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Leaders shape our communities, organizations, and nations. The global pandemic that occupies our lives now has shown some of the best and worst practices of leaders across the world. We need good leaders to guide us and to help us make large-scale decisions that will influence the quality of our lives.
That being said, here are some of the most commendable qualities that a number of leaders have.
#1: RESILIENCE
“People are afraid, and when people are afraid, when their pie is shrinking, they look for somebody to hate. They look for somebody to blame. And a real leader speaks to anxiety and to fear and allays those fears, assuages anxiety.”
-Henry Louis Gates, former leader of the African and American Research Institute at Harvard University
As you embrace the huge responsibility of leading a pack, you will encounter different adversities a long the way. It is up to you to become resourceful in solving each problem that comes your way. A resilient leader is a person who sees failures as temporary setbacks, which they can recover from. Pliant like a bamboo, a resilient leader stands still in the test of time.
#2: TRANSPARENCY
“Great leaders have the uncanny ability of not letting rumors spread by being open and transparent and embracing solutions not problems. If an employee is frustrated with customer, they make you put that negative energy into coming up with a solution. If coworkers have a rift, rather than nurturing the gossip the leader makes you get over it and fix the issue.”
-Kevin Sides, CMO of ShipMonk
Nothing will make people more agreeable or less defensive than you being humble when admitting your own mistakes. Having reasonable and stable personal and professional relationships relies on you taking the responsibility for your own actions. You must be transparent, especially when it comes to your mistakes. A transparent leader acknowledges his or her actions and apologizes whenever necessary.
#3: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ)
“If you are tuned out of your own emotions, you will be poor at reading them in other people.”
-Daniel Goleman, renowned author and science journalist
Your IQ can only secure you the position, your EQ will let you thrive. Emotional intelligence helps you boost your self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skills. It is finding the balance within yourself and the chemistry in others. A leader with a high EQ can relate to his or her employees more and can solve the obstacles without emotional roadblocks.
#4: EMPATHY
“Empathy not only allows great leaders to understand their employees and their customers better, but it also is known to enhance pro-social (aka helping) behaviors. Because of this, empathy enables leaders to address issues faster and with more precision, and it makes them more flexible to respond to an ever-changing business environment.”
-Jeff Kear, founder of Planning Pod
Empathy is part of the EQ. It is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoe (idiomatically speaking). Empathy is correlated with job performance. People who show more empathy towards others are viewed to be better leaders. Fortunately, empathy can be learned and cultivated in the workplace. It is up to you to transform your environment.
#5: RESPECT
“Respect is how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress.”
-Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group
Treating people with respect is one of the most important things that a leader can do. Respect will ease the tensions, help solve conflicts, create trusts, and improve efficiency. After all, respect begets respect.
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While successful leaders may exhibit these qualities to varying degrees, all good leaders reap the advantages of these characteristics.
