Qualities to be an effective leader
What does it mean to be a good leader? What are the vital characteristics required? It can be very beneficial if you have leadership qualities. Regardless what your job is, or whether you are in any position of leadership, developing leadership qualities can help you get through various challenging situations in life.
What separates a good leader and a poor one is having the right characteristic of leadership and using effective leadership styles. There are plenty of attributes required to be a good leader. For this article, lets focus on the most vital ones.
I. Communication. Leaders spend most of their time communicating. So its no surprise that being a great communicator is an important leadership quality. Not only is effective communication with the team vital, effective communication with external parties is just as important.
Being a good communicator means knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. When communicating, good leaders don’t try to be too nice, nor do they deliberately display their power and authority. Rather, they say what is required to get the job done.
When support is needed, give encouragement. Where credit is due, give credit. Criticize only where it is necessary and make sure that there is always a two way communication between the leader and follower. To be a good communicator means also to be a good listener.
II. Decision Making. Part of a leaders role is to make decisions and provide direction to those under him. Being a good decision maker means ;
1. BE DETERMINED – Often times decisions made takes time before the result of it can be seen. A good decision maker must be determined to stick with a decision long enough and not change route or give up halfway through. 2. HAVE FLEXIBILITY – A good decision maker is also flexible in changing decision or directions when it is known that the original decision was not the right one. 3. TIMELY – The good decision maker does not spend too much time on analysis and consideration. No matter how tough, they are able to make the decision within the required time.
There are times when there is insufficient information to make a good informed decision. During times like this, a good leader trusts his judgment and instincts when making the decision. The effective leader has courage and is never afraid of making decisions.
Great communication and decision making will bring you a long way towards becoming an effective leader. Develop these 2 attributes to become a better leader.
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