What makes a good leader at workplace?

A good leader engages in?open communication, motivates their team members, leads by example, listens to feedback, and is open to new ideas in an ever-changing workplace.?

Learning the traits of a good leader will help you significantly impact your company's success.

Here are 10 attributes of a good leader and how to use them effectively to your advantage:

1. Good leaders engage in open communication.

Employees want to be heard — whether it's an issue that needs resolving or ideas they believe would improve the business or better serve clients.

When you don’t communicate well with your team, they may feel discouraged, resulting in poor morale and lower production.?Most businesses lose their employee due to poor communication.?

The best leaders customize their communication styles to suit each situation and team members' preferences — which means they take the time to learn which communication mode each team member prefers.?

Effective?communication?decreases misunderstandings and employee errors, builds trust among team members, and improves morale.?

So how do we encourage?open communication?

• Promoting a judgment-free environment since employees are likely to give their opinions more often when they don’t fear discrimination.
• Giving undivided attention to your team members when they’re speaking.
• Asking your employees for suggestions to increase their engagement. You will aim to?implement employee engagement strategies?that work.
• Asking (not demanding) your employees to do stuff for you.

2. Great leaders encourage professional and personal development.

One of the most critical leadership qualities you can have is nurturing your staff by giving them personal development opportunities, that can include anything from leadership training or teaching them a new skill to encouraging them to pursue a passion that inspires them in and out of the workplace.

In any firm, 70% of employees are likely to leave their current job to work for an organization that invests in employee growth and development.?

Employees value learning opportunities, so it's no surprise that companies with successful training programs typically see a significant increase in employee retention.?

Picturise a?company culture?where every team member receives training according to their interests. In such a case, every employee will feel you care about their goals, dreams, and overall well-being.?

When that happens, your employees will go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals and vision.

Here are four strategies you can use to encourage professional and personal development in the workplace:

• Encourage mentoring and coaching between managers and employees.
• Identify and develop soft skills such as time management, active listening, and delegation.
• Implement cross-departmental training programs to increase the efficiency of your entire company.
• Use a?learning management system?(LMS) to streamline employee training.

3. Successful leaders lead their employees by example.

One of the characteristics of a good leader is their ability to Lead by an example and ‘walk the talk.’

Leading by example means guiding your employees through actions instead of words. The saying ‘do as I say, not as I do’?has no place in today’s world.

Nowadays, employees want to see your actions match what you say. That means showing them what’s required instead of just telling them.

Here are five ways to lead by example:

• Be a role model to your employees by walking the talk.
• Give clear instructions to your staff.?
• Avail yourself to answer questions your employees might have.
• Make employees feel part of the team by letting them know why you're giving them specific instructions.
• Use respectful words like ‘please’ when giving instructions to your team members.

4. Strong leaders give constructive feedback to employees about their performance.

Employee feedback is an incredibly effective tool. Offered well, it can grow your employees, strengthen bonds between staff and managers, and?improve trust?levels.?

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” —?Bill Gates?

Direct, honest feedback is the best way to steer your team in the right direction.

Don’t wait for monthly or quarterly assessments to give your employees feedback. Give them right after an event has occurred. It will have the most significant impact on their performance.

Here are few tips to help you give employees effective feedback that gets the results you need:

• Give individual feedback privately.
• Avoid sandwiching corrective feedback between two positive feedbacks. It will create confusion, undermine the feedback, and decrease trust levels.
• Focus on your employees' behaviours (what they do) rather than their personality traits (what they’re like).

5. Secure leaders ask for feedback from employees about their leadership style.

The saying goes:?there’s always room for improvement. That’s especially true when you're a good leader.?Who can point out these growth opportunities better than your employees??After all, they work with you every day, so they know your strengths and weaknesses.?

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions.” —?Ken Blanchard

However, getting honest feedback isn’t always easy. Employees may feel awkward revealing their true thoughts. They may not want to offend anyone's feelings or face future consequences for harsh criticism. That may cause them to give you fluffy feedback or avoid the request.

Use these tips to ask your employees for feedback and increase the likelihood that they give honest, actionable feedback:

• Ask your employees specific questions instead of vague questions such as, “What do you think?”
• Tell your staff not to hold back on their feedback and make them feel they’re doing you a favour by being honest.
• Give them time to think about your questions and develop helpful answers.
• Ask employees about what you can do better in the future rather than what you did wrong in the past.

