Leadership – What is it and what traits make a good leader?

This week I read 2 articles on leadership that are important to discuss.  The first article is by Adam Enfroy and the 2^nd article is an article on the Center for Creative Leadership website.   👍

Both articles provide a list of the best leaders’ leadership traits.  While there are many similarities there are surprisingly some differences in the lists. 

Leadership is very important as it impacts every level of an organization.  So, topics and articles about leadership are important to read and learn from.  Check out the related post "Journaling - An important tool for  Leaders" as it emphasizes the importance of journaling as a leader.

Great leaders are extremely important in an organization and we explore leadership and the traits needed for great leaders in this post.

So, why is leadership an important skill? 

Adam Enfroy asserts in his article, “Leaders inspire others to follow a certain path in life.  . . . . Without leaders, it is very difficult to manage large groups of people, set unified goals, and make progress.” 

What is leadership?

Steve Jobs is credited with saying, “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”

My personal and professional experiences confirm this statement.  True leaders inspire their folks and support their team to accomplish things that are seemingly impossible.

I feel true leaders are servants who are willing to do the right thing, hold themselves, and others accountable, take charge, and help others.

List of Leadership Skills

The first article by Adam Enfroy states, “There are certain leadership characteristics, traits, and skills that ultimately build the most effective leaders.” 

My experience confirms Adam Enfroy’s article, “11+ Leadership Qualities:  A List of Skills to Make a Good Leader” in that it accurately identifies necessary qualities for exceptional leadership.

In the beginning of the article Adam states, “The most important qualities of a good leader include integrity, accountability, empathy, humility, resilience, vision, influence, and positivity.” 

Great leaders also make it safe for people to speak up and communicate problems and issues within the organization without retaliation and work to fix them.  Truly great leaders look to serve and assist their folks to solve team and organizational issues.

The article includes the following list of qualities and skills most important to look for in a great leader.

1.   Effective Communication
2.   Integrity
3.   Accountability
4.   Empathy
5.   Humility
6.   Resilience
7.   Vision
8.   Influence
9.   Positivity
10.  Delegation
11.  Confidence
12.  Open-Minded

I would add these:  1) Great listener, 2) Expectation setter, 3) Has lots of energy 4) Works to anticipate the needs of the team, 5) Servant leader, 6) Emotionally Intelligent, 7) Good Storyteller

Excellent leaders excel in Active Listening – which is listening and paying attention to every single individual person they are leading and other folks they deal with or work with.

I agree with Adam that, “without integrity, no real success is possible.” 

Great leaders look to do the next right thing even when no one is watching. 

Adam’s article says, “Good leaders, and even great leaders, are not born; they are made.”    So, if you are looking to get into leadership my advice is that is is very important to study what makes a great leader.

Adam believes, “people can obtain good leadership qualities through teaching and learning these skills over time.”

Read the entire article at:  https://www.adamenfroy.com/leadership-qualities#:~:text=The%20most%20important%20qualities%20of,they%20never%20thought%20they%20could.%E2%80%9D

Center of Creative Leadership

The second article is on the Center for Creative Leadership’s website titled, “What Are the Characteristics of a Good Leader?”

Based on research from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), it was found the best leaders consistently possess these 10 essential leadership qualities.  Several align with the list in Adam’s article but some are different.

1.    Integrity
2.    Ability to delegate
3.    Communication
4.    Self-Awareness
5.    Gratitude
6.    Learning agility
7.    Influence
8.    Empathy
9.    Courage
10.    Respect

CCL, says, “leadership is a journey — different teams, projects, situations, and organizations will require you to apply these leadership characteristics in different ways throughout your career.”

I believe the Center for Creative Leadership article states a very important truth when it says, “It’s also essential to realize that leadership is a social process. It’s less about a strong or charismatic individual, and more about a group of people working collectively to achieve results together. If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader but fail to grasp this, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well-liked and respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals.” 

Read the article from the Center for Creative Leadership at:  https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/characteristics-good-leader/

Please share your thoughts and experiences about leadership in the comments below

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