Powerful traits of successful leaders

Successful leaders are the power and intellect behind their organizations. They are the visionaries charged with steering their brand around pitfalls. They must know when to seize opportunities and how to rally employees to work hard toward their company’s goals.

Effective leaders transcend the title of “manager” or “boss.” They have found a way to achieve the right combination of charisma, enthusiasm and self-assurance, probably with a healthy dose of luck and timing.

It may seem like some people are just gifted with these skills, but the truth is most leadership traits can be learned and sharpened with time and practice. You can begin building your success by developing these traits of a powerful and successful leader.

1. Self-managing

It’s hard to manage others effectively if you can’t manage yourself. Self-managing means being able to prioritize your goals and being responsible for accomplishing those objectives. As an effective leader, you must be able to regulate your time, attention and emotions, while remaining aware of your strengths, weaknesses and potential sources of bias.

2. Acting strategically

A forward-thinking, open-minded approach is necessary for today’s leaders. According to a Harvard Business Publishing report, Leading Now: Critical Capabilities for a Complex World, “Leaders must always be prepared to adjust their strategies to capture emerging opportunities or tackle unexpected challenges.” Thinking strategically is an ongoing process that involves assessing your business environment. You can cultivate strategic thinking by:

• Being flexible in your mindset and trying new approaches and ideas,
• Focusing on the future and thinking about your company’s operational conditions, and
• Maintaining a positive outlook.

3. Being an effective communicator

Powerful leaders know when to talk and when to listen. They are effective communicators and are able to clearly and succinctly explain to their employees everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. If people don’t understand or aren’t aware of your expectations, they will fall short, so the more specific you can be, the better.

You need to be able to communicate on all levels: one on one, to the department and to the entire staff, as well as via phone, email and social media. Communication is built on a steady flow of verbal and nonverbal exchanges of ideas and information, so work on being approachable and involving people from different levels.

4. Being accountable and responsible

Successful managers know how to use power and authority appropriately without overwhelming or overpowering employees. Effective leaders hold themselves accountable and take responsibility for their own mistakes—and they expect others to do the same. They can work within established procedures, and be productive and efficient in their decisions.

5. Setting clear goals and persisting in achieving them

Here is a boiled-down version for acquiring charisma: Set clear goals and be determined and purposeful in achieving them. Back it all up with unshakable self-confidence. If you radiate enthusiasm and are truly excited about what you’re doing, people will be naturally drawn to you.

Remember that writing your goals down is key to the success of both you and your company. But accomplishing those goals takes time. If you give up, so will everyone around you. To be a successful leader, you must be willing to keep going when others are tempted to throw in the towel.

6. Having a vision for the future

Exceptional leaders have the ability to look into their company’s future and make clear, concrete goals that will benefit their organization. They are confident and optimistic, inspiring enthusiasm in those around them.

Being a visionary is about managing change while striking a balance between stability and growth. You must incorporate new approaches without getting distracted from the main goals.

7. Managing complexity

Leaders must be problem solvers who can make decisions under rapidly shifting circumstances. Learning to lead in a complex environment is a vital skill for any leader. Even before any definitive information is available, effective leaders must assess a situation’s complexity and choose appropriate courses of action.

According to a Harvard Business Publishing report, that means being able to scan the environment in search of subtle trends and indicators of disruptive change, and establish practices that allow your organization to respond swiftly.

8. Fostering creativity and innovation

Leaders must have the courage to risk experimentation and encourage creativity. Doing this will foster the innovation that will steer your organization to new destinations and around the twists and turns of a changing business landscape.

The key is to always be persistent in pursuing your goals, and open minded and flexible in how you get there. Encourage the people around you to spend at least 15 percent of their time exploring new ideas through brainstorming and prototyping.