Introduction

Shakespeare once said "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and
some have greatness thrust upon them." This is applicable to leaders as well. Some are
born leaders (well, that's debatable), some achieve leadership positions by their hard
work and some have leadership positions thrust upon them. Whatever the case may be,
there are some distinctive qualities of a good or great leader. Some are related to the
personality traits, some to the character traits and some to the strategies employed by a
leader.
Personality traits of a leader basically refer to his unique behavioral,
temperamental and mental attributes. In short, his general disposition and the way he
thinks, acts and feels. Like if he is a pessimist, optimist, idealist or realist, whether he is
self-directed or needs encouragement, confident or lacks it, whether he likes to work
alone or with people, whether he is short tempered or patient, whether impulsive or
thoughtful, whether he takes decisions fast or dawdles, whether open to new ideas and
people or psychologically closed, etc. all the little things that make up a person. Strategy
refers to the plan of action of a leader, the road map that he takes to get where he
wants to. While personality traits and strategy are important elements that make/mar a
leader, it is the character traits of a leader that determine how influential a leader he is
or can become.






Character Traits of a Good Leader

Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be
without the strategy - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
The above quote highlights the importance of the character traits of a leader. What is
character? It is nothing but the unique attributes, qualities or inner strength of a person,
often referring to the moral and ethical fiber of the individual. Following are some
character traits of a good leader. Before you proceed, you might like to take a look at
the leadership traits.

1. Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is the fundamental basis from which leadership grows. It was
among the first leadership traits researchers identified, and it has recently received
considerable attention as a major contributor to leadership effectiveness. Trying to
teach leadership without first building confidence is like building a house on a
foundation of sand. It may have a nice coat of paint, but it is ultimately shaky at best.
While the leadership community has focused on passion, communication, and
empowerment, they've ignored this most basic element and in the process they have
planted these other components of leadership in a bed of quicksand.
In addition to being self-confident, the leader must project that self-confidence to
the group. He or she may do so by using unequivocal wording, maintaining good
posture, and making appropriate gestures such as pointing an index finger outward.
Self-confidence is not only a personality trait. It also refers to a behavior an
interpersonal skill that a person exhibits in a number of situations. It is akin to being cool
under pressure.

2. Honesty

In leadership, honesty is a very important virtue, as leaders serve as role models
for their subordinates. Subordinates have faith in their leaders as they follow them. If a
leader is not honest, his or her followers will get the wrong message. This, in turn, will
spread dishonesty through every level of the organization. The result of a dishonest act
will always bring bad results for the organization as a whole.
Jim Kouzes and Barry Posners are two prominent leadership researchers. They
found honesty to be the most important trait for a successful leader. Without honesty, a
leader cannot lead with integrity. The followers do not respect him or her due to a lack
of honesty. The organization may benefit in the short term, but will suffer in the long
term. Honesty brings transparency within an organization.

3. Ability to Generate Trust and Respect

A leader who cannot inspire respect and trust in the people he is leading,
ultimately fails as a leader. We see this in the rise and fall of contemporary political
leaders. The ability to generate trust and respect is one of the fundamental character
traits of a leader. It implies that a leader has to be above the ordinary for his followers to
have confidence in him. They need to have faith in him and his abilities and decisions
and for this, it is imperative for a leader to have integrity and a vision or goal of a better
future. Mahatma Gandhi is an example of one such leader, who despite his small
physical frame (no muscles) and despite his personal weaknesses and failings, (he was
dumbstruck in his first court appearance as an advocate and couldn't speak anything)
inspires awe and respect in people from across the globe.


4. Gives Clear Direction

The effective leader works out how a project should proceed, then presents the
plan in a well-organized, logical fashion that is easy for his customers, employees, or
partners to understand and act upon. A leader doesn't ramble on, verbally or in emails.
He doesn't "think out loud." He or she doesn't rant. A good leader doesn't berate anyone
(especially in front of others), except in the very rare instance when it is entirely
appropriate to do so.
Ranting is a data dump that satisfies the ego of the person ranting without
benefiting those who must suffer through it and then try to solve the problems anyway,
as best they can. They will hesitate to come to that manager with new issues, because
they won't want to sit through another harangue.

