How to be a better Leader?

When you think about great leaders, who comes to mind?

Impactful figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., or perhaps Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela might come to mind.

But defining what truly marks these historic icons as good leaders proves a bit more challenging. Was it simply their position that made them good leaders, or was it something more?While we’ve all experienced leadership in our lives, very rarely are we asked to define “what is a good leader.” Answers vary from company to company and person to person, making the?qualities of leadership?even more elusive to pinpoint.

Are you thinking about the next step in your career? This article explores the definition and qualities of leadership, how it differs from management, and tips for becoming a better leader.

What is a leader?

Simple explorations of the question, “what is a leader?” include:

1. A leader is someone who?inspires passion?and motivation in followers.
2. A leader is someone with a vision and the path to realizing it.
3. A leader is someone who ensures their team has support and tools to achieve their goals.

A leader may be any of those things, but a?good leader?is all three.?

An effective leader has a shared vision?aligned with core values?and understands what it will take to?reach their team goals. They inspire, manage, and support their teams to work creatively and confidently toward that shared vision.

A leader empowers their team members to embrace their own unique leadership qualities and act with?independently accountable passion. And they inspire and motivate their teams to maintain long-term progress and excitement toward achieving their goals.

What is the role of a leader?

Now you have a better understanding of who a leader is, but might still ask, “what does a leader do?” The age-old answer of “it depends” is pretty relevant here. The specifics of each leader’s role change based on the size of their team, organization, or base. It also depends on their values and goals –– both short and long-term.

In general, the role of a leader is to coach, guide, and inspire others. They motivate teams through challenging times and guide individuals through their career progressions. A leader manages individuals to keep teams aligned and working toward shared goals. They foster a collaborative culture and lead by example.

What does a leader do?

As you can see, a leader has many responsibilities. But they tend to fall into the same three buckets:

• Coach
• Guide
• Inspire

Coach

A good leader strives to develop their employees and teams through coaching and mentoring. This can be through one-to-one meetings and asynchronous touchpoints. And most of their coaching ladders up into supporting the overall goals of the company.

A great leader will balance both the goals of the employee with those of the organization. Making each individual’s development a symbiotic relationship. Oftentimes the individual’s growth correlates with the company’s growth.

Guide

Alongside coaching, leaders also guide their employees. This comes through building and organizing teams, setting goals, devising ways to achieve those goals, and leading employees through the process.

A leader can guide employees through difficult conversations, for example, or various ways to solve problems.

Inspire

One undervalued role of a leader is to inspire. A great leader can leverage their storytelling, empathy, and communication skills to inspire their employees and key stakeholders.

Whether they are vouching for a direct report’s promotion, pushing back on a strategy, or managing a team who missed its goals –– inspiring others is a large part of a leader’s role.

What are the most common characteristics of a leader?

Leaders are bold but never leave their teams behind. Balancing vision with support that empowers team members to achieve shared goals, leaders embrace a number of leadership qualities and can’t be pinned down to a single style.

However, leaders across the board tend to exhibit seven major characteristics:?

1. Purpose.?Without a?sense of purpose, it’s hard to motivate team members.?Leaders empower people?to see the intention behind specific goals, enabling them to take equal part. Making the day-to-day process feel more purposeful helps maintain team motivation and personal investment in larger goals.
3. Leaders who incorporate a sense of personal purpose in the company’s overall mission inspire?individual accountability in their teams. This motivates team members to embrace their own leadership qualities towards big-picture achievement.?
4. Motivation.?Leaders are great motivators and create value-aligned goals so team members feel personally inspired to work toward the company’s vision. Paired with consistent outreach, leaders empower their team members to work passionately beyond their responsibilities towards a common goal.
5. Motivation goes beyond inspiring words. Great leaders talk to their teams, and listen to their ideas and questions.?Being a leader?isn’t about giving orders and managing results—it’s about?listening, supporting, and inspiring the best from others.
6. Vision.?Leaders see the bigger picture and can unite their team members behind their vision. By incorporating team strengths and core values, leaders inspire their team with an end-goal that?resonates with individual values?and inspires action.
8. Without a?cohesive vision?aligned with core values, companies often find themselves hitting goals that don’t progress their company in a specific direction. Staying afloat does not equal growth. Leaders are visionaries for growth and expansion.
9. Empathy.?Leaders empathize with their team members. It’s how they inspire people to work beyond their responsibilities toward a shared purpose. By listening and sharing their appreciation for their teams, leaders impart a sense of value. When leaders?prioritize empathy?and appreciate their team members’ efforts, they can empower team members to see the vision for themselves and act toward its achievement. Putting themselves in the position of their team members also helps leaders address critical concerns and provide solutions.
10. Creativity.?Whereas managers might feel inclined to stick to the status quo, leaders innovate in bold and creative splashes. Rather than being concerned with the chain of command, leaders?encourage their employees to ask, “Why?”?and think in new ways to realize a bigger picture.
11. With a lofty vision guiding them, leaders?embrace new ways of conceptualizing?and strategizing. Nothing is off the table when it comes to providing imaginative and more effective pathways to long-term goal achievement and success.?
12. Team vision.?Although the company's overall vision may begin with its leaders, their vision will account for nothing if it doesn’t speak to team members.
13. Exploring the values and individual goals that?bring meaning to team members?helps leaders thread their long-term goals through individually motivating and fulfilling achievement. When team members share their leader's vision and values, they’re inspired to work beyond their responsibilities toward their goals.??
14. Always trying to improve.?Leaders never stop bettering themselves. With an eye toward growth,?leaders continuously seek?opportunities to improve for themselves and their teams. This leaning towards personal betterment means leaders?actively seek feedback?and value ideas that favor effectiveness and improvement over defending their egos.
15. When leaders create an environment where feedback isn’t just helpful but highly valued, they inspire team members to voice their thoughts and bring the best ideas to the table. This can lead to higher innovation and long-term success.