Leadership: How to define a great leader


Leadership (noun) lead-er-ship; The action of leading a group of people or an organization. "different styles of leadership".

How to define a great leader, what are some areas would they (Leadership) excel? Ultimately, a great leader creates a positive environment and nurtures its employees. A great leader has a clear vision, is courageous, has integrity, is honest, and shows humility and has a clear focus. He/she is a tactical planner and have faith in teamwork. Leaders do not exist to order employees around. A leader needs to trust your employees to perform their tasks professionally and independently. Spending time with each employee to get to know the individual and how they fit on your team will help build that trust.

Managers who show great leadership qualities can accomplish amazing things with their teams. Certain leadership qualities not only drive companies but also continuously inspire teams. While managers still have authority, the modern manager must understand that empowerment creates a culture of ownership, responsibility, and accountability. Managers must understand how to properly motivate their employees because managers in today's business world cannot do everything themselves. Understanding how to delegate effectively and how to communicate the organizational goals and objectives effectively will allow today's manager to be more successful.
Managers who show great leadership qualities can accomplish amazing things with their teams. Certain leadership qualities not only drive companies but also continuously inspire teams. While managers still have authority, the modern manager must understand that empowerment creates a culture of ownership, responsibility, and accountability. Managers must understand how to properly motivate their employees because managers in today's business world cannot do everything themselves. Understanding how to delegate effectively and how to communicate the organizational goals and objectives effectively will allow today's manager to be more successful. 


The terms manager and leader are often used interchangeably, but it is essential to understand the difference between the two. Management is about getting things done through others, while leadership is about influencing and inspiring people to work towards a common goal. This is important because managers are often called upon to be leaders within their organizations.

Good Leadership Qualities 

Accountability 

Being a good leader also means being accountable Leadership, not only for yourself but for your team as well. Take the good with the bad; we all have setbacks, use them as learning experiences to grow. Accountable leaders do not blame others when things go wrong and take responsibility and act to improve the situation. 

While holding themselves accountable is an important part of being a leader it is also equally important to hold others accountable when concerns or deficiencies are identified. By not holding members on your team accountable for issues it can have a negative impact on those that are doing their jobs properly. 

The structure of a believing relationship requires some serious energy, it's anything but a one-time occasion. While we live in a general public that is unforgiving of slip-ups, so as to manufacture trust inside an association, it is more critical to be real and human than it is to be great. At the point when a mix-up is made by a pioneer, it ought to be possessed and recognized. At times that affirmation should be made open; here and there it should be private.

Delegation and Empowerment 

It is essential to learn how to delegate. Not all tasks need to be handled by you; most new employees in a leadership role struggle with this. Learning to delegate is one of the hardest things to do, especially when you know you can do it effectively. 

It is also crucial to learn how to delegate because when you do, you empower the employee to make their own decisions to complete the task. Stand behind their choices and encourage them and coach when needed. Strengthening is the way toward empowering or approving a person to think, carry on, make a move, and control work and dynamic in self-sufficient ways. 

Honesty 

Influential leaders treat individuals the manner in which they need to be treated as they are incredibly moral and accept that genuineness, exertion, and unwavering quality structure the establishment of accomplishment. They encapsulate these qualities so plainly that no worker questions their respectability for a moment. They share information openly. 

It is essential to share information openly. However, some topics it is difficult to be transparent. If there is the elephant in the room that they would like to talk about, but can't, tell them you can't but will when the time is right. Honesty creates trust, and there are far few things more important than building trust between yourself and your team.

Empathetic 

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand one's perspective and feelings and experiences. You will not be able to build a team or nurture a new generation of leaders with it as you will not be able to inspire others or create loyalty. It is essential to listen and truly listen to your people. There are usually hidden emotions behind what the employee is saying. You must be present, put the phone down and give the employee your full attention. 

