Opinion: Qualities Every Leader Should Have

As a leader, learning and improving are inevitable, albeit a necessity. Throughout life, there are going to be certain qualities, learned or taught, that are highly sought after by leaders, for leaders.

Those particular leaderships qualities are respect, empathy, bravery, trustworthiness, and communication.

Respect

Respect is a very important thing in every environment, and a very important aspect of every leader.

Showing someone that you work with or around that you respect them, simply with your choice of words or actions,

Being funny and making jokes is okay, especially if you know that person on a personal level, and know they won’t feel disrespected.

Always pay attention to the severity of the words you use, and the tone of your voice when speaking to people, regardless of rank or title.

Empathy

The ability to put yourself in others’ shoes is looked veryA?highly upon, both professionally and personally.

Getting to know the people you work with and knowing what they have been through, and visa versa, strengthens relationships, making teamwork just so much more feasible.

Many people walk different paths of life, and have been through different situations and circumstances.

We all have our soft spots and trigger words or scenarios. Part of building a team is learning these soft spots and ensuring that we do not cross those lines with each other.

Handling scenarios as a leader does require empathy. The only way to forge a bright path for the people that you are leading is by relating to each other and understanding that we all make mistakes and learn from them.

Bravery

Speak your mind! Tell people what you expect from them. Have the guts to put your foot down and be a leader, give direction, purpose, motivation.

Do not be afraid to tell someone if you believe that something is wrong. Regardless of the situation, if you notice that something is wrong, say something. If you have a leader talking down about other leaders, speak up about it. If you have a friend who is upset about the way they were spoken to, speak up about it.

Trustworthiness

My personal motto is “Speak the truth.”

Problems are created with lies and pent up frustrations.

Do your job! If you are asked to do something, get it done.

Be on time. As a leader, timeliness and reliability are extremely important.

Communication

Tell people when you have problems or questions. Better to ask and look like a fool for a minute than to not ask and suffer the consequences.

Let the people you work with know what you have done so that all bases are covered.

Talk to the people who work with or underneath you on a regular basis to maintain a steady relationship. Having these relationships and communicating as a leader builds the foundation to a great future.