8 Traits of Being a Good Leader
If you’ve been in the business world for a while, you’ve probably had your share of good bosses and bad bosses. I know I have. And I can spot a good one—and a bad one—from a mile away.
Good bosses embody certain traits or characteristics that we all admire and want to emulate. There are eight that are particularly important. Some are teachable—you can learn them on the job, in leadership classes or business school. Some, however, just aren’t teachable. You either have them or you don’t. But to succeed, you need them all.
#1: Communication
Communication is vital to any good relationship, especially a business relationship. Communicating with your employees adds to their effectiveness if you give them consistent feedback, letting them know your expectations, rewarding good performance, and, if you’re lucky, only occasionally correcting mistakes or bad behavior.
I spend roughly two-thirds of my time working with people—listening to their challenges, coaching them, giving them career advice, or talking to my direct reports at length about their own teams. Very rarely do I have to bark orders. They take ownership of a task and go with it, and they are able to do so because we’ve communicated with each other what we need to be aligned on.
#2: Collaboration
You must be a team player to succeed in today’s business environment. As a manager, that means leading your team and encouraging that collaboration. That’s difficult, because it’s one of four uncoachable traits that I’ve identified. All you can do is create an environment that promotes collaboration and give your employees a chance to work together.
That doesn’t just mean managing down. It’s also being a working part of the management team, collaborating with your peers, and putting the wellbeing of the team above any individual achievement.
#3: Accountability
Accountability means fostering trust, executing with a sense of urgency, and taking pride in the quality of your work. You must be accountable for your actions and the actions of your team. You can’t pass blame for failure to one of your reports. That’s not fair. You represent the team. Share the successes, but take the blame.
This is the second of the four uncoachable traits—either you have it or you don’t. Be sure you surround yourself with accountable people who will work hard and work well so you never have to take the blame.
#4: Positivity
Here’s another uncoachable trait. You notice these people right away—they never complain and always work toward a solution. This trait is important because when your team faces adversity, which it inevitably will, being positive means that they’ll roll up their sleeves and dive into the challenge. When people tend to lean the other way, they will be the first to gripe, blame others and question your leadership when the going gets tough.
Being positive also has a way of becoming infectious. If you’re self-assured and put forward that image of confidence, it will rub off on your employees, and they’ll be happier and more productive.
#5: Integrity
The last of my uncoachable traits, this one may be the most important. Always do what’s right, no matter what the consequences are, and hold others to that same standard.
Never hire a person who lacks integrity. It will come back to haunt you every single time. This is tough to identify up front though, so if you figure it out after the fact and have an opportunity to weed them out of your team, do so. Usually they’ll trip themselves up with a dishonest or embarrassing incident that shows their true colors.
#6: Trust
If someone has all the uncoachable traits, then you trust that person. Trust is a fragile thing; once it’s betrayed, it’s hard, if not impossible, to get back. So as a manager—and as a member of the management team—never break someone’s trust.
You must also trust your team to do a good job without constantly watching over them. If you can’t, then you can’t do your job, and that becomes a problem.
#7: Perseverance
Never give up. Very rarely does life hand you anything on a silver platter. You have to work, and work hard, to get to where you want to go. Sometimes that means putting in long hours at the office, and sometimes it means being in jobs you don’t like.
In fact, this is probably one of the most important lessons I learned while at MIT - perseverance is more important than raw intelligence. How to frame a problem is the most important part of solving that problem, and often takes dogged persistence to frame correctly.
It’s also important to set goals for yourself and for your team so you always know what to shoot for. Think of it as your North Star, your guiding light that drives your actions, your motivations, and your planning.
#8: Humility
You’ll go a long way once you realize that you don’t know everything. Always be seeking knowledge, admit when you’re wrong or don’t know the answer, and people will respect you more.
Spread the credit when recognized, and be sure your team gets most of it. And keep in mind that no one likes a cocky person. You can be confident and self-assured, but don’t be arrogant. True confidence is hard won through experiences, and you’ll always learn something from someone who’s had experiences that you haven’t.