Don't interrupt the employee, and give them time to get their message out. Don't rush to give advice or change the subject. Take a personal interest in people, ask them about what is going on in their lives. Talk to them about their hobbies, families, etc.

Discipline / Self-control 

Maintaining self-control and emotional balance is a critical area that all needs must focus on as it maximizes performance, especially when dealing with adversity. As a leader, you are more likely to inspire your team instead of being abusive or having to micromanage them.

Integrity 

Research has also shown that people who are competent as leaders tend to have a moral compass and demonstrate honesty and integrity. Leaders whose honesty is questioned drop their dependability, and they harm their organization's business end to end.

Personality Traits 

While there are several different models to categorize the characteristics of a leader, the "Five" model is the most widely accepted. The traits are conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, and extraversion agreeableness. Some of these personality traits are related and linked to leadership development and effectiveness. There are many tests you can take online to see how you score in each of the categories. Keep in mind that personality tests can sometimes help you better understand yourself to better one's self. They cannot completely define who you are as a person or describe you fully even if they get some things right.

Openness 

Transparency might be a solid indicator of who will become and prevail as a Leadership. It implies you're unique, innovative, challenging, you have wide interests and you for the most part favor assortment over fixed schedules. Individuals high in receptiveness appear to flourish in circumstances that need adaptability and learning new things. People who have this characteristic are bound to be attracted to occupations with an astute part. 

Conscientiousness 

Good faith is that the best indicator of both individual and expert achievement. it is additionally the most grounded indicator of initiative in various settings, including business, government, and school. It implies your dedicated goal-oriented, fiery, and you wish arranging things. Uprightness, more so than the inverse Five-character attributes, is explained to pioneer development and adequacy. Honesty is that the one-character characteristic that consistently predicts how high a character's presentation will be over a scope of occupations and employments. the adaptability of these high in good faith to be solid and objective chiefs has points of interest on and off the obligation.

Extraversion 

Extroversion is another solid indicator of who will end up being a leader however therapists are progressively finding that self-observers can simply do yet in influential positions. It implies you're amiable, carefree, loving, cordial, loquacious, and you pull your vitality from social exercises. Out of all the character characteristics, extraversion has the most grounded relationship with both pioneer rise and pioneer viability. this is frequently to not say that everyone successful leaders are extraverts; however, you're bound to search out extraverts in authority positions. Cooperating with others and being social invigorates extraverts, while comparative degrees of incitement and connections is likewise seen as depleting to somebody who is a thoughtful person. one in all the built-up discoveries is that extraverts will in general be compelling in employments including deals. 

Agreeableness 

Pleasant individuals will in general be more joyful, conceivably on the grounds that they battle to maintain a strategic distance from negative encounters. On the contrary hand, unpalatable individuals is likewise bound to prevail at work since they're better at getting their thoughts heard. It implies you're open minded, touchy, trusting, kind, and warm. Individuals who are high in suitability are amiable individuals and get along with others. As anyone might expect, pleasing individuals help other people at work reliably; this helping conduct doesn't depend upon their positive state of mind. they're likewise more averse to fight back when individuals abuse them. Being pleasing may mirror their capacity to call attention to sympathy and to pass on individuals the upside of the uncertainty. Pleasant individuals is additionally a significant option to their groups and maybe compelling pioneers since they make a positive domain after they are in authority positions. they're viewed as exceptionally moral pioneers by their subordinates.

Neuroticism

Neuroticism is furthermore once in a while called Emotional Stability. This measurement identifies with one's passionate dependability and level of negative feelings. Masochist individuals will in general respond to apparent dangers and upsetting circumstances. It implies you are stressed bounty, and you're ill humored, touchy unpredictable and once in a while on edge. It is maybe the sole Big Five measurement were scoring high is unfortunate. people that score high in neuroticism experience a few issues at work, for the most part because of their challenges with taking care of pressure. Masochist individuals will in general experience outrage when stood up to with the everyday bothers of their work, including time pressure and bureaucratic technique, and that they answer to this day by day worry by drinking twilight.

