Qualities of great leaders

Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash

I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some great leaders. Their mentorship and guidance have been very instrumental in my growth both professionally and personally. Through my interactions with these people, I have observed certain qualities and behaviors that sets them apart from the others and make them the influential leaders that they are.

• They’re always peaceful, pensive and very relaxed. There is very little agitation or urgency in their demeanor.
• They have an air of confidence and humility (and not overconfidence or arrogance) around them.
• Their speech is calm, calculated, articulate and direct. There is little fluff and ambiguity.
• They’re extremely good listeners. They patiently listen to what the other person is saying and take their time to process the information before responding. They do not appear to be in a hurry to speak their mind.
• They’re good at asking ‘Why’s. They ask questions to understand and get to the bottom of an issue and not out of malice or to test the knowledge of another person.
• They tend not to judge others and accept them the way they are before offering help to grow/improve where necessary.
• They show genuine care and respect for everyone they interact and work with.
• There’s a genuine desire and intent in them to help others grow and overcome issues in their professional/personal lives.
• They seem to be very self-assured and comfortable in their skin.
• They’re very good at saying ‘No’ to things that do not matter.
• They’re very conscious, intentional and conservative about their time.
• They lead their team by removing the blockers for people to do their job and succeed. They tend to show faith and confidence in their team to solve a problem, no matter how complex it is. They do not micromanage or do the job themselves.
• They’re good at managing their ego and do not let it come in the way while having conversations with others.
• They approach people with kindness and empathy.
• They encourage and allow the space for their team to do experiments, make mistakes and learn from them.
• They’re good at forgiving people without holding any negative opinions of feelings about them.
• They’re open, direct and transparent in their communication.
• They put others’ needs and success before their own.

Have you observed any other qualities or behaviors in leaders that you are influenced by? Let me know in the comments.

Shoutout to Cliff Sexton, Francis (Bill) Hughey, Rick Johanson, J.B. Chaykowsky, Dan Gamber, Patrick Aguilar, Vincent Baskerville, Ha Phan, Irish Malig, Kate Wolf, Joan Branham, Loki Muthu who have been very helpful at various times in my journey.