Qualities of a Good Leader

A leader shapes the behaviour of his followers for achievement of common goals. He builds plans and strategies, and then, helps his followers to execute these plans and strategies. He organizes his followers and mobilize them for accomplishment of their aims. He provides a direction and vision to his followers which guide them throughout the course of action.  

Effective leadership is indispensable for the productivity of the teamwork. The qualities of a good leader are as follows:

1. Creative: A good leader is a creative person. He has an innovative mind. He always comes up with good ideas, plans, strategies and solutions. His creativity enables him to consider various dimensions of a phenomenon to deal with it effectively. His innovative mind enables him as well as his followers to handle the evolving challenges during their journey to attain their goals.
2. Interest in collective uplift rather than personal gain: A good leader is always concerned about the collective betterment of the followers rather than his personal gains. He is never a self-centered or selfish person. He always thinks for the collective uplift of the group. He may even make sacrifices for the collective betterment of the group. He also instills this sense of collective uplift in his followers.
3. Responsible: A good leader has a sense of responsibility. He does not take his duty for granted and always acts seriously to avoid any possible risk. He is always ready to accept responsibility for his actions, and therefore, he acts tactfully to avoid any negative consequences. He is also capable of injecting this sense of responsibility into his followers.  
4. Self-confidence: A good leader has confidence in his abilities. He believes in his expertise and qualities to perform well. Failures never lower his spirit, and he keeps trying his best until he succeeds. He also raises the confidence levels of his followers to empower them for performing their actions.
5. Persistence: A good leader has the quality of persistence. He is never discouraged by challenges and keeps going until he achieves the goals. He knows that challenges are part of the process and persistence is the key to success. He also inspires his follower to remain persistent and never be discouraged by challenging circumstances.
6. Sympathetic: A good leader is sympathetic towards his followers. The leader basically directs the followers to initiate and sustain their actions. However, a good leader does not only give strict directions but also cooperate with them by emotionally involving with them whenever it is required.
7. Intelligent and Knowledgeable: A good leader is an intelligent person. He has enough knowledge about various aspects of their common goals and strategies to achieve these goals. He knows problem-solving. He knows how to enhance the productivity of teamwork. He knows how to utilize resources in a sustainable manner. He has expertise in the area of his work. Using his intelligence and knowledge, he is able to make the best of qualities of his followers in the pursuit of their aims.
8. High tolerance and patience: A leader may experience many stressful situations during the course of his actions. The stressful situation includes unexpected losses, internal conflicts among the followers, resource shortage, and sudden changes in working procedure due to evolving nature of problems. A good leader demonstrates high tolerance and patience in such situations to deal with them effectively.
9. Optimistic: A good leader is an optimist who always sees the positive aspects of various phenomena. He is always hopeful that their efforts would lead to fruitful outcomes. He never disappoints himself as well as never let his followers disappoint in adverse conditions.
10. Honest: A good leader is an honest person. He remains sincere in his duties. He never engages in fraudulent activities. He is also sincere to his followers. He also instills this sense of honesty and sincerity in his followers.
11. Role Model: A good leader is a role model for his followers. A leader is a source of inspiration for his followers who follow him in everything. Therefore, a good leader always demonstrates great qualities such as devotion to duty and perseverance. Adopting these qualities by the follower assures the overall success of the team.
12. Credible: A good leader is a credible person. If a leader is not trusted by his follower, he cannot influence the behavior of his followers positively. Therefore, a good leader maintains his credibility through his actions.
13. Problem Solver: A good leader is a problem solver. Problems are part of any endeavor. There are some expected problems as well as some unexpected problems. A good leader has the ability to resolve both the expected as well as unexpected problems. He is always mentally ready to devise strategies according to the evolving nature of the endeavor. He has alternative plans to address unexpected situations.
14. Democratic: Though a leader has a superior role in the group, he always remains democratic towards his followers. He always involves the followers in decision making regarding planning and execution of strategies. He values the ideas and opinions of his followers. He never imposes his decisions on the followers. He always provides space to the followers so that their useful input can be made part of all tasks of the team.
15. Motivation: A good leader is a source of motivation for his follower. The leader has a drive and passion towards the attainment of the goals. He also instills this drive and passion in his followers by encouraging them and raising their spirit. He may also use certain appreciation certificates and acknowledgement medals to motivate his followers.
16. Communication skills: A good leader has good communication skills. He knows the art of communication. He conveys his message to the followers effectively and listens to their stances carefully. He has a convincing power. He presents logical arguments to justify his verdict. He interacts with his followers frequently to maintain the channel of communication.