Dr. Kalam said, “Let me describe a leader. He should have passion and vision and not be scared of any difficulty. Instead, he must know how to beat it. Most importantly, he must put in the effort with honesty.”
The above quote aptly summarizes what we should look for in a leader. The selection of a suitable leader for any sort of venture is a vital decision that impacts the overall success of that particular enterprise.
Just being meritorious or hardworking is not enough to be a leader. A leader must be a complete dealer of a mixture of traits; some of which are described below.
Straightforwardness
Straightforwardness is the extrovert friend of honesty. It is that building block that helps the leader to maintain a healthy environment at the workplace. There should be an adequate amount of transparency in between the leader and the employees, and that helps to form the perfect groundwork for an honest relationship.
According to a 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 84 percent of the 1,835 respondents considered honesty as the essential personality trait for any leader.
Openness
This particular trait shows how receptive a leader is towards new ideas and concepts. A good leader must be imaginative and must value dynamic ideas. Moreover, they should come up with innovative ideas to tackle problems. This not only benefits the enterprise but also cultivate these values amongst the employees too.
A Healthy and a friendly relationship between the leader and his/her workers encourage the workers to come up with offbeat ideas which might benefit the company. But then again, it depends on how welcoming the leader is.
Will Power And Ability To Make Decisions
Good decision-making ability impacts not only the company but also its workers. Not only that, paying heed to what other employees have to say about that decision is also vital to be a people-friendly leader. Being confident is the key to making good decisions, and it should be based solely on one motive – “betterment of the enterprise” and not just personal benefit.
Conscientiousness
This trait defines how careful and vigilant a person is; how much thought does he/she put into company’s upbringing. This quality also sheds light on the organizational skills of a leader. Well, coordinated strategic planners who think about the long term goals and prosperity of the company can rightfully be termed as a conscientiousness leader.
A good leader does more than just inspiring. They believe in the empowerment of workers by entrusting them with responsibilities and making them realize the how important it is to work with compassion.