What Makes an Excellent Leader?
Leadership is a difficult skill to master, and not just because it’s an art of compromise. There are so many aspects that need to be considered when becoming a great leader: logical decision-making, empathy, compassion, authenticity, and more. According to Helen Schifter the best leaders are those who recognize their strengths, weaknesses, and flaws and work hard at improving in all three categories.
What Makes an Excellent Leader
1. Honesty – The best way to lead is by example. If a leader is honest with her employees, then she can expect honesty in return. There are no secrets in the workplace. Honesty is crucial when carrying out tasks, making decisions, and meeting deadlines.
2. Trustworthiness – The best leaders are trustworthy because they have a reputation of honesty and ability to follow through with what they promise to their employees and clients. People do business with the people they know and trust, and if a leader is not trustworthy it may lead to failure of an entire organization.
3. Authenticity – Authenticity can be defined as being true to yourself. True leaders understand their own emotions and how these emotions can affect them when making important decisions. She must know her strengths and weaknesses as a leader, attributes that she should use to become more authentic with her employees and clients.
4. Self-reflection – The best leaders know themselves. They are diligent in their self-reflection and will not shy away from their mistakes. Leading by example, they don’t need to point fingers and blame others for their shortcomings.
This way, they can be more honest with their employees and clients because they know what needs to be improved within themselves.
5. Motivation – Motivation is crucial for the leader’s top teams to perform at a higher level. A leader must be able to create an environment that is conducive to the motivation of his employees.
6. The “big picture” – Managers and leaders need to see the big picture. They cannot get overwhelmed by minor details and lose sight of their ultimate goal. The best leaders are those who can find balance in the chaos of everyday life. They are able to dig into their organization’s strengths, weaknesses, and flaws and transform them into opportunities for growth.
7.Accountable – A great leader is capable of being accountable for his actions and for those he has hired. This will inspire his crew to be more accountable in their roles as well, creating a sense of unity within the team.
8. Teamwork – A leader is only as good as those who she surrounds herself with. When a leader allows her employees to make all the decisions, she loses power. In order for leaders to be great, they must surround themselves with people who are also capable of being leaders themselves.
9. Communication – Great leaders do not come from old-school ways of communicating through command and dominance. Helen Schifter states that great leaders know how to connect with their employees and clients. A great leader is open to feedback, encourages the opinions of others, and has the ability to take criticism in a productive way.