Leadership Traits

The following is an outline of traits that are characteristic of good leaders, divided into seven
categories: physical, emotional, social, intellectual/intelligence, communication, experience, and
trustworthy. A list of the sources used to compile these traits is also included.
Physical
 High energy level
 Physical stamina
 Tolerance for stress
 Not concerned about being overworked
 Vitality
Emotional
 Self-Confidence: may be more likely to attempt to influence, to attempt more challenging tasks
 Desire to improve, understand own strengths and weaknesses, self-objectivity
 Emotional intelligence: the extent to which a person is attuned to his or her own feelings and the feelings of
others
 Self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation
 Not dwell on mistakes, view as opportunities to learn and move on
 Ambitious
 Courage, not paralyzed by fear of failure
 Knows self: deep understanding of one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives
 Loves what he/she does; loves doing it
 Risk takers, confident to take risks, handle negative reactions to outcome
 Not intimidated by superiors
 Personal competence
 Believe they have control over own destinies
 Optimistic
 Accept responsibility
 Persistent: does not let potential objections or criticisms stop him or her; despite resistance or setbacks,
keeps going and stays the course.
 Exhibits concern for others, shows genuine interest, gives “personal touch”, gives others recognition for
success
 Encourages and engages opposing viewpoints and ideas, not threatened by them
 Perceived by others as constant and reliable: picks position or idea and sticks to it
 Self-disciplined in developing important skills
 Determination
 Good at managing one’s emotions
 Need to achieve
Social
 Well-adjusted
 Oriented toward improving self, not denying weaknesses
 Behavior is consistent with values espoused
 Detached: can treat followers in a fair, objective fashion
 Honest, ethical, trustworthy: promises kept, fulfills responsibility
 Able to convert purpose and vision to action, and produce results
 Behavioral flexibility: adjust behavior to fit the situation
 “Make people feel that they are at the very heart of things and that, when they are, they are making
contributions to the success of the organization.”1
 Understands others, knows how to influence them
 Empathy, social insight, charm, tact, diplomacy, persuasiveness
 Bases decisions on reality and needs of others, not self-interest
 Listens, empowers others, generates trust, negotiates collaboratively, resolves conflicts
 Strong motivator
 Superior listener
 Understands small group dynamics
 Emphasizes partnership
 Monitors and helps followers get work done well
 Persuades others to follow, not rely on authority to get things done.
 Cooperates and collaborates with others
 Ability to influence others
 Finds common ground with all types of people and builds rapport with them
 Takes initiative in social situations
 Appraises readiness/resistance of followers to move in a particular direction, senses when there is dissent or
confusion
Intellectual/Intelligence
 Learns from experience and adapts to change
 Possess extensive knowledge used by subordinates to perform the work
 Develops inspirational image of new product or service
 Good judgment, foresight, intuition, creativity
 Ability to find meaning and order in ambiguous, uncertain events
 Self-knowledge
 Effectively plans, organizes and solves problems
 Coordinates separate specialized parts of organization
 Understands how external events will affect organization
 Honest attitude towards facts, objective truth
 Decisive: get the facts, assess information, and act, even if all information is not available, or others are not
happy with decision
 Asks for more responsibility
 Knows how to delegate
 “Willingness to ask questions and to search openly and without bias for practical answers to the most vexing
problems.”2
 “Learned to experiment and withhold judgment until they have objectively assessed a situation and identified
a well-reasoned course of action.”3
 Plans how to deal with criticism by listing benefits of project in advance and prepares to articulate them to
others
 Willing to ignore conventional wisdom in terms of looking at a problem and trying to strike out in a different
direction.
 Knowledge of organization and how it operates
 Anticipates how others will react to situations and prepares to minimize the impact
 Doesn’t react right away, stands back and considers the situation, suspends judgment until facts are in
 Eager to explore new approaches to work
 Able to combine both hard and questionable data and intuitive guesses to arrive at a conclusion
 Bases decisions and strategies on sound intuitive and rational judgments and accurate appraisal of the
potentialities of coworkers and opponents
Communication
 Ability to communicate
 Ability to articulate a vision and persuade others
 Have and communicate purpose, direction, and meaning
 Have clear goals and are determined to achieve them
 Communicates passion to others
 Good communication skills are essential for a leader to get followers aligned behind the overarching goals of
the organization.
 Use metaphors that others can relate to in order to symbolize their vision and inspire others
 Experts at one-to-one communication
 Superior speakers – major advantage, not true of all leaders
 Excellent writing skills
 Creates and maintains a communications network
 Has people keep them informed on problem situations
 Networks with people inside the organization (including those at the bottom of the hierarchy)
 Maintains contacts outside the organization and profession that may have certain knowledge and different
viewpoints from those within
 Doesn’t depend on only one source for information
 Able to communicate with key individuals in “areas of specialization that may each have a different dialect”4
 Eager to explore new approaches to their work
 Are not fuzzy about results, interested in ways to track their progress
 Communicates persuasively
 “All leaders take advantage of opportunities to speak to large groups.”5
Experience
 Successful managers “usually had experience in a variety of different types of situations where they
acquired broader perspective and expertise in dealing with different types of problems.”6
 May give followers freedom to take responsibility for own ideas, decisions and actions
 Committed to collaboration and require everyone to participate in leadership
 Has competency – is skilled in performing required tasks and has ability to mentor those 

