A company’s success, or failure, is almost always brought about by leadership. Struggles with accountability? Siloes? Turnover? All caused by poor leadership. Collaborative teams? High trust? Innovation? Excellence? All brought about through exceptional leadership.

This isn’t to say that individual contributors don’t make a difference – they do. Rather, it is to recognize the deep and lasting impact a leader’s actions and behaviors have on those high-performing g individuals.

Setting the stage for success begins by ensuring your leaders are skilled and capable at sharing vision, inspiring action, and galvanizing a team.

If we were to call this Leadership 101, these are the basic six qualities an effective leader must possess to develop and motivate their teams.

1. Forward Thinking 

Leaders should be visionaries, plain and simple. No organization moves forward without its leader showing them the way. To this end, great leaders develop the skill of being proactive, reflective, and able to pivot, adjust strategies, and change course.They are both grounded in reality of their team’s capacity to accomplish goals and capable of seeing the vastness of what is possible.

2. Comfortable Delegating

A leader must trust their managers or supervisors to handle issues within their own purview. Trust them to make decisions, handle responsibility, and be able to grow when things go wrong.

When mistakes or problems arise, strong leaders coach their team and provide guidance but keep the responsibility on the individual contributor. This draws out the leadership qualities of their team and enhances accountability. Further, by leaving the task in the hands of the team, it frees up theleader’s time.

3. Accessible

Strong leaders are accessible and recognize that it is critical that they keep connected with their staff – on a macro level. Successful leaders maintain a frequent presence in the workspace. They take time to get to know staff, solicit their ideas, and ask them questions about what aspects of the organization are or are not helping them to work effectively.

4. Place High Emphasis on Employee Morale

While leaders need to stay out of the fray, they must also support initiatives that help or engage employees.  This includes professional development opportunities, providing support during times of friction or conflict, and being mindful of the future. Investing in the health and well-being of your team ensures the team feels valued – leading to better commitment and ultimately greater success.

5. Lead By Positive Example

It is up to the organization’s leader to set a positive and inspirational tone – for the whole team.  Part of this comes from sharing the company’s goals and future, but skilled leaders bring this down to an individual level. They identify how each member plays a role in transitioning the organizationalvision into reality. Further, they ensure that all team members recognize their value and contributions to the business or organization’s success, inspiring and motivating each to help the company get there.

6. Model Honesty

The best leaders own and admit to their mistakes. They take responsibility for ensuring the same mistakes aren’t made in the future. By modeling honest behavior, leaders demonstrate the importance of integrity, which is imperative for the long-term success of any organization.

Dynamic Team Solutions is a woman-owned consulting firm providing leadership coaching, team development, and conflict resolution services. We invite you to contact Dynamic Team Solutions today for a free consultation. We can always be reached at 818.928.5670.