9 Traits Every Good Business Leader Should Have

Even if you are not sure now about your ability to lead, there are many traits that can be learned and skills which can be developed, whether they come naturally to you or not. Without the experience of being a leader, it’s always important to understand the traits expected of a person in charge and the traits that can propel your business and your team forward.

1. Compassion

One area that can easily be lost within business — and usually by bad leaders — is an emotional and mental viewpoint. When you’re trying to meet targets and sales, bad leaders can prioritize results over the emotional wellbeing of a team. Compassion is, therefore, an absolute must for leaders who want to succeed.

You can be a skilled and exceptional business professional, but you can lose the loyalty and respect of a team working hard on your behalf if you lack compassion.

Showing compassion is about treating employees or colleagues like people and showing empathy and sensitivity to them as human beings. Overall, it is about caring for your team as much as you care about business targets.

2. Confidence

Try not to mistake confidence for arrogance, as the latter is a very unlikeable trait that will do you no favors when trying to motivate a team. Confidence in this sense is about certainty in what you’re doing and what you’re trying to achieve.

Not only that, but it’s about inspiring the same confidence in those you’re leading. The best leaders will be able to exude confidence in a way that makes employees feel motivated and sure that they’re on the right path. Showing your team members that you’re confident in your decision-making and confident in their abilities as well will help everyone to work more productively.

3. Communication

Good communication takes many forms, and as a business leader, you’ll need to be equipped on many levels. Business communication isn’t just about assigning a task and getting a job done or communicating who is responsible for what. It’s also about building a rapport, holding important conversations, or even just general small talk with your staff.

If you’re failing to communicate well, not only can this mean that business tasks can be misunderstood, but it can also lead to misunderstanding between you and your team. They may not be able to fully get to know you or understand your viewpoint, which can lead to distance between you and your employees.

Open communication is there to help with full transparency, which can garner trust and loyalty from your team.

4. Hard-Working

This goes without saying in business, but it’s extremely important for good leaders. If a team is working hard to meet business demands, but you’re doing nothing other than issuing orders, this can easily breed resentment.

That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t delegate; in fact, knowing when to delegate is important for business leaders, too, to improve efficiency and streamline tasks. Nevertheless, doing your part for the business and working hard with your own tasks, and working on getting the best out of your team is always important.

5. Knowledge in Their Field

Knowledge, experience, and good leadership don’t always go hand-in-hand. You can have a professional extremely qualified and experienced but who lacks the compassion and attitude to lead efficiently. However, those who do have the right traits to be a leader and the right knowledge and experience will flourish.

That’s why it’s always important to develop your own knowledge and experience, no matter what stage you’re at in your career. The more qualified you are, the more knowledge you will have to share with your team and strengthen your position. Often, team members will also feel more confident in those leaders who have the necessary experience and qualifications to work from.

You may want to advance this knowledge by seeking qualifications such as an online dba.

6. A Hands-On Attitude

Good leaders shouldn’t set themselves apart from their team and refuse to muck in. Especially if problems arise or if more manpower is needed, the best leaders aren’t afraid to work alongside their team to drive the best results. Better still, if your team can see you working hard alongside them, they will feel more motivated as well as develop more respect for you.

7. Decision-Making

Being a good leader doesn’t mean being a people-pleaser when it comes to decision-making. Naturally, you’ll want to make decisions that are positive and get the best reactions, but this isn’t always possible. A capable leader will know how to make the tough decisions when needed, and this may include decisions that not everyone will like.

Every business requires someone to make the difficult choices. This could relate directly to the business, to finances, or even personally to a specific employee. As a leader, it’s important to be able to make decisions when needed and sometimes in time-pressured situations.

8. Selflessness

You should always put the needs of your team — and the business — before your own. It’s very easy to become selfish when in a position of authority, but it’s important never to lose sight of the bigger picture and care about those in your team more than yourself.

In being selfless as a leader, you can always make sure that the needs of your employee team are met. This, in turn, will develop a more productive and satisfying working environment which will only benefit the business overall.

Being selfish in your decisions can not only negatively impact your employees’ opinion of you but could also affect the business’s success if employees feel their needs aren’t being met.

9. Fairness

Good management always includes treating every employee the same. While it’s always important to single out exceptional talent or provide positive praise for a job well done, it’s still possible to do this without showing favoritism. You should always be open and fair with every individual working under you and always be prepared to listen and understand every employee on a neutral basis.