Leadership Characteristics

Organised

Part of being a successful leader is that you need to be organised. Leading people is not something that happens by accident. Rather, it is a planned set of behaviours that over time create an environment where people want to work with you rather than just for you.

I am well organised and everything has a place.
I prioritise work activities and act on them accordingly.
I set regular and routine meetings with others to keep them informed of work progress and actions that need to be taken.
I usually plan activities in advance and prepare to complete them on time.
I usually keep a diary or checklist that contains information of work completed and any work that still needs to be completed.

Forward-thinking

To become a better leader, you will want to develop your capacity to envision the future. Focusing on the future sets leaders apart. The capacity to imagine and promote exciting future possibilities is a defining characteristic and can be developed over time.

I usually put strategies into place to achieve future visions.
I usually think about 'what's next?' when working on something.
I usually consider various possibilities for a particular event, issue or challenge and I am prepared to take risks.
Although the day-to-day operations are important, I am able to see a 'bigger picture' of an outcome and make decisions accordingly.
I like to encourage others to see a 'big picture' of an idea.

Relationship-building

Building relationships is one of the strongest skills sets related to leadership effectiveness. Building and maintaining relationships motivates others to work well and create an environment of open and honest sharing which leads to team effectiveness.

If a team member has not completed their task to a particular standard, I speak to him or her in private and look at ways to improve work output.
I am usually decisive and able to get consensus through listening to the ideas and opinions of others.
When issues or challenges arise, I take time to consider options before responding to those involved.
I collaborate with others to complete work, particularly when there is time pressure.
I usually ensure that I include my team when discussing issues or generating ideas and resolutions.

Inspirational

The ability to inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success is a skill that leaders need. Passion, purpose, listening and meaning help make a leader inspirational. The ability to communicate that passion, purpose and meaning to others helps establish an inspirational culture.

I am usually passionate about what I do and have a bigger vision and direction.
I aim to achieve excellence in anything that I undertake to complete.
I usually share my vision with others that I work with and listen to their ideas so that a joint vision may be developed and achieved.
I work with integrity, in other words, I am completely honest in all that I say and do.
I believe that success is not just down to one person, but the result of everyone putting in their best efforts

Knowledgeable

Knowledgeable leaders must have a large range of information and knowledge at their disposal. This means they read widely and communicate this knowledge effectively to the people they lead. It is much easier for people to trust someone who seems to be up to date with current affairs.

When working in a particular area, I have knowledge about the methods, processes, techniques and equipment required to complete the work.
I usually take time to read information about the industry I work in and get to know details of that particular industry.
I have detailed understanding of the final output of a particular project or work activity.
I typically share information about a project, product or service with those that I work with.
I take time to get to know the people I work with, their strengths and weaknesses and how to best utilise those to complete a project.

Based on your response, you may want to work on the following areas.

Organised

Being well organised typically means greater productivity and is a key skill for effective leadership. Team members tend to respond well to a leader who is well organised and has "everything in place". Organisation starts with understanding how the many different levels and layers of the business work, and how to interact with every layer in the company. There are a number of software apps that can act as a business dashboard, bringing all elements into the one visual space and reducing potential for neglecting items or missing critical deadlines.

A structured approach to completing tasks, and being challenged to work at their optimum by accepting delegated tasks, enables team members to reach their set objectives. Good organisational skills involve the ability to delegate efficiently, but many leaders struggle to become proficient at this. You can form your leadership skills through experiential learning and/or mentoring with others in your network, then foster them through regular practice. Self-assess your organisational capabilities/skills and identify what comes more naturally to you. For those capabilities you find more difficult, formulate a plan to progressively cultivate or advance those relevant skills.

Forward-thinking

Leadership has evolved over time, but five areas of focus have remained constant as key functions of effective leaders, all of which underpin a single question: "where are we going?"

Forward-thinking leaders who can envision and focus on the future set themselves apart from other leaders. To envision the future enables you to see beyond current challenges and plan for the long-term future. In a dynamic global environment ventures using only predictive logic that may have produced successful results in the past may produce poor future results.

Forward-thinking helps to effectively navigate through uncertainty and an unpredictable future by constructing a greater vision of the potential and possibilities that may occur in the future. Entrepreneurs continually look for early patterns that predict emerging changes to lifestyle trends or other aspects that may impact the business. Early identification of trends enables leaders to allocate how the combination of people, money, resources and organisational capabilities will enable the company to reach the envisaged future.

Forward-thinking is also about being open-minded to new possibilities, diverse ideas and unconventional methods in your approach to leading and managing. To achieve this, you need to probe changing trends within the company's internal and external environment. Build a system to track relevant changes and keep you informed. This typically involves engaging the entire business to gather new ideas from multiple sources. Encouraging everyone to participate creates a cohesive team and can develop a forward-thinking culture within the organisation.

As you develop this key quality, you will begin to spot opportunities in day to day operations, and sharpen the skill of anticipatory thinking.

Relationship-building

An effective leader is one who builds appropriate, positive relationships with those she or he works with. The foundation of any good working relationship is trust and transparency. A leader who can be trusted to make the right decisions at the right time and be transparent in the delivery of information to, and expectations of, the team, encourages the same interaction from team members.

Humility is another an important aspect in building relationships: the ability to own your mistakes and share the successes achieved. Transparency of this nature inspires trust in you and is a foundational element in successful partnerships. Building solid relationships generates greater efficiency through individual and team development, and creation of a strong productive internal culture which results in a positive impact across the entire business. Strong, healthy relationships help you build a community where people internal and external to the business will feel valued, capable, confident and loyal.

Relationship building also relates to you being adept at building robust personal networks, and using external networks where necessary, to bring in expert opinion and/or skills to help in problem solving.

Inspirational

Inspirational leadership is not an innate skill. It is about supplying a shared vision and inspiring people to achieve extraordinary things they never dreamt they would be able to. You set the standards that your team will follow. You must embody what you ask of others, acting as the role model and an example to others.

A key characteristic of being inspiring and motivating others is to not only set high standards and expectations, but also to continuously encourage the team's efforts and support people in achieving the challenges set.

An inspirational leader is an authentic individual who creates enthusiasm, empowers others and instills confidence in those they lead, generating a can-do attitude and a fun work environment. People engage on an emotional level and commit more deeply when they are expected to think, innovate to solve problems and are not penalised for making mistakes if the process leads to positive solutions.

To be seen as inspirational by your team, you need to identify what traits will encourage your employees to strive for the extraordinary, then develop those and integrate them into your daily management practices.

Knowledgeable

Knowledgeable leaders have the answers, or know where to find the answers by gathering relevant information and converting it into mental structures or diagrammatic representations that organise the information in a meaningful way. They hold a depth and breadth of facts, experience, and current information on the business opportunity and in the operational running of the business. Continually building knowledge and in-depth experience within an area of expertise not only brings stability to the team, but continues to develop a core-competence for the business.

Developing a depth of knowledge will enable you to use past events to constructively plan for and change the future using evidence-based decisions to advise and respond to people and challenges appropriately.

Continual curiosity and a passion for the business engenders a natural desire to deepen your level of knowledge. Knowledge does not need to be bounded by the business, as a wide band of knowledge will help you to consider complex organisational issues and enable you to develop alternative and appropriate strategies to adapt and change direction as necessary to move the business forward.