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Most people associate the word “leader” with a person in a leadership position at work, say the company CEO. You can be a true leader if you motivate, empower, and guide others towards success. As a leader, you will also need to set out clear goals, provide clarity of purpose, and guide your company to realise its mission.
Since your company is likely to have individuals with diverse capabilities and talents, it’s your responsibility as a leader to ensure that individual efforts are invested in achieving the collective goal.
If you want to know the signs of a good leader at work, we bring you a list of five signs to look for.
1. Having a Clear Vision and Distinct Goals
Good leaders will set a clear vision for their team and company. A leader’s commitment to a single vision can give the individual members of the team a specific direction and motivate others to follow that course.
Setting clearly defined goals is equally important. Ideally, the goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based (SMART) to drive the team to success.
Leaders must use clear and precise communication to explain what their vision and goals are, along with what they expect from their team members. This will help people understand what they should prioritise and how they can process to achieve what’s expected of them.
2. Knowing the Team Well and Building Trust
In cricket, there’s a saying: a captain is only as good as his team. It applies to a leader at work as well. Good leaders spend time to know their teams well, from the passion, values, and interests of individual team members to their career goals, aspirations, and more. Additionally, they show genuine care for others.
Good leaders also express themselves openly and honestly to build an environment of trust, empathy, and compassion. They don’t shy away from seeking feedback and opinions from their team and encourage people to voice their concerns, if any.
Knowing the team well helps in the delegation of work based on individual team member’s strengths and development goals, which can act as the foundation for their professional and personal growth. Creating a favourable work environment where people can trust each other and collaborate easily can boost the team’s productivity, which will have a significant impact on the company’s bottom line.
3. Inspiring Others
This is one of the key signs of a good leader. Leaders can inspire their team members to reach great heights of performance, thus helping their company in the process. By sharing their goals and vision that the team understands and adopts as its own, leaders can push their team members to be the best version of themselves and achieve the predetermined goals without leaving sight of the vision.
Leaders can stir the mind, heart, and spirit and encourage people to share their knowledge and expertise. They encourage collaboration, collective brainstorming, innovative thinking, and even constructive criticism. Collectively, these contribute to building loyalty and motivating people to deliver excellent performance.
4. Being Accountable
Good leaders believe in walking the talk. When they expect high standards from their people, they are the ones to walk right in front and show exactly what they mean. Being accountable is one of the key signs of a good leader.
Holding themselves accountable for results and even their errors is a true leader’s way of adhering to high standards at work. As leaders, their team’s work decides whether they will swim or sink. But instead of blaming others, good leaders take responsibility for the outcome and are willing to jump in and handle some of the work themselves, thus inspiring their team members to succeed.
5. Giving Credit and Recognition Where Due
True leaders believe in creating a culture of appreciation at work. Giving credit and recognition, where due, is their way of doing it. From thanking and acknowledging the efforts of their team members to giving them rewards, leaders use various ways to show how they value the work their people are doing.
Such acknowledgment of team members’ efforts helps create a positive work environment and boosts morale. It also encourages people to invest more effort to accomplish the desired goals, which leads to the building of an amazing and motivated workforce.
Final Words
Your company’s leadership can have a significant impact on your corporate culture and employee engagement. One of the key signs of good leaders is to know what matters most to employees and put their people first.
While some are born leaders, others train themselves to be good leaders by learning, nurturing, and implementing what they have learnt in real life. When it comes to the top five signs of a good leader at work, having a clear vision and distinct goals, knowing the team well and building trust, inspiring others, being accountable, and giving credit and recognition where due sit at the top of the list.
To recruit leaders for your company’s executive roles, contact us at InHunt World today!
This article was written by Sonali