6. Transformational leaders are open to change and new ideas.

Change is hard — even if the change is for the better. Successful leaders are aware of this and don't pretend otherwise.?They also understand that embracing change with the right mind-set is critical to creating an environment where change is integral to their company's DNA.?

A great leader never wants to be the smartest person in the room. They surround themselves with a team of experts with more ideas and experience without feeling threatened.?

And when these experts are led well, they can be a powerful force in driving strategy, making changes, and enhancing the company's bottom line. They’ll perform at a high level with little oversight and push you to grow continually.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” —?Steve Jobs

Whether you're leading a team of two or five thousand, below are four ways to embrace new ideas and get your employees on the ‘change-wagon’ faster:

• Surround yourself with a committed team of experts.
• Understand why you need the change and clearly express the desired outcome.
• Include your employees in decision-making from the get-go to strengthen their commitment to change.
• Make sure your beliefs and?behaviours?support the change. Be resilient, persistent, and willing to step outside your comfort zone.

7. Effective leaders set clear employee goals and delegate work.

A good leader makes sure their employees are doing what they’ve assigned them to do to achieve the company's mission and goals.?The instructions you give should be measurable and quantifiable. Use existing data to develop a baseline for employees to do their best work.?

An effective leader also knows what tasks to delegate. They know they can’t accomplish everything alone, so they assign tasks to team members they’re confident will complete them.?

As a result, they empower and boost their employees’ morale. And in the process, they free up their time to focus on what will yield the highest returns and grow the business.

Here are few tips to help you delegate tasks to your team members:

• Look for opportunities to delegate tasks based on your teams' strengths and weaknesses.
• Walk your employees through the project you're delegating and clarify when you need it done.
• Give continuous feedback and be specific on what they did well and what they need to improve on.
• Aligned with implementing?employee experience strategies?and positive employee lifecycle

8. Great leaders are passionate about their work.

A good leader has the right motivation and passion. They’re not driven by money or prestige but genuinely want to inspire others to do their best. Passionate leaders?increase productivity?and make sure workers are committed to the company's values, mission, and vision.

“A great leader's courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion, not position.” —?John C. Maxwell

Most successful leaders have a passion (not a job) and know how to rally others around that passion. In short, passionate leaders lead with heart.

Here are seven qualities that set passionate leaders apart from the crowd:

• They're open-minded and respect differing opinions.
• They have a positive attitude and superb problem-solving skills.
• They’re great communicators and listen with the intent of genuinely understanding rather than advancing their agenda.
• They're future-focused and capable of engaging others to achieve their goals.
• They look at the big picture and embrace challenges.
• They're risk-takers and put in the hard work to execute ideas.?
• They're self-aware, surround themselves with like-minded people, and sustain collaborative relationships.

Your ability to inspire, motivate, and create a magnetic vision needs commitment and perseverance. But it’s worth the effort, whether your goal is productivity, employee retention, or project management.

9. Successful leaders have a positive attitude even when things go south.

Most people tend to associate good leadership with smooth sailing.?After all, what can go wrong if you build and nurture a great team and generate excellent ideas??

Whether it's a minor misunderstanding or a significant error, how you handle a negative situation reveals a lot about your emotional intelligence and leadership abilities.

“Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference.” —?Mac Anderson

When things go south, your words and actions as a leader are critical. Here’s what you can do during those times:

• Take time to evaluate the situation and know what the problem is.
• Face the problem with positivity and look for solutions.
• Be flexible and adaptable and make adjustments along the way.
• Remain persistent and determined to solve the issues.

10. Good leaders are always learning.

All successful leaders have one trait in common — a hunger for learning. They enrol in relevant online courses, read great books, use the best tools, and constantly improve.

Great leaders have an innate sense of curiosity that often drives them to learn more, which helps them perform better for their businesses and provide personal fulfilment.

“Leadership is not an expertise. Leadership is a constant education.” —?Simon Sinek

Learning helps great leaders challenge their assumptions and bring clear understanding to the table.?

In contrast, failure to keep learning means you won't adapt to the ever-changing work environment. And depending on your industry's competition, this can be a significant issue that spells the death of your company.

Here are three ways to keep learning and become a better leader:

• Embrace an open mind to see things from different perspectives.
• Read relevant books, industry publications, and blogs.
• Take advantage of consultants, personal networks, industry events, and other organizations and learn from them.