5. Ability to Inspire

A leader must being able to inspire a team. It is a great for focusing on the future
goals, but it is also important for the current issues. When leader are all mired deep in
work, morale is low, and energy levels are fading, recognize that everyone needs a
break now and then. Acknowledge the work that everyone has dedicated and commend
the team on each of their efforts. It is a job by a leader to keep spirits up, and that
begins with an appreciation for the hard work. Inspirational leaders might apply these
different approaches to any of their leadership responsibilities, taking, for instance, a
visionary approach to championing change by painting a compelling vision of a future in
which the company was implementing a new strategy or taking an enhancing approach
by encouraging team members to develop an innovative strategy together.


6. Perceptive

A leader must be sensitive to other people's wants and needs and to changes in
these wants and needs. Genuine interest in another person will often develop a sense
of trust by that person. A gifted politician is one who can carefully always perceive the
current mood of his constituents. The ability to listen is an essential skill of a good
leader. You must stay in touch with your supporters. If the group is large or
unorganized, this is very difficult to do because of the lack of accurate feedback.
As a leader, it is difficult to differentiate between isolated concerns about issues
which effect only one or a few people and more general concerns. Most people will not
take the time to make contact and discuss issues unless the issue becomes important
to them. Leaders also have to aware of organized campaigns by relatively small special
interest groups. How large a group or how important an issue do these people really
represent? They often have the intent of benefiting only themselves.

7. Realism

Realism is the mid-point between optimism and pessimism, and the degree to
which you tend toward one or the other has a particularly powerful effect on your use of
the know-hows. Optimism can lead, for example, to ambitious goals that outstrip the
governments ability to accomplish them or can compromise your judgments of people:
I know his ego has no bounds, but I can coach him to become a team player. But
pessimists dont want to hear ambitious plans or bold initiatives and can find all the
flaws and risks in pursuing them when they do. Theyre likely to miss opportunities. A
realist is open to whatever hand reality deals him. Only the realist wants to get unfiltered
information that can be weighed, measured, evaluated and tested to determine what
step to take next. He spends time interacting with customers, employees and suppliers,
getting information and a feel from those constituencies about their thinking.

8. Emotional Stability

Emotional Stability helps effective leaders remain even-tempered. They do get
excited, such as when delivering an emotionally-charged pep talk, but generally do not
become angry or enraged. For the most part, as long as the employee did his/her
homework leaders remain composed upon hearing that an employee made a costly
mistake. For example, at PepsiCo, an employee who makes a mistake is "safe ... as
long as it's a calculated risk."
Emotional stability is important when resolving interpersonal conflicts and when
representing the organization. Leaders are more likely to "derail" if they lack emotional
stability and composure. Leaders who derail are less able to handle pressure and more
prone to moodiness, angry outbursts, and inconsistent behavior, which undermines their
interpersonal relationships with subordinates, peers, and superiors. In contrast, they
found the successful leaders to be calm, confident, and predictable during crisis.

9. Sense of Humor

Dwight D. Eisenhower said a sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of
getting along with people, of getting things done. Humor is the tendency of particular
cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. People of all ages,
religions and culture do respond to humor.
Tasteful humor is a key to success at work, but theres a good chance your co-
workers arent cracking jokes or packaging information with wit on a regular basis and
your office could probably stand to have a little more fun. A leader must have sense of
humor to tackle the follower and make the them feel close with their leader.




10. Charisma, creativity/originality, and flexibility

Charisma, creativity/originality, and flexibility are three traits with less clear-cut
evidence of their importance to leadership. Effective leaders may have charisma,
however, this trait may only be important for political leaders. Effective leaders also may
be more creative than non-leaders, but there is no consistent research demonstrating
this. Flexibility or adaptiveness may be important traits for a leader in today's turbulent
environment. Leaders must be able to make decisions and solve problems quickly and
initiate and foster change.




http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jvl/vol1_iss1/Spears_Final.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-
leader/2/
http://sbuweb.tcu.edu/jmathis/Org_Mgmt_Materials/Leadership%20-
%20Do%20Traits%20Matgter.pdf
http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/on-the-job/6-traits-for-improved-
leadership-skills.html