By displaying strong leadership attributes, you can motivate your team to reach the highest levels of performance and development. Here are nine key characteristics that the best leaders should always display…people

  1. Empathy – This is key to the success of a team. All the best leaders will help employees through any challenges, praising performance publicly and dealing with issues in a more private setting. You should focus on creating solutions rather than placing blame upon an individual or select few.
  2. Confidence – A leader’s confidence in their own ability means employees are more likely to look to them for advice and opinions. This confidence allows you to stand by your decisions, as you know that they are backed by strong research and information, and are down to hard work.
  3. Honesty – Honesty and reliability are two traits that create a resilient basis for success. By sharing information and ideas openly, and allowing their feelings to be known, you can create a really valuable culture of trust.
  4. Awareness – You should always be aware of what is going on around you, understanding the differing roles of management and employees and retaining an objective view on their activities.
  5. Accountability – One of the most important differences between a leader and an employee is the fact that a leader should take responsibility for both their own performance, and that of those around them.
  6. Optimism – By remaining optimistic and keeping an open mind, you will be able to consider all possible solutions.
  7. Inspiration – By acting as someone for employees to look up to, you motivate them to do their best at all times. To really inspire, you need to be in a position to give the correct support and training for your employees to be the best they can be.
  8. Focus – By retaining focus, a leader can consider the impacts of their choices, whilst being able to revise plans and strategies for success. As a leader, you should be able to have a strong focus on the bigger picture for development and success.
  9. Decisiveness – Difficult decisions come with the leadership territory, and so you must understand that these have to be made in the best interest of the whole team, whether this manages to keep everyone happy or not.

To find out how you can become a better leader, contact The Results Centre at alan@alandenton.co.uk.