leadership qualities traits and expectations

Strong leaders exhibit decisiveness, vision, and strong communication skills. They are unafraid to take risks, but do so wisely and with the willingness to take responsibility for mistakes or even failure. Faced with failure, crisis, or difficult challenges, strong leaders respond gracefully, with a determination to overcome the obstacle and continue to commit to the vision of the organization. Yet strong leaders are also flexible, open-minded, interested in soliciting feedback from members of the team and welcoming dissent and constructive criticism because those alternative views help with creative problem solving.

Not all leaders are effective in one-on-one personal relationships, but all have the ability to reach out to teams, groups, organizations, and their stakeholders with a clear message. Even though strong leaders differ in their style and approach, with some responding differently to situational variables, strong leaders are ultimately willing to pass the torch and empower others with more knowledge and experience in a given area to take charge on a given project. Therefore, the strongest leaders tend to be both transformational and situational.

I prefer leaders that are both visionary and humble, ones that stick to their mission and vision but are also willing to make strategic changes when they recognize the core principles are more important than the outcomes they had hoped for during their strategic planning phase. Strong leaders do have a degree of charisma, which helps new followers buy into the vision and retains core talent in the organization even when times are tough (Fries, 2018).

Similarly, I also prefer leaders who remain passionate about their vision because their enthusiasm spills over into the team (Le Phan, 2017). The reason why qualities like passion, enthusiasm, vision, and charisma prove enduring and important traits in a leader is that good leaders encourage employees to be engaged. Engaged employees or followers are more likely to recognize the shared values and visions that drew them to their organizations or missions, and less likely to jump ship at the first sign of turmoil.

While engaged employees are not necessarily self-sacrificial, they are willing to put aside personal differences, ego, and mundane concerns because they believe in the overall values and principles. In fact, I have also been drawn to the servant-leadership model because of my belief in bigger picture issues. When weak leaders are in charge, they tend to cling to outmoded beliefs and plans (Jones, 2015). Instead of steering the ship in the right direction to avert the crisis and steady the vessel, they succumb to the pressure.

They break down in different ways, such as by becoming more authoritarian and rigid. Others do the opposite and defer, take a step back, and become indecisive. In fact, strong leaders do neither of these things. The strong leader remains confident and decisive, willing to empower members of the team to reach shared goals. Other members of the team do need to compensate when weak leaders are in charge, and it is sometimes during crises like these that new leaders emerge from the ashes of the old.

When one leader proves ineffective, the other team members notice and will rally behind those that are actually getting the job done. I have been in these types of situations and scenarios before. When I have been on a team that has an ineffective—and in some cases actually dangerous leader—I have worked hard to form allies on the team. I have focused on the positive things, such as our shared vision, rather than bad.