As a person moves up the corporate ladder, there may be a point when they are placed in a management role—and there are definitely clear differences between average managers and effective leaders. Honing in your leadership skills to keep a well-functioning team not only facilitates company loyalty but also helps retain your staff.
Here are some qualities of a leader that keep employees happy, healthy, and wanting to do a good job for you and your business:
1. Communication
No one likes to be left in the dark or confused about what their role is, in general or on a particular project. Fortunately, that can easily be avoided by keeping everyone in the loop. One of the key traits of a leader is consistent, effective communication with their team on ideas and decisions about the task at hand so that the company can continue to move forward in a positive, productive direction. Plus, if your staff gets the impression that you’re approachable and open-minded, they will be more willing to come to you with ideas or suggestions on how to make things even better.
2. Confidence
As a leader, you are making important decisions on a daily basis and subsequently take on the responsibility for the outcome of those decisions. Therefore, your team looks to you to take charge and give them firm answers, and then lead the charge on executing the plan. Even if you’ve made a bad decision, you’ll get respect from your team if you’re upfront and honest about your mistake.
3. Commitment
The best business leaders in any industry are engaged and involved in the tasks or projects at hand, guiding the team towards achieving its objectives successfully. If you expect a certain level of commitment from your team, then you need to lead by example by demonstrating the energy and work ethic yourself.
4. Creativity
Being able to try different approaches to solve a certain problem is one of the main leadership qualities of good business managers. Thinking outside of the box by coming up with new solutions based on your knowledge and experience is what separates a top leader from an average one.
5. Ability to Delegate
This is one of the hardest traits for a new manager to learn because many people feel a strong sense of accountability for the success of a project, and therefore may feel obligated to take on a lot themselves. However, fight the urge to take on too much by tapping into your team’s skills. They are hired to help you get the job done and can relieve a lot of stress and burden on your part if you show that you trust them. It’s good to pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of those on your team and utilize their expertise when you can.
It’s usually pretty easy to tell who the great leaders are by the way their team behaves and the attitude they have towards their jobs. Happy employees are those that feel like they have a purpose and the autonomy to do their job and will in turn listen to and follow the leader’s example. People like receiving recognition and credit for great work and top leaders know precisely how to bring out the best in their team.
If you can display these five traits of a leader in your everyday role, then this will help your organization be more efficient, productive, and profitable. Perhaps you’ll even have the opportunity to keep on moving up in the business.
