What Makes You a Great Leader? : Quintessential Trailblazers Leading the Charge
Whom would you choose? —A leader or a boss? What would you adhere to? —Principles or Process? We have always seen posts on various social media platforms, especially on LinkedIn about leadership. We must have also seen the difference between a boss and a leader. Well put, a great leader invariably possesses exceptional qualities apart from being a rude and selfish boss. For decades, the world has witnessed the emergence of influential leaders such as Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Falguni Nayar, etc. What made them special was their passion for driving their respective businesses as well as extremely hard work.
Additionally, as new technologies emerge with the new day and in the fast-paced business world, individuals with a passion for business in their hearts and the ability to strive for success must follow a path of leadership with essential fundamentals. Below are some of the important factors in modern leadership.
What Makes You a Great Leader?
- Trust and Faith: Being a great leader does not mean you must micro-manage. Professionals from all corporate domains should have faith and trust in their employees. A true leader always believes in the work of employees and helps them whenever needed.
- Calm and Understanding: There come various critical situations wherein handling furious clients, salary mishaps, the reputation of the company, etc., become matters of concern that need the complete and mindful attention of the leader. If the leader hastily makes decisions without even acknowledging the problem, it might turn into a disaster. What befriends the understanding aspect is calmness and it helps leaders in controlling the situations.
- Helpful: Executives in command have in-depth knowledge as well as excellent problem-solving skills. Apart from this, they have vast experience that could assist others in their upliftment. Unfortunately, sometimes, these individuals lack in offering help and are unaware of opening the doors of knowledge to others. In such cases, employees work under pressure and in a captive environment. To solve this, a great leader must understand the importance of effective communication that will help in healthily delegating their knowledge and experience.
- Empathy: ‘Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life,’ says Jakie Chan, the most famous Chinese American actor. Having and showing empathy for your colleagues and other employees is of the utmost importance. Putting oneself in another person’s shoes is indeed a difficult task, however, sympathetic responses can miraculously uplift the morals of employees and teach lessons for building their future leadership patterns.
- Futuristic: ‘A well-planned future strategy always works and flourishes the business.’ It is hard to predict what lies ahead, however, being able to project future scenarios and take actions according to it. Moreover, with new trends coming, a great leader in business must always think ahead of time. Whether it is a technology or business strategy, upgrading the whole system from time to time considering future success is a fundamental aspect of the business industry.
- Out-of-the-box Thinking: Blue sky thinking is the need of the era as everyone is coming with fresh perspectives. Although everyone is following the trend, only a few of them can succeed in their ways. In this case, out-of-the-box thinking comes to the rescue. While others are just lost sheep in the crowd, a creative leader always comes up with unique ideas to take the business to the next level.
- Communication: Despite having numerous advanced electronic devices and fast internet on our side, we hesitate to connect. We take a step back when it comes to communicating the subject matter. A modern leader needs to establish a strong communication network within the team for seamless operations.
Apart from these qualities, today’s leadership also needs outspoken personalities who can deliver their thoughts without any hesitation. This can and will be helpful in the successful growth of the business. Moreover, showing gratitude towards your employees and people who helped you in your success journey is supreme. Also, updating the business to digital platforms is a need of the era and every great leader must have a keen eye on digitalization and expanding the business globally.