Being a great leader isn’t a piece of cake. Experience plays a key role. According to successful entrepreneurs, “Experience makes a leader perfect.” While a leader’s activities might be scrutinized when things aren’t going well, it is his or her leadership traits that keep an organization strong and which shine through the worst of times. Such attributes are what employees look up to and respect.
Admittedly, there are many qualities that people recognize as important to becoming a successful business leader. However, here are the nine essentials that seem necessary for leaders to stand out from the crowd, regardless of the industry they are in. The good thing is that anyone can learn these traits through practice and repetition.
Intensive Industry Knowledge
In order to become a great leader, you must know your industry or business inside out. People expect leaders to be experts in the overall dynamics of the current market, as well as in industry trends and happenings.
Leaders must also be aware of the competitive landscape by visiting events and by being frequently involved in associations. These practices are crucial in any industry where new products and services are constantly evolving.
Business Savvy
Having industry knowledge is good, but information is not enough in itself for you to become a successful business leader. An ideal leader must know how to run a business.
Now this doesn’t mean that leaders need to be accountants or lawyers. But they certainly do need to have some a basic understanding of finance and legal issues. In other words, leaders should be able to read a spreadsheet and know the difference between a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet.
Strategic Planning
Good leaders are exceptional at strategic planning. They have the ability to look at what lies ahead and to predict where the industry is going. Based on what happened today, they anticipate where the industry is heading in the next few years.
Brave
Operating a business is not a child’s game. It takes a lot of courage and boldness and, at times, fearless decision-making. A great leader cannot be unnerved about asking for a loan from a bank, dealing with a hard client, getting rid of a bad employee, or any of the usual ups and downs of running a company.
Effective Communication
One of the crucial attributes of strong leaders is their ability to communicate effectively with anyone. This capacity includes being able to share their passion and business approach with potential clients and investors, as well as being able to get their employees to implement their strategies.
Accountability
Great leaders not only take credit for the good they do but are also accountable for the bad. They admit their mistakes without any shame. Whether leaders have made a poor decision, bad hire, or anything that they have to answer for, strong leaders fix the problem and move on. They first act in humility and later set a plan for correcting those mistakes in the future.
Delegation
Many people say that a great business leader needs to be paranoid. I don’t agree with that. I believe good leaders need to be well-informed, engaged, and able to designate responsibilities and trust employees. Leaders should be informed on nearly everything that is going on in their companies. And to be informed, they have to trust that their employees were well-trained and can accomplish their tasks.
Motivator
A bad attitude can ruin not only leaders but also their organizations. If your employees see you frustrated or unmotivated, then they will be that way too. Effective leaders should know how to stay positive no matter what, as well as how to encourage their employees to keep good attitudes.
Trustworthy
Finally, it all comes down to trust. A good character and integrity are two important qualities for any leader to have in order for other people to follow. Leaders should always say what they mean and do what they say.
Employees, from peons to managers, will work hard for those whom they trust. If you do the right thing by your employees, partners, investors, and customers, then they will want to work with you.
Conclusion
To be a leader who remains an inspiration, you will have to pursue great leadership attributes that will shape you into an example for others. Nowadays, every business professional wants to follow and learn from other people. You, as a successful leader, can really be an inspiration to those who work for you.
Brijesh Vora
Latest posts by Brijesh Vora (see all)
- 9 Essentials to Becoming a Successful Business Leader - January 15, 2017
Effective communication and strategic planning drives. There is another miss often leaders miss. check it here: https://www.habiliss.com/how-to-dress-like-a-leader-and-why-it-matters-more-than-ever-today/
Successful Business Leader in my opinion is a people-person with vision and determination.
Do that and people will follow you.
Being business or legal savvy like accountant and or lawyer does not give you the edge because at the end of the day, you can hire the best in both.
Yes you do need to know your industry but at some point you must “jump in the water” because you will never know everything. You grow your knowledge as you go and don’t expect everyone to agree with you. It is very challenging to avoid the words of those who criticize but it is part of life. Find your methods of keeping focus and filter away the negative peeps. Make all the effort to stay in the positive vortex.
Hi Brijesh,
I think you have some great points here but I feel experience can Not make a leader perfect? Maybe near perfect but wouldn’t you agree a great leader knows no one is perfect?
Nice article ,all the points are good. .They first act in humility and later set a plan for correcting those mistakes in the future.
Exactly Shivani! Humility is the thing that comes first as an entrepreneur & business leader.
Nice article ,all the points are good. Successful Business start with a plan.They first act in humility and later set a plan for correcting those mistakes in the future.
I Agree with you Brijesh Business leader are not narrow minded. Thanks For Sharing this Informative post..
Over the last 15 years, I have worked for small companies. I have seen some do well, and not… I have found that it is difficult for the small business owner to delegate (trust) their employees. Over again, this lack of trust leads to poor employee morale. Successful businesses, start with a plan. Delegate the actions required to achieve the goals of the plan. Effectively communicate with their employees, and if necessary reevaluate the actions needed to achieve these goals within this plan.
Completely agree with you. Trust plays a vital role in achieving company’s goals regardless of the size of the organization.
“It all comes down to trust.” Absolutely! Great points, Brijesh! I’m thankful you addressed the issue of integrity. It’s sorely lacking in our world today. Great article!
Thank you, Brandon. Glad you like it.
Hi Brijesh Vora !
All the above points are perfect ! but I think we can’t list out the qualities of business leaders because all of them have some how uniqueness in their own personality Like this is the GOD gifted thing, I agreed with effective communication but there is factor which is convincing power which make their communication much more effective and persuasive along with the intensive knowledge that’s why these kind of people are successful I like to add another point which is “Business leader are not narrow minded they think out of the box !”.
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Yes, Junaid; you’re right but we can’t list out all the possible qualities. These are the quite common qualities we find in people around us. I like your point – Leaders think out of the box.