualities that made up a good leader.  Here are the answers.  I’m interested in your thoughts and what you would add to this list.

Rachael Fisher-Layne, VP of Media Relations for JCPR

• Honesty – This allows employees to always know where they stand.
• Focus – Know where you are going and stay the course.
• Passion – “Live, breath, eat, and sleep your mission.”
• Respect – Treat everyone the same.  I disagree with Rachael on this one as you never treat top performers like you do average personnel.
• Persuasiveness – People need to believe in you and the image you project.

Darcy Elkenberg – leadership coach for Red Cape Revolution

• Confidence – You must believe in yourself or no on else will.
• Clarity – This allows you to say “Yes” and “No” to things.
• Care – You must care not only about your business but also about your people.

Tom Armour, co-founder of High Return Selection

• Integrity – You must meet your commitments and be worth listening to.
• Compassion – Do not lead with just a balance sheet.
• Shared Vision And Actions – This allows team members to be part of solutions.
• Engagement – This is done best by recognizing contributions.
• Celebration – With long hours and increased stress, a lack of celebration leads to burn out.

Mike Sprouse, CMO of Epic Group and author of “The Greatness Gap”

• Humility – Have just enough that it doesn’t result in hubris.
• Empowerment – Make your team feel powerful.
• Collaboration – Make everyone feel a part of the process by soliciting feedback.
• Communication – Cast vision often.
• Fearlessness – Take risks.  And it’s acceptable to fail when it results from taking risks.

Nancy Clark, author of “18 Holes for Leadership”

• Genuineness – Never lose sight of your values and stick to them.
• Self-awareness – Work from your strengths and staff to your weaknesses.
• Effective Use Of Team Strengths – Don’t expect people to change but rather leverage them so they will thrive.
• Leadership Transitions – Build competencies that equip you to perform at higher levels.
• Supportiveness – This is best done through rewards and recognition.

Leaders, after reading their thoughts what would you add to the list?

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