There are many ways of dividing up the qualities that define what it means to be an effective leader, but in this article, we will take a look at 6 qualities that I believe can guide us. Many of these qualities are interrelated, and they all overlap in very meaningful ways says Peter Decaprio. It would be wrong to say that someone with one or two of them is not an effective leader because many effective leaders have only some of them. But if you excel in more than 2-3 areas, I would suggest you might be ready for challenging leadership roles in your organization.
In this article, we will take a look at 6 qualities:
1. Communicative
This quality is somewhat related to the first one on this list, but not exactly. Effective leaders must be able to communicate their vision and goals in a way that both inspires their team members and creates buy-in from them. This requires an ability to understand what your people need to hear, how they will receive it, and then determine a strategy for communicating that message. This involves being a good listener while also being able to construct your message in a compelling narrative. One of the best communicators around today is Barack Obama, President of the United States from 2009-2017.
In his farewell address, he spoke about values such as empathy, fairness, integrity and citizenship saying “that means working together regardless of party or partisanship”. Here, he is not only inspiring his people to take action, but also distancing himself from the policies of the Republican Party. But perhaps most importantly, he made this speech in an incredibly empathetic way giving us a sense of who he really is as a person and how he views himself in relation to others.
2. People Skills
This quality might seem obvious given that leadership requires managing people directly or indirectly. But for many leaders, building strong relationships with their team members is no easy task. For example, Donald Trump has built a very successful business empire which makes him someone whom other successful businessmen would want to deal with because they know it will be profitable for them. He epitomizes negotiating skills due to his ability to identify the core issues quickly and then use both charm and bluster in order to get what he wants. However, many of these same skills that make him a successful negotiator will not help him become an effective leader because he lacks people skills explains Peter Decaprio. Donald Trump is someone who does not seem to be able to understand the feelings, motives, desires, etc of other people which are essential for strong interpersonal relationships.
3. Visionary
It goes without saying that every organization needs leaders who can see what is coming around the next corner. If organizations did not do this successfully, they would become extinct very quickly due to market forces in today’s world where there are so many different competitors all vying for various markets. The visionary leader keeps his or her ear to the ground and is able to sense what is going on in the world today. This allows them to make good decisions about which markets are going to be profitable, where it would be a good idea to open new facilities, or rather that certain products should be discontinued because they are no longer selling well. In this way, visionary leaders have an eye for trends and can accurately assess where their organization stands with regard to its competition.
4. Inspirational
We all know people who inspire us one way or another. For some of us, these might be family members or close friends who touch our lives in meaningful ways. But effective leaders need to have the ability to inspire large numbers of people. Whether it’s through a pep talk on the football field before a game, or during a speech to shareholders. In which they communicate their vision for future growth says Peter Decaprio. It is essential that inspirational leaders be able to identify what motivates people. And then use this information to inspire them by tapping into their emotions. Without motivation, people will not feel it’s important for them to take risks or work. Because they feel like there is no point in doing so if they can’t get paid well for their efforts.
5. Foresighted
This quality is somewhat related to the second one on this list, but not exactly. An effective leader needs to have both long-term foresight as well as short-term foresight. The long-term foresight allows these leaders to think strategically. About the future of their organization and where they would like for it to go. These leaders are able to anticipate problems early on. So that their organizations can work towards avoiding potential pitfalls in the future. The short-term foresight allows these same leaders to take action now in order to achieve results down the road.
6. Creative Thinker
We live in a very complex world with lots of different things influencing us every single day. We are constantly receiving stimuli from our environment which sometimes overwhelms our senses. Making it harder to think clearly about any given problem. Very often, an effective leader needs to be able to come up with creative solutions. Because there is no one method that has proven 100% effective time and again. It takes creativity and a certain amount of risk-taking in order to try out new things.
Conclusion:
As you can see, being a good leader in the 21st. Century is not just about having strong people skills says Peter Decaprio. It’s important to have many different abilities in order to be successful. Many times, individuals are not aware of the importance of these qualities. When it comes to their career paths or personal lives because. They focus so much on one particular trait which seems to stick out at them more than anything else. But by spending some time thinking deeply about what makes an effective leader. They might be able to recognize the areas in which they need to improve in order to strengthen themselves overall.