The secret to great leadership is about having the leadership skills to be able to deal with people in a delicate yet powerful manner. In fact leadership skills are much more than speaking confidently and carrying a serious demeanor. To be an effective leader, one must possess an exclusive set of human relations and interpersonal skills. The right leadership style is required in every walk of professional life, whether you own a business, manage it or are an employee looking to make your way up to the corporate ladder. Effective leadership skills cannot just be stumbled upon, they require investment of time and energy to perfect and craft your skills. Hence, it is rightly said, well-honed leadership skill is the most important component for being successful in the business world. Read to know the different traits of an effective leader.
Traits Of An Effective Leader
Emotional Stability
A good leader should be capable of tolerating frustration and stress. The person must be able to adjust well and have the psychological maturity to deal with anything that he/she is likely to face, while being a leader.
Dominance
An effective leader must be assertive in his thinking style and have a confident attitude, while dealing with other people. He should be competitive and capable of taking decisions on behalf of his entire team.
Enthusiasm
Leaders are assumed to be active and expressive. An effective leader must be optimistic and open to changes coming across him. However, he should also be quick and alert while doing so. He/she should have an undying spirit and enduring enthusiasm about the work and should be capable of inducing the same attitude into his team.
Conscientiousness
Since leaders are dominated by a sense of duty, they tend to be demanding in character. Hence, a successful leader should be very self-disciplined and have a need for order and a high standard of excellence.
Tough-mindedness
A good leader should be practical, logical and to-the-point. Since he/she has to face lots of risks and criticism, a leader must be low in sentimental attachments and insensitive to hardship.
Self-assurance
Other common characteristics of an effective leader are self-confidence and resiliency. A leader should be secure, free of guilt and unaffected by prior mistakes or failures.
High Energy
A leader should be highly energetic since he would have to invest in long hours of work to raise the company. A leader should possess a never-say-die-spirit and should always to ready for challenges.
Maturity
Personal power and recognition should be put aside to focus on the development of the employees in order to be a good leader. One must be mature enough to recognize that more can be accomplished by empowering others, rather than ruling them.
Team Orientation
These days, more emphasis is laid upon team work by business leaders. A good leader establishes an adult-adult relationship with his employees to encourage and motivate them, rather than an adult-child relationship, wherein the former orders and the latter obeys.
Charisma
Since leaders are perceived larger than life by most people, charisma plays an integral role in gaining the trust of the employees. Charismatic leaders are better capable of arousing strong emotions among the employees by defining a vision, thereby unifying and captivating them. Through this vision, a leader better motivates employees to achieve their future goals, resulting in personal rewards and values.