Qualities Of A Leader – 10 x Needs For High Performance

Mar 22, 2021

In this article, we’ll explore the true qualities of a leader – and not just what makes you an average leader, but instead; what will make you really stand out.

Although there may be different leadership types, depending on your role or even personality; there is a list of special qualities that’ll make you be respected, and help you drive high performance teams.

Read on to learn what these are, and how you can implement them into your leadership strategy.

Qualities Of A Leader – What Does This Mean?

Prior to diving deep into the content; first we have to ask, what does qualities of a leader mean?

Just because someone may be a manager or a boss, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a leader.

A leader is someone people look up to.

The true qualities of a leader are someone people believe in, respect, and will follow with confidence when they’re performing in their element.

Our roles as people in management, is to aspire towards this goal.

We want people to follow us not because they’re afraid to or because they feel they have no choice – but because they feel driven and motivated to do so.

Let’s explore what the qualities of a leader are in more detail.

Qualities Of A Leader – 10 x Needs For High Performance

The Qualities Of A Leader #1 – Self-Confidence

The first on our list of qualities of a leader, is internal self-confidence.

For people to believe in you, they will first want to know and clearly see that you believe in yourself.

So how do you do this?

First, you need to have confidence in your beliefs, your mission, and your people. Your actions need to demonstrate this.

Secondly, how do you communicate with your team? And are you confident when doing so?

We need to use more than just our words when we communicate. In fact, we use:

55% body language
38% tonality
7% words

This means we need to be confident with not only the words we use, but also our body language, as well as our tone, as people will pick up and read how you’re really feeling through this.

The Qualities Of A Leader #2 – Integrity

Another one of the powerful qualities of a leader, is the fact that what they say and what they do are in alignment.

They have and demonstrate integrity.

If people feel you don’t act with integrity, then they won’t trust to follow you as a leader.

People follow those they trust. If you do something one day and then do or say something on another, people will doubt you, and won’t trust you or your word.

Always act with integrity – even if it always means not pleasing everyone at all times.

#3 – Your Vision

One of the true qualities of a leader that really makes them stand out from the pack, is their vision.

People naturally gravitate towards people who have a vision for something bigger then themselves.

This inspires people, and internally motivates them to also want to achieve something that is greater than just them and their everyday lives.

If you as a leader have a vision bigger then yourself, your role is to effectively communicate this with your team. By doing so, your motivation and passion will be infectious, and people will want to follow you.

#4 – Excellent Communication Skills

One of the common yet most effective qualities of a leader, is that they have excellent communication skills.

Excellent communication skills mean that everyone who follows your lead, is crystal clear on what you say, what you require, without any vagueness or confusion.

Good leaders don’t use big or fancy acronyms, or long-winded vague words when describing what’s required.

People know exactly what’s expected of them and feel they can communicate with their leader for better understanding if need be.

#5 – Resilience

People don’t just wake up one day with the qualities of a leader.

It comes through hard work, perseverance, and discipline.

Excellent leaders challenge themselves and invest in their personal development.

They know that just because they may be great one day, that it’s a journey, and to stay on top of their game they need to continuously improve upon themselves.

When things get hard, they know to move with challenges, stay strong, and continue their mission.

#6 – Inspiration

As briefly mentioned; one of the true qualities of a leader is what they’re able to inspire those around them.

It’s one thing to have a vision, targets, and an outcome you want to achieve.

However – it’s completely another thing to inspire other people around you to aspire towards that vision too.

Inspiration should be infectious, and excellent leaders know this.

#7 – They’re Decision Makers

One of the most important qualities of a leader, is the ability to make decisions – even if it means if they’re difficult.

In times of crisis, excellent leaders stay strong, and make decisions without folding under pressure.

Even though people may not always agree; people respect leaders who make, and then standby their decisions.

#8 – Being Positive

Although times can get tough and it can be easy to fall into a negative rut; one of the qualities of a leader is maintaining a positive attitude and outlook.

Leaders know that if they’re negative, their team will also become and feel negative.

In turn – even when things are hard, by maintaining a positive posture, people will look to you for inspiration, and as a leader you’ll continue to push through hard times with your positive outlook.

#9 – Focus

One of the most important of all qualities of a leader, is the ability to have and maintain focus.

In today’s day and age, it’s so easy to become distracted by your competition, new technology, or even new ideas that may take you away from your mission.

Your role as a leader is to stay away from distractions that don’t help your cause and maintain focus so that your team can do too.

#10 – A Commitment To Excellence

Finally; the last on our list of qualities of a leader, is their standard and commitment to excellence.

True leaders don’t tolerate mediocre behaviour and aspire to be excellence at all times.

They want their customers to have an excellent experience.

They want their staff and team to be happy and perform excellent whilst at work.

True leaders facilitate both.

This commitment to excellence is communicated through the leader’s actions, and their team knows the standard to perform at and what’s expected by their leader.

Qualities Of A Leader – Final Thoughts

To recap, the qualities of a leader include:

Self confidence
Integrity
Your vision
Excellent communication skills
Resilience
Inspiration
They’re decision makers
Being positive
Focus
A commitment to excellent

By following and putting into practice each of these ten qualities of a leader, you’ll be well on your way to managing and inspiring your team to perform at a high level.