The need for great leadership cannot be overemphasized or downplayed. Families, communities, organizations, and countries of the world will either get better or become worse given its leader. This makes the discourse on leadership very important. Everybody wants to lead. However, not everyone who longs to lead can record outstanding success in leadership. In essence, not every leader can be called a ‘great leader’. To this extent, this article seeks to identify the attributes of a great leader.
Vision
Exceptional leaders are leaders who are loaded with insight into the problems of the people they lead and possess the foresight to help the followers get rid of such burdens. Visions are having a clear idea of what must be done and how it must be done to create a memorable impact. Visionless leaders are never great leaders. Their leadership comes with no positive impact on the followers. A leader with a vision is constantly on the move and s/he is loved by the followers because his/her leadership activities have a direct impact on the people’s life.
Tangible Goals
Vision gives birth to goals. That is to say that goals are concrete achievements of what vision had conceived. Goal places such a burden on the leader and puts him on his toes at all times. It is motivation and clear leadership actions that will determine if the leaders have succeeded or failed. Goals are geared towards solving problems. Great leaders identify problems and set out to solve them. As a principle, great leaders do not dwell on problems; they are more interested in the ways to surmount them. Any leader who complains and whines about problems, will not become a great leader. Great leaders direct their energy away from anxiety or worry to strategizing for solutions.
Outstanding communication Skills.
Great leaders possess excellent communication skills. This is what helps to relay their visions and goals to the understanding of the followers. If a leader lacks the relevant knowledge and methods to communicate his visions and goals; he can not attain greatness. A great leader is an excellent communicator. He understands the significance of having everyone under him align with his vision and goals. So, he sets out to passionately convey the vision, goals, and general culture of his team to all. His ability to pass information effectively and get the necessary feedback from the people he is leading is what guarantees his success in leadership. He does not just talk but he talks with conviction and can inspire action from the followers in a bit to achieve the set goals.
Ability to Lead by Example
One of the greatest excellent leadership traits is leading by example. Great leaders do not only issue commands or lead from the rear. Rather, they are always in the forefront. They inspire the people by their actions. Great leaders understand and believe that there should be an agreement between their words and actions. Hence, they live and work the talk towards ensuring that the team’s goal is accomplished.
Ability to Take Responsibility.
Great leaders do not engage in shifting of blame. They take responsibility. When things go wrong, even if they are not directly responsible for the error or failure, they immediately own up to it and remedy whatever may have gone wrong. This ability builds with them the consciousness that things should always be done the right way. Followers of this kind of leader repose a high level of respect and loyalty in him/her. This, he/she becomes an outstanding, great, exceptional, and inspiring leader.
Ability to nurture his team
There is a common saying that leaders who fail to reproduce themselves in their followers are never good leaders. This implies that a leader should possess the ability to raise and nurture his/her team en route to the achievement of the set goals.
Alluding to the fact of the uniqueness of every member of the team, the leader will be required to exercise extreme patience to accomplish this task. Thus a leader who succeeds in this regard is inarguably a great leader.
Exceptional leaders do not merely raise a team of followers, rather they grow a team of leaders. Why does a great leader build a team? He does so because he understands that great visions are not accomplished by an individual. It takes the collective effort of like-minded people to achieve a vision of magnificent proportions. A great leader takes up the task of teaching, training, mentoring, correcting, reshaping, and placing members of his team in positions where they have the ability to serve.
Always Showing Appreciation
Great leaders are consistently conscious of the contribution of every member of the team. In view of the understanding that every member’s contribution is essential for the overall success of the team; he/she constantly praises, appreciates, and motivates the team members in various ways. He does not arrogate the worth and distinction for which the team is known to himself alone. He shares the team’s glory by recognizing the roles played by each member. His ability to prove that he is not power-hungry or unnecessarily pursuing a selfish ambition endears him more to his followers or team members.
Courage to Risk
Leadership can be very intimidating, especially in the face of daunting challenges. It is at such a time that the leader must prove himself or herself worthy of his/her. Ordinary leaders are distinguished from great leaders when leadership decisions have a tendency to backfire with no better alternative in view. While the ordinary leader may shy away from taking risks, the great leader recognizes that life itself is a risk. So, he embraces such situations. He combines his instinct with his knowledge and wealth of experience to take a courageous step. He is not afraid of failure. If he fails, he picks himself up and continues the race; but if he succeeds, that becomes the beginning of his greatness because he assumes a larger-than-life portrait in the eyes of his followers and team members.
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