Posted on : 6th March 2023

The Qualities of a Good Leader

I think that leadership skills are one of the most important skills you require to start and establish your start-up. When you possess the qualities of a good leader, you are able to direct your business operations efficiently, you are able to keep your employees at their best potential, and you are able to steer your organisation towards countless achievements. Good leadership skills and qualities are not only useful for the authorities but also useful for the individuals wanting to rise above. 

In my 36 years of business experience, I have come across many circumstances that helped me explore the topic of leadership in minute detail. Still, I do not think this crucial topic ends there. Leadership skills are dynamic in nature. Now and then a situation would arise when you would need a whole different perspective on leadership to address it. So, what do you do in such cases? You analyse. You analyse because the essence of leadership rarely changes, which is meant for the greater good of the organisation.

There are a number of leadership styles out there, with pros and cons of their own. Those having the qualities of a good leader need to know about these styles so that they have some sort of standard to measure their leadership skills and qualities. For example—

• Autocratic leadership style is when all your decisions are your own, often with no regard to the opinions/ideas of your subordinates. This leadership style would help you when you have to make quick decisions, but it may result in job dissatisfaction when it comes to your subordinates.
• Democratic leadership style is when your subordinates play an important role in the decision-making process. This leadership style would help you increase engagement, but it may consume a lot of time and may not be suited when you need to make quick decisions. 
• Laissez-faire leadership style is when you give a lot of freedom to your subordinates and provide support as well as resources without micro-managing operations. This is one of the leadership styles that work best when you have a team of experienced and disciplined individuals. However, it may not be suitable if your team needs your constant guidance. 
• Transformational leadership is when you make your subordinates identify with your goals and visions. This style makes use of inspiration and motivation and tends to attribute autonomy to the individuals, resulting in their growth and creativity. However, it may put a lot of pressure on you as a leader. 

There are many such leadership styles that come with their own set of leadership skills. But the qualities of a good leader do have some basics which you need to be familiar with.

Most of the time, you need to undergo leadership development according to the situations you might find yourself in. Sometimes you would need to be autocratic, sometimes democratic, sometimes transformational, sometimes transactional, and so on. But at all times, you need to take care of the welfare and job satisfaction of your team members, you need to be constantly taking your organisation to greater heights, you need to innovate and experiment, and you need to have communication in the clearest and eloquent manner possible. You need to motivate and be motivational, you need to be positive in all circumstances, and you need to take responsibility. 
All such “little” things are important for you to exhibit the qualities of a good leader and be one.

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