Innovative HR Solutions, LLC

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

What Are the Top Five Qualities That Make a Great Leader?



Comment Now Follow Comments Following Comments Unfollow Comments http://i.forbesimg.com/assets/img/loading_spinners/16px_on_transparent.gifHonesty

A successful leader needs to be honest with their team.  Ethics and the ability to be guided by a strong ethical compass that guides the decision making process is one of the key drivers to success.  A business is a reflection of the leader of the organization, and if the leaders make honesty and ethics a core value, the team will mirror that value.


Ability to Delegate

Trusting the team and learning to delegate to subordinates are an important sign of strength, not weakness. Delegating tasks to department managers is one of the most important skills a leader needs to have.  The key to delegation is identifying the strengths of the team, and capitalizing on those strengths. Hold each team member accountable for their decisions.  This will prove to your team that as a leader you trust and believe in them and are fair.

Being a Good Communicator

Being a good communicator is critical to all leaders in a growing organization.  Knowing what you want accomplished and explaining that to the team is extremely important. Leaders need to be able to communicate the vision and strategy for the long term.  Healthy lines of communication include, all-hands meeting, newsletters, webinars and state of the company presentations.  Communication is also managing by walking around and creating an open door policy.  Making it a point to talk to your staff on a daily basis will build trust and keep the leaders in the loop.  A leader makes themselves available to discuss strategic as well as tactical issues.

Having a Sense of Humor

Challenges happen all the time in business.  A client may go elsewhere, the company website goes down, the telephone lines to customer service are interrupted or your line of credit is not extended.  Guiding the team through these or any challenges without panicking and with a sense of purpose and humor is as important at tackling the underlining reasons why a particular event occurred. Having a sense of humor will pay off as it will allow the team to laugh at the mistakes and learn from them. Good leaders are successful in building a team, encouraging healthy discussions and learning from the daily business challenges.

Being Decisive

Good leaders are creative, innovative and flexible and decisive.  They allow their team to make decisions based upon the ever-changing market conditions.  These levels of authority are typically reasonable and within an acceptable framework.  Leaders; however, may be forced at times to deviate from the set course and make a decision without all of the information. It is during these critical situations that the leader’s team will look for guidance, evaluate the data and reach a decision that is the best given the available information.  Leaders are not afraid of making calculated decisions that allow for some risk.

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