Knowledge
Traits of a leader: the ingredients of good leadership
The discussion on leadership was one of the liveliest in the history of our meetings. Practically all of its participants are leaders in their organizations, but a significant part of them questioned the concepts of the leader and so-called soft leadership. The supporters of appreciating the leader’s role stated that a leader is someone who, when you observe a team gathered in a room, is immediately visible. They have natural authority among colleagues, flowing, according to some, from outstanding knowledge of the substance of the team’s work, while others emphasized a set of innate character traits and the approach to colleagues. The leader is not always the boss, although the situation in which they are can be considered optimal.
Those questioning the approach to leadership in a team emphasized that a leader is someone who is able to replace any of their subordinates, to which the answer was that this is not a necessary requirement, but it is true that a leader is hard to replace. The skeptics emphasized that the fact that someone considers themselves a leader does not have to go hand in hand with them being one, to which the leadership enthusiasts replied that a leader is verified by the team and the situation. Nobody can appoint themselves one; a supervisor or manager is not yet a leader, but the organization works better when they are. One is not a leader everywhere and for everyone; as mentioned, the leader is “nominated” by the team they work with, and not everyone will be equally effective with every team. They may even be rejected.
Traits of a leader
The essential traits of a leader listed were: courage, uncompromisingness, a liking for people in general, a vision of what the team is to do and where it is heading, personal honesty, the ability to admit a mistake. They do not push people to do this or that; rather, by their attitude they sweep them into acting in a common direction, which they clearly communicate to them. They do not have to have a pleasant character either, but thanks to the respect they can inspire in people, they are accepted by them warts and all. Two iconic leaders of the digital economy, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, known for their difficult characters, were treated by members of their teams with almost religious reverence.
The mechanism of leadership is based on the sense of security the leader gives colleagues. Research shows that the vast majority of people do not feel comfortable taking responsibility. Meanwhile, for the leader, responsibility is an element of a game they play willingly, with commitment, even with joy. Since, usually thanks to effective mobilization of the team, they achieve their goals, the appetite for further challenges grows with time, and leadership traits, supported by experience, make them an even more capable leader.
There are many schools and courses for leaders. Their programs include management techniques, knowledge of which undoubtedly increases managerial potential, but when coming to a course it is better to have the innate character traits listed above. You can learn to be a leader, but someone who does not like people, cannot inspire their trust, does not treat them honestly and does not care about their continuous development will never be an actual leader.
At this point the skeptics raised the argument that since leadership cannot be fully learned, it is not worth bothering with; just hire managers, give them competencies and hold them accountable for results. Of course, in many cases that is enough. Things do not have to go worse without a leader, but practice teaches that with a leader they go better in the long run. The difference is that the leader makes sure the people they work with develop, trains them and raises their own worth in their eyes, setting tasks that at the moment of setting slightly exceed the colleagues’ capabilities. The leader is not afraid that one of their subordinates will be better than them in some field; on the contrary, they strive for everyone to be better than them at something.
The leader does not punish mistakes; if people are given the chance to make mistakes, people grow. In crisis situations they do not look for culprits, but for solutions. They build the quality of work on responsibility, not on fear. For this reason leaders are very capable in crisis situations; keeping calm, they do not let the whole team fall into panic. In calmer situations an important trait is the ability not so much to listen to, as to hear the team. This requires emotional intelligence of them, overlooked in many management courses. Like a good commander, when launching an attack they give the command “follow me”, not “forward”.
