Many studies have been performed to find the Personality Traits of a Good Leader or the characteristics that make leaders different from other people, but the researchers have found: that it is hard to pinpoint one set of distinct qualities that all leaders have, but there are common characteristics that most leaders have.
The following traits are popular with most leaders:
1- The first trait of a good leader is: listening
True leaders listen well to everyone; they listen to the employees, competitors, and customers and they’re able to sort the good information from the bad information.
Good leaders are good listeners, they listen well because:
- Listening well to the people makes good relationships with them and helps for connecting by them so they listen well to the people; know their problems and their challenges in detail.
- Good listening is the beginning of great ideas which may lead any organization to the top so they listen well to everyone at every level of their organization.
- True leaders know that they still have much to learn and by listening they will learn more and improve their experience.
- They know that by listening well they will be able to avoid any potential failure of the organization.
2- Encouraging Teamwork trait
(9 Traits of a Good Leader) Encouraging teamwork is an important Personality Trait of a good Leader because the team’s efforts often produce outcomes better than those outcomes produced by the individuals’ efforts.
Encouraging teamwork by:
- Rewarding the productive groups and Encouraging Teamwork by appreciation and giving praise.
- Improvement of the relationships between the employees by encouraging social activities
3- Providing personal support:
providing personal support (Traits of a Good Leader): Good leaders always help people and provide personal support at any time by sharing their knowledge and by teaching people how to solve problems and how to achieve their goals and the organization’s goals.
They help people by:
- Providing their people with the needed resources and knowledge to be able to achieve their goals.
- Because they love to serve the people, they don’t wait to ask to help but they help directly without any asking.
- Good leaders share their experiences with the people; because by sharing experiences, you will save time and effort because they know what should be done to succeed and know what should be avoided to avoid failure.
4- Focusing on Goals
(9 Traits of a Good Leader) : The great leaders not only know the simple, basic task, but they also have a deep understanding of the business, they have good visions so they can set good plans to achieve their goals.
Good leaders focus on goals by:
- Setting up a clear plan and time schedule for goals.
- Focusing on executing the plan accurately and on time.
- Checking the running tasks to be executed according to the plan
- Modifying the plan if it is needed.
5- Helping People Work Effectively
A leader helps the people to work effectively (do things better) by putting clear plans, identifying priorities, and explaining to the employees why they do tasks.
In most organizations, all people know what they do and how they do it…. but a few of them know why they do it……
So the leaders help people to work effectively by:
- Sharing the vision of the organization with all employees.
- Sharing with them all plans for achieving the organization’s goals.
- Identifying the priorities of tasks to achieve the goals
- Supervising and controlling the running tasks.
6- having integrity and ethics
True leaders have good molars; they don’t lie, don’t deceive, don’t hurt anyone, and insist that everyone be treated fairly.
Integrity requires you to make the right choice, not only when you may not receive any personal profit but also when the right choice is against your own desire.
Integrity and ethics importance:
- Integrity and ethics refer to the credibility of the leader.
- If you have integrity and ethics the people will follow you because they like you and believe in you, and if you lack to integrity and ethics your followers will leave you because they don’t feel safe with you.
- If you have integrity and ethics many people will help you when you face any problem.
- Integrity and ethics help to reassure investors and other stakeholders.
- A lot of customers leave any organization’s products if it lacks integrity and ethics and that leads to the failure of the organization.
7- Inspiring people
Many leaders are good to seize opportunities, they can find the bright side of any issue, and they are able to convert any threat to profit.
The greatest leaders can visualize clearly their organization’s future; their experiences and knowledge help them to know what will happen so they know the suitable actions to do; by other words, they have a clear vision for the future and their decisions are built upon their vision.
They inspire people through words, actions, and beliefs, know what their preferred future looks like, and can show others exactly how to achieve their goals.
8- Motivating the employees
The leader usually motivates the team. They’re more than a way to motivate the team; maybe by:
- Writing to them: you can send them a handwriting letter because the employees love to be appreciated.
- Take a genuine interest in their future career path: it does wonder for employees’ attitudes when a manager really cares.
- Take a genuine interest in their work-life balance: be understanding about family, commitments, doctors, appointments and so on, small gestures often make big differences.
9- Leading from the front
(9 Traits of a Good Leader) A leader has a good relationship with people so he doesn’t lead from his position but he goes down and leads with the people; he faces problems and threats with them.
The leader doesn’t tell people what they should do but he shows them what they should do.
Leading from the front is important:
- When the leader leads from the front, the team will work very hard and give the leader much effort, mind, and time to achieve the organization’s goals.
- Leading from the front encourages all people to follow you and face any problem with you.
- By leading from the front the bad employees will be embarrassed and will work hard.