Here Are 10 Characteristics All Great Leaders Have

A business will rise or fall based on the kind of leaders it has. Here are 10 vital traits every great leader should have.

Key Takeaways

• Great leaders have a clear and compelling vision
• Exceptional leaders know how to sell their vision and inspire people
• They possess a suite of traits, including integrity, empathy, grit, and a knack for fostering teamwork
• The key to maintaining high leadership standards is quality training and retraining

Leadership consultant and author John Maxwell was right when he said, “everything rises and falls on leadership.” From a toxic culture and high turnover rates to low productivity, poor leadership can cripple any business. But what exactly makes a great leader?

How do you raise great leaders? Read on to discover 10 features that the best leaders share.

1. Vision

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg; what do these leaders have in common? They had a burning vision. One of the greatest lessons in leadership is this: people don’t follow a leader; they follow a vision. That’s why a leader’s greatest asset is a clear and compelling vision.

The SMART goals strategy is an excellent way to create an effective vision. These goals are:

• Specific: Is your goal well-defined and clear?
• Measurable: How are you going to track and monitor your impact?
• Attainable: Is your goal within your organization’s reach or is it a dream?
• Relevant: How does your goal fit with your company’s overall mission?
• Timebound: Within what timeframe do you want to achieve your goal?

For example, instead of saying “we want to grow our business,” effective leaders say, “we want to increase sales by 50% in the next three months.

2. Inspiration

It’s one thing to have a vision; it’s another thing entirely to rally others to buy into the vision. Great leaders know how to sell their vision and spur everyone to action. When you hear such leaders talk about their vision, you’ll sense deep-seated conviction, purpose, and boldness.

However, inspiration is not just for when you’re starting out. Leaders need the ability to rouse and motivate their workforce when the going gets tough and people are losing their desire to do more.

3. Integrity

In a world full of scandals and corporate failures, integrity (ethical standards) is a no-brainer. Essentially, having integrity refers to being honest/transparent, trustworthy, and reliable.

Fortunately, ethical standards come with several benefits for businesses. First off, employees generally love to work at workplaces that have strict ethical standards. In fact, 82% of employees say that they would gladly take a pay cut to work for a company with moral standards than be higher paid at one that doesn’t. 

What’s more, 71% of customers check companies’ corporate values before doing business with them, so you’re likely to lose business if your business doesn’t have any clear moral standards. In general, your ethical standards should cover the following:

• Conflicts of interest
• Sexual harassment/abuse
• Bribes or inappropriate gifts
• Accounting irregularities
• Antitrust violations
• Theft
• Supply chain abuses

Providing clear guidelines and insisting on them in your business will boost your brand reputation and bottom line in the long run.

4. Empathy

Every entrepreneur needs to take a cue from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. In his memoir titled Hit Refresh, the leader of the tech behemoth explains what sets the company away from the pack.

“Empathy makes you a better innovator. If I look at the most successful products we [at Microsoft] have created, it comes with that ability to meet the unmet, unarticulated needs of customers.”

Besides innovation, empathy ensures that you use a human-centered leadership approach to understand people and help them at their point of need. That way, employees feel valued and respected rather than like money-making machines. 

5. Teamwork

The best way to get the best out of employees is to promote collaborative work, and great leaders are skilled in doing just that. They know how to harness the potential of different groups of people to build effective products and solutions.

When people work as a team, they feel more involved, and they own the vision. This often drives innovation and creativity. Furthermore, teamwork reduces the risk of burnout and boosts productivity.

6. Grit and Resilience

Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology and author of The New York Times bestseller Grit defines grit as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” In other words, people with grit can outlast challenges and times of adversity. 

Every leader has their fair share of difficult moments, but the truly great ones know how to brace for and innovate past hard times. Aside from grit, great leaders also know how to bounce back after a collapse or failure – that’s resilience. Many people give up when their efforts do not seem to work, but leaders learn from their mistakes and push until they accomplish the vision.

7. Courage

Exceptional leaders are bold, daring, and courageous. They are willing to speak up when others are quiet, and they have no qualms about defending their beliefs. In addition, great leaders are always willing to go up against the status quo and develop new ideas and solutions.

Such leaders are not afraid of the opposition they might encounter from naysayers and competitors. They’re not worried about what others say or think about them in most cases. 

8. Listening

Another secret of great leaders is that they listen to other people. Mediocre and insecure leaders are often consumed with their ideas and opinions. But great leaders take the time to listen to other perspectives, and they encourage team members to share their opinions.

Good leaders are often intentional about encouraging team members to share their opinions without fear. Even if team members’ opinions are contrary to theirs, great leaders are patient enough to listen and consider all perspectives before making a decision. What’s more, such leaders often have an open-door policy that creates a platform for anyone to voice their concerns and share their ideas. 

9. Accountability

Ever met a leader who’s not accountable to anyone?

Well, that person might likely be a poor leader. Even if you’re the founder, CEO, or board member of a company, you need to be accountable to shareholders. Accountability fosters trust and helps to build the leader’s credibility.

10. Training and Retraining

The secret to sustaining great leadership is to ensure constant training and retraining. Leadership doesn’t always come naturally to everyone, and in the shark-infested business world, leadership skills can quickly become outdated. It’s important to create a system that trains and retrains your leaders to guarantee top-notch leadership.

The good news is that you don’t have to do it all by yourself. MetaGrowth Ventures can help you hire, train, and maintain your sales team. We will bring over 30,000 hours of consulting experience and expertise to help you raise a world-class sales team.

Contact us today to get started.