Servant Leadership 

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists when his work is completed, his aim fulfilled, they'll say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu 

"Servant Leadership" was first discovered by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. Conventional leadership for the most part includes the activity of intensity by one at the "highest point of the pyramid." By checkup, the servant-leader offers to put power and the needs of others first and assists individuals with creating and proceed as profoundly as could reasonably be expected. The servant Leadership is worker first. It starts with the common inclination that one needs to serve, to serve first. At that point cognizant decision carries one to seek to control. That individual is pointedly unique in relation to one who is leader first, maybe on account of the need to alleviate a surprising force drive or to amass material belongings. The pioneer first and in this manner the hireling initially are two extraordinary sorts. Between them there are shadings and mixes that are a piece of the boundless type of trait. 

Servant leadership turns the power pyramid upside down, which puts the typically low-level employees at the top of the pyramid; instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to help the people.

This model can be a difficult transition for most managers who are used to putting their needs first and are usually driven by success. You must genuinely want to help your employees for this model to be successful. There is nothing more gratifying than to help develop your employees to achieve their goals. Regardless of the organization you work for this leadership style is useful, and you can make significant changes in the organization. 

Nine Qualities of a Servant Leader 

  1. Values Others Opinions  - A servant leader values everyone's opinions and their contributions. 
  2. Cultivates an Environment of Trust – A Servant leader does not promote gossiping and does not promote an environment that accepts that. 
  3. Develops Leaders – A servant leader understands the importance of developing others. It is a matter of leading by example and teaching others. Sometimes the leader must not always lead, but instead give up power to allow others to lead so others can learn. 
  4. Helps people with life issues – There is no question that focusing on business is a top priority when working with your employees. However, a servant leader will help their employees with some life issues, such as certain family situations, and seeking to help them with find education for debt concerns. 
  5. Encourages Employees - The corner stone of any servant leader is encouragement. A servant leader also understands to get involved with employees when working on issues. The servant leader will say "Let's go do it" instead of "you." 
  6. Sells instead of tells - A servant leader is the opposite of a dictator. It's a style all about persuading, not commanding. 
  7. It's not all about them - There's a selfless quality about a servant leader. Somebody who only thinks, "How do these benefit me?" is disqualified. 
  8. Thinks long-term - A servant leader is thinking about the next generation, the next leader, and the next opportunity. That means a tradeoff between what's essential today versus tomorrow, and making choices to benefit the future. 
  9. Acts with humility - The leader doesn't wear a title as a way to show who's in charge, doesn't think he is better than everyone else, and acts in a way to care for others. They may pick up the trash or clean up a table. Making an example by service, a servant leader recognizes that it isn't around the leader; however, about others.

Things to Avoid 

Multitasking 

People frequently boast on how decent they concerning multitasking. They think they are getting more done by juggling multiple tasks at once, but studies show that they aren't. When people multitask, their productivity decreases by as much as 40%. Focusing on numerous correspondence media at the indistinguishable time, such as messaging while at the same time being mindful to a partner, may best be portrayed on the grounds that the "dream of performing various tasks." Unlike being mindful to music and composing a report, which can be practiced at the same time, attempting to talk through different media channels normally doesn't prompt positive results. 

Procrastination 

Procrastination is that the propensity for postponing or pushing aside accomplishing something that should be done straight away. Everybody stalls here and there. Yet, when individuals stall, they run the risk of imperiling their activities and their notorieties. 

Micromanaging 

While micromanaging may be necessary for some employees don't let this be your overall management styles. Micromanaging an employee or a team will only slow you down. There are just so many hours in each workweek, and your time working each week will start to creep up. Most employees despise "the micromanager," and it can damage your relationship with the employee and can come across as if you do not trust them. 

Dismissing other's Ideas 

Dismissing other's ideas is generally a bad move, and you should never have your employees feel like you do not value their opinion.