10 Essential Business Leadership Skills

But more people are leaders than they realize. Leadership takes on many different faces; it’s just a
question of understanding how you lead and why.

Here are 10 key business leadership skills you’ll need to succeed as a leader:

1. Lead By Example. You can’t be an aloof leader, someone that’s never around and
incapable of getting your hands dirty. One of the best ways to lead is by example – pitching in
where needed, lending a helping hand, and making sure that the work you do is clearly
understood by your team.
2. Passion. A leader without passion isn’t a leader. He’s a paper pusher. Or a taskmaster. Or a
government employee… Passion drives a lot, and you can inspire so much in others through
your own passion and enthusiasm. That doesn’t mean you have to be constantly cheery, it
means you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing and what your company is doing.
3. Be Organized. A disorganized leader isn’t leading, he’s chasing his own tail. Disorganization
breeds nothing but more disorganization. If you’re frazzled and messy, your team will be too.
When you’re organized you’ll be much more productive and so will everyone else.
4. Delegate. You can’t do everything. A great leader needs to be able to delegate effectively.
The key to delegating successfully is giving employees ownership of the work you assign them.
They can’t just feel like they own the work, they really have to.
5. Take Ownership and Responsibility. Although you’ve just delegated work and truly given
your team ownership, you also have to take ownership and responsibility at all times. Your team
has to know you’ll be there for them through the good and the bad times. That doesn’t mean you
absolve people from making mistakes or ignore crappy work/effort, but it does mean you take
responsibility for the big picture.
6. Communicate Effectively. Duh. Everyone knows great leaders have to be great
communicators. But there are certain points of communication that many people forget. For
example, it’s critical that you communicate to employees how their work matters in the bigger
picture. Are they a cog, or does their work truly make a difference?
Communicating success is also something leaders forget to do. People need affirmation. They
want to know they did a good job. You just have to tell them.

And be precise. Insecure leaders will often ramble; uninterested leaders cut things off to quickly.
Whether you’re giving praise, providing constructive criticism, or defining goals and to-dos, you
have to figure out how much to say and in what order. Be precise, specific and concise. Get to
the point.
7. Be Brave and Honest. Cowardly leaders will shy away from any number of situations that
crop up regularly when running a team. The project your team has worked on for 6 months just
got shelved. Now what? Or you have to talk to someone about their lack of effort recently. Do
you ignore the problem? Or maybe it’s time to take your product into a new market. Do you
hobble forward, scared and nervous, or do you grab the market by the throat?
Leaders are brave.

And honest. Tell it like it is. Don’t sugarcoat, don’t obfuscate. Don’t be a jerk either. You have to
learn how to present things to your team in an honest but balanced manner.

8. Great Listener. A huge part of being a great communicator is being a great listener. If all
you want to do is talk, you’re not a leader. Keeping people motivated means listening to them,
asking them questions, understanding their issues. When you listen more, you can respond
more effectively and get to the heart of things much faster.
9. Know Your People. You have to know your people. You don’t have to be best friends or
even socialize outside work, but you do have to know what makes them tick. You need to know
something about their personal lives because their lives outside work matter. Their lives outside
work drive a great deal of their success (or lack of) at work. Keep track of simple things:
birthdays, marriages, children, etc. The more you know your people the more common ground
you’re likely to find, the more you’ll be able to connect.
10. Be a Follower. Benjamin Disraeli said, “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” That
sums up many of the other points so beautifully. Great leaders are followers too. If you’re a
leader without following, you’re a dictator. And as fun as that sounds… Being a leader-follower
means finding value in your team, getting inspired by your team, encouraging your team to
communicate, brainstorm and be open.
Very few people are great leaders overnight. It takes time and practice. As long as you’re open
about learning along the way and working with your team on leadership versus dictating to them,
most people will be happy to go on the journey with you.

And without getting too mushy, here are some great quotes on leadership:
“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
– George S. Patton
“Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.” – Robert Half
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain
trumpet.” – Theodore M. Hesburgh