3 Key Leadership Qualities Important for Success
The leadership role is key whether a business is large or home-based. A large business – depending upon size - may have leadership resting with just the CEO or it may be shared by the CEO with a board of directors. A home-based business owner wears all the hats including leadership.
Key leadership qualities important for success – and let’s define success as meeting strategic goals – include:
• Ability to see beyond the immediate and beyond the obvious
• Loyalty
• Surrounding yourself with talent
There other qualities and skills inherent in leadership but these are a good place to start.
Ability to see beyond the immediate and beyond the obvious: a leader’s job is to set the big picture vision and lead the strategic planning that will realize the vision. Without a vision there can be no success. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t be able to either devise a method to get there and realize you’re there once you’ve arrived.
Managers see to the business of accomplishing the goals set by the leader’s vision. You have to have something concrete identified to achieve or the management function of your business virtually has nothing to do.
Loyalty: there is a military aspect of loyalty that would be advantageous in a non-military leader and that is “never leave anyone behind.” In times of conflict or when a military team is on a job, if someone is injured every effort is made to make sure the team member returns with the team. If a member is captured by an enemy, again every effort is made to rescue them and bring them back. How many leaders in the business world use this grace for their teams?
How many leaders know their people well enough to recognize when a team member is lagging and would benefit from (a) remedial education or extra training; (b) a day off; (c) inclusion? How many business leaders – whether you’re talking about the company president or a project leader – realize that their efforts are only as good as the team they have? How many leaders understand that giving loyalty to their employees/associates will generate loyalty to them and their vision in return?
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