5 Characteristics Of A Great Leader

A lot is expected of leaders. As they lead, they grow in their abilities and skills. When looking at the leaders around you, you will be able to notice the best of them. Below are five characteristics of a great leader. 

1. Empathy

Our first characteristic of a great leader is empathy. As a leader, it is important that you care about how others feel, especially those who you are leading. When leaders don't care about those under them, they end up more like dictators. 

As their leader, the more you connect with what your people need and want, the better you will be able to lead them. Some ways for you to show empathy are to listen to concerns that are brought to you and to ask how people are doing. Asking gives them a chance to tell you so that you can help them with those problems.

2. Strength

The second characteristic of a great leader is strength. This typically does not refer to physical abilities but rather mental ones. Leaders have to deal with a lot of things and protect their group from numerous problems. 

You must be a strong person to handle the strain of that effort and the strain of protecting your group. Some ways for you to demonstrate that strength is to handle the stress of your position well and get rid of it through good outlets, and to maintain a good attitude even when things aren't going as planned. 

3. Open-Minded

The third characteristic of great leaders is that they need to have open minds. One of the worst things that you can do is lead with a closed mind. If you continually think a certain way such as that your way is the best and you believe that nothing else other than your way can work, you might get lucky at first. 

But eventually, your close-mindedness will catch up and cause you problems, hurting your leadership abilities and those under you. Some ways that you can practice being open-minded is to seek out information that you don't agree with and to talk openly with people who hold beliefs that are different from yours.

4. Accountable

Being accountable is the fourth characteristic of a great leader. Being responsible for your decisions, whether the outcome is good or bad, is a hard thing to do. But the very greatest leaders will always hold themselves and those around them accountable for their actions. 

Ways to help you stay accountable are to have a friend or other accountable person to regularly evaluate what you are doing, keep a diary or calendar to help you keep track of what needs to get done, and don't get distracted or flake out when things get hard. 

5. Good Communicator

The fifth characteristic of a great leader is to be a good communicator. Being a leader is all about communication. You can’t lead any group of people if you aren’t able to communicate with them. Lack of communication is not the only possible problem. If you aren’t able to communicate well, you might miscommunicate and confuse the people who you are talking to. 

Some ways to improve your communication abilities are to take speech classes and to practice communicating. For those who are introverted or those who have social anxiety, it can be hard to talk to large groups of people. 

Seeing a doctor can help with your social anxiety will make things easier on you. But overall, doing more public speaking will help you become more comfortable and confident. Public speaking is one of the largest fears that humans have but it still remains a very important skill for leaders to have.