5 Traits You Need to Become an Outstanding Leader
Leaders who don't have these five traits are unlikely to succeed
Bad leaders ruin teams and destroy lives, which is a tragedy because leadership behaviors and skills are simple to learn. But you need more than leadership skills to be a great leader. You need to want to be a leader.
If you don’t, you'll make yourself and your team unhappy. Who would you want as a manager? Someone who loves everything that leadership entails and is willing to learn, or someone who likes being a leader more than the tasks of leadership?
According to 69% of people, their managers had the greatest impact on their mental health, on par with the impact of their partner. And this was more than the impact of their doctor (51%) or therapist (41%). This is according to a new study by The Workforce Institute at UKG which included 3,400 people across 10 countries - Forbes.com
Managers affect their team’s lives, so it’s important that leaders want to embrace all aspects of leading a team.
My first leadership role was as a management trainee in a large retail store in the UK. The team hated me because I didn't know what I was doing. I'd had some leadership training, but it was the sort of training told me I was more important than the sales staff.
Management was addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Mr., and we had different uniforms depending on our status. In my attempts to please my boss, I alienated my team because I didn't know better. Fast-forward several decades, and now, when I lead a team, they usually tell me I'm the best manager they've ever had.
So, what was the issue when I started? Why was I such a bad leader? I simply didn't know what leadership looked like, how to behave, or what skills I needed.
Since those early days, I've created, sourced, managed and delivered leadership programs to hundreds of leaders as a Learning & Development specialist. I know what great leaders look like.
Here are indicators that you are cut out to be an outstanding leader, even if you are still at the beginning of your career:
1. You've got to have attitude!
Leaders naturally want to do well and take pride in their work. They care about their profession and work to hone their expertise. Great leaders take steps to be competent in everything they do, and if that means asking for help, they ask.
An outstanding leader is punctual and reliable. They enjoy their work and want to be present to do it. They talk positively about the organization and any projects they are involved in. Although they may sometimes disagree with company policies, an exceptional leader will take a balanced view rather than having histrionics or attempting to sabotage projects.
And if an excellent leader disagrees with a team member about the direction a project should take, they state their preference with grace while respecting their team member's opinion.
2. Grow that mindset
Any competent leader will have a proactive attitude to learning. They will have a growth mindset, which, according to Carol Dweck in her book Mindset, means believing that you can learn anything with practice.
The hallmark of successful people is that they are always stretching themselves to learn new things - Carol S. Dweck
Heaps of leadership courses are available, but these courses aren't always within the reach of a new leader. If you are proactive, you will find other ways to learn, such as this newsletter, books, YouTube, podcasts, and from peers or other managers.
Any leader can benefit from a development plan, whether for their current or future roles.
3. Values that resonate
It's possible to become a successful leader by focusing on KPIs and treating your team poorly, but that type of success is hard to maintain. Most toxic leaders I've encountered drove their team members to resign and then left to spend time with their families or went on gardening leave. And we all know what that means; yep, they got the old heave-ho.
If you genuinely want to be an exceptional leader, you must have exceptional values.
This means:
Treating your team respect
Being honest, even when you have to relay bad news
Doing what you say you'll do.
Empathizing with your team and trying to understand their point of view
Objectively rating each team member's performance objectively, based on facts
No one likes working for a manager with no integrity or moral boundaries. Managers who have favorites, and act like spoiled divas aren't going to do well, at least not in the long term.
4. Initiate your leadership capability now!
Leaders must be proactive, get their hands dirty, and get on with the job. Newly promoted leaders are often surprised at all the issues they have to deal with.
The list is endless. Problems such as a scarcity of lockers, stolen car parking spots, toilets not working, lost keys, missing swipe cards, and dysfunctional IT equipment rain down on a new manager like a plague of smelly frogs.
And that's just the housekeeping issues.
Missed project deadlines, mistakes, absences, and poor behavior pop up regularly, too. And gone are the days when you can palm all this off onto your manager.
If you want to be known as a leader with initiative, you need to be able to solve problems and make decisions.
Check in with your manager and ask what problems you can deal with alone and when they want you to consult them.
5. Desire to lead people
The last piece of the puzzle is your appetite for leading people. Some people prefer not to manage others and can still have a great career as a leader, but they lead a function rather than a team. These tend to be more specialized roles.
It's important to be honest about whether you are excited or repulsed by the idea of dealing with a team all day. If you try to do something you don't like, you'll be unhappy, reducing your chances of success.
Let's see if you're cut out to be a people leader.
Firstly, you need to be willing to be responsible for your team's work as well as your own. You'll have to ensure that your team is competent and will do their tasks to the required standard, budget, and timeframe. If they don't, you'll have to take responsibility for their shortcomings.
You also have to perform all the people-centric leadership tasks, such as holding one-to-one meetings, team meetings, strategy meetings, onboarding new team members, and a raft of training and development tasks.
You’ll have to tackle the unpleasant side of leadership too, such as giving constructive feedback and attending disciplinary meetings.
If you are willing to learn to do all this and believe you'll enjoy it, you are probably cut out to be a people leader.
Takeaways
Leaders are made, not born, and anyone can learn to be a leader if they want to and are willing to learn how. But they must want the entire leadership package, the work as well as the salary and the status.
Exceptional leaders have:
An outstanding work ethic
An appetite for learning and a growth mindset
Robust moral values
Initiative
A desire to engage with and lead a team.
If you have all this, and are willing to learn, you will likely be successful as a leader.
Here's a downloadable checklist:
If you’re an aspiring leader, you can see whether a leadership role is the right fit for you
If you are already a people leader, you can check for strengths and areas to improve
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