The importance of integrity should be obvious. Though it may not necessarily be a metric in employee evaluations, integrity is essential for the individual and the organization. It’s especially important for top-level executives who are charting the organization’s course and making countless other significant decisions. Our research shows that integrity may actually be a potential blind spot for organizations. Make sure your organization reinforces the importance of integrity to leaders at various levels.
Ability to Delegate
Delegating is one of the core responsibilities of a leader, but it can be tricky to delegate effectively. The goal isn’t just to free yourself up — it’s also to enable your direct reports, facilitate teamwork, provide autonomy, lead to better decision-making, and help your direct reports grow. In order to delegate well, you also need to build trust with your team.
Communication
Effective leadership and effective communication are intertwined. You need to be able to communicate in a variety of ways, from transmitting information to coaching your people. And you must be able to listen to, and communicate with, a wide range of people across roles, social identities, and more. The quality and effectiveness of communication across your organization directly affect the success of your business strategy, too. Learn how better conversations can actually improve your organizational culture.
Self-Awareness
While this is a more inwardly focused skill, self-awareness is paramount for leadership. The better you understand yourself, the more effective you can be. Do you know how other people view you or how you show up at work? Take the time to learn about the 4 aspects of self-awareness and how you can dig into each component.
Menu
Your Challenges
Our Leadership Solutions
Insights & Research
About Us
Home > Articles > Leading Effectively Articles > What Are the Characteristics of a Good Leader?
LEADING EFFECTIVELY ARTICLE
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Leader?
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Leader?
Leaders shape our nations, communities, and organizations.
We need good leaders to help guide us and make the essential large-scale decisions that keep the world moving.
Our society is usually quick to identify a bad leader, but do we know how to identify a good one? What would most people say makes a good leader?
The Characteristics & Qualities of a Good Leader
Infographic: 10 Characteristics of a Good Leader. 1. Integrity. 2. Ability to delegate. 3. Communication. 4. Self-awareness. 5. Gratitude. 6. Learning agility. 7. Influence. 8. Empathy. 9. Courage. 10. Respect.
Based on our research, we’ve found that great leaders consistently possess these 10 essential leadership skills:
.
Influence
For some people, “influence” feels like a dirty word. But being able to convince people through logical, emotional, or cooperative appeals is a component of being an inspiring, effective leader. Influence is quite different from manipulation, and it needs to be done authentically and transparently. It requires emotional intelligence and trust-building. Learn more about the 4 keys to influencing others.
Empathy
Empathy is correlated with job performance and is a critical part of emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness. If you show more empathy towards your direct reports, our research shows you’re more likely to be viewed as a better performer by your boss. Empathy can be learned, and in addition to making you more effective, it will also improve work for you and those around you.
Courage
It can be hard to speak up at work, whether you want to voice a new idea, provide feedback to a direct report, or flag a concern for someone above you. That’s part of the reason courage is a key skill for good leaders. Rather than avoiding problems or allowing conflicts to fester, courage enables leaders to step up and move things in the right direction. A psychologically safe workplace culture encourages speaking the truth.
Respect
Treating people with respect on a daily basis is one of the most important things a leader can do. It will ease tensions and conflict, create trust, and improve effectiveness. Respect is more than the absence of disrespect, and it can be shown in many different ways. Explore how you can cultivate a climate of respect at work.
