Ask a random person walking down the street what quality must a leader possess to be successful and you’ll probably get a different answer from each person. Everyone views leadership in a different light.
And how someone views leadership will mold the way they see the answer to the question.
However, there are qualities every leader must most. Especially if they want to be successful.
So, what traits do those leading organizations need? Let’s look at the following 4 qualities.
4 Qualities Every Leader Must Possess
1. Integrity:
You’ve heard of Enron. They were a company that looked great on paper. Enron was viewed as a success by various business journals and peers.
However, Enron’s success came crashing down once the world learned there was a lack of integrity within the organization.
Integrity should be the baseline for every leader. When a leader holds true to the principle of honesty and has sound morals, they’re off to a great start.
2. Able to listen:
Leadership has often been practiced in a vacuum. The CEO sits in an office away from those doing the day-to-day work.
Then one day he discovers things are a mess.
Why? Because he wasn’t listening to anyone else. He’d secluded himself in the office and toiled away.
Great leaders know they must be willing to listen. Listen to those within the organization, to those outside of the organization, and to those who have experienced similar business situations.
Without having an ear to the ground, leaders become disconnected and forget what it’s like to do the daily grind. They also miss hearing about advancements that could improve their organizations.
Keep your ears open and listen.
3. Empathy:
Great leaders also know that they can’t lead others if they don’t understand how others feel. That’s where the quality of empathy comes into play.
When a leader is empathetic, he’s able to feel, and understand, what others are going through.
A leader needs to be able to GET their employees. Be a leader who leads with empathy.
4. Servant:
In my mind, the greatest example of leadership was Jesus Christ. He came down from a high position to one of lowly stature.
From there, he spent his life serving others as he brought them into the church.
He washed feet. He healed people. And He offered Himself up as a sacrifice for you and I.
That’s a true servant. A servant doesn’t look to see what benefits himself. Instead, he looks for ways to make the lives of others better.
Do you know what you can do to improve the lives of those around you? Seek out those things and begin doing them.
Become a servant.
These 4 qualities of a great leader are just the beginning. They’re the foundation.
From there, you have to build upon other qualities that produce leaders people want to follow.
