What makes a leader? (From HBR's series 2/7)

What qualities should a strong leader have? The characteristics of a good leader are summarized in qualities such as adaptability, intelligence, and conscience. Research clearly shows that leaders must be transformational, positive, inspiring, and powerful. They can support their followers and lead their group to its goals. They are highly valued among their followers and have well-performing groups. Now the question that arises is how you can acquire valuable leadership qualities and become a strong and influential leader? Stay with us until the end of this article to answer these questions.

1. Proper understanding of your skills

A proper understanding of leadership and its styles is very essential. You should know your strengths and know in which areas you need to improve. To start evaluating your skills and the leadership style that matches those skills, you should test yourself. After completing the necessary tests, do some research on the main characteristics of your dominant leadership style. Do your traits help or hinder your leadership style? Once you know which areas need more work, you can find ways to improve your leadership abilities.

2. Encouraging creativity

Mental stimulation is one of the characteristics that transformational leadership needs. Followers should be encouraged to express their creativity. They can open up new opportunities for wise leaders to achieve their ultimate goals and the followers. One way to promote creativity is to provide group members with challenges to ensure that the group's goals are within their abilities. The goal of this type of training should be to make people aware of their limitations. While preventing them from becoming discouraged from achieving success.

3. A leader must be a role model

One of the four main components of transformational leadership should be considered to influence an ideal model. The behavior and characteristics of influential leaders encourage followers to behave like them. Good leaders act when needed and talk when needed. Therefore, their followers admire them and want their behavior to be similar to these leaders. A superior leader should work more on the desirable qualities he wants to see in his team members.

4. Not giving up on goals

A leader who does not believe in the goals of the group cannot lead it and become a leader for the followers. Great leaders focus on accomplishing the tasks of group members and are interested and persistent in current group projects. The leader's thinking and passion to achieve the group's high goals can be very decisive. People need to know that the group leader cares about improvements. Therefore, the followers' good behaviors are rewarded and their bad behaviors are given feedback with warnings and necessary actions.

5. Listening to other people's opinions

One of the very important characteristics of a good and transformational leader is to communicate closely with group members. Good leaders feel responsible for their group members and follow their opinions and criticism directly and indirectly. Transformational leaders must have open lines of communication and avoid creating a closed space for their followers. Open space makes participation and understanding of group members' achievements more.

6. Having a positive attitude

The attitude of good and transformational leaders is always optimistic and positive and is known as a source of inspiration for followers. If leaders are or appear to be discouraged, apathetic, or have a negative attitude, followers will unconsciously move in the same direction. A good leader is a positive thinker even in times of decline and collapse and when followers are feeling unsettled. The meaning of this word is not being naive, illusional, and not seeing the facts, but it means maintaining a sense of optimism and hope.

7. Encourage followers to participate

Group members need to know that the group leader welcomes their ideas. Leaders who encourage members to participate in all activities are often known as democratic or participative leaders. A leader ultimately judges all decisions. But it encourages group members to play an important role in advancing ideas and plans. Research has shown that using a democratic leadership style will lead to greater commitment, creative problem-solving, and improved productivity.

8. Increase the motivation of followers

Good and transformational leadership means increasing motivation and inspiration for followers and group members. Increasing the motivation of employees in performing their duties in a better way is very useful and vital. Of course, being inspirational and motivating is never an easy task. But people need motivational words to get motivated and get started. An inspirational leader must be able to speak passionately about the group's ideas or goals. Increasing the motivation of followers is directly related to the progress of affairs in all fields.

9. Regulation of reward and punishment system

Effectively recognizing good behaviors and providing appropriate rewards for those behaviors is one of the essential characteristics of a good leader. This work is very effective in increasing the participation of members in order to achieve their goals and make them more satisfied. Satisfied and happy people will work harder to achieve success. Leaders can remove obstacles to success with the help of group members and reward the group's efforts by providing good rewards. Of course, the punishment of behavior that violates the law and the goals of the company should not be forgotten. But the punishment should not be extreme and humiliate people. It means that bad behavior should be condemned and not the person himself.

10. A mind receptive to innovation and new thoughts

Good leadership is not a one-way relationship, it is a two-way street. Improving leadership qualities It should be in line with the opinions of the followers and be inspired by new ideas. Past traditions are important, but a good leader's mind is always looking for new ways to inspire, motivate, and reward team members. A mind closed to any change can lead to the complete destruction of the group and the dispersal of followers.

Conclusion

The characteristics of a good leader are not only summarized in the above and various other factors are also involved. Knowing all the factors and using them correctly to achieve the group's goals is one of the most important characteristics of a capable and visionary leader. Bad leadership can derail all efforts and lead to wasted effort. If you want group members to progress, you must believe in good and capable leadership