By Synthia Ontita

5 MOST COMPELLING QUALITIES A GREAT LEADER MUST HAVE

If there is one skill that is mostly revered across all organizations and institutions, it is leadership. Being the boss or in a position of power is not enough to make you a good leader. Effective leadership comes from the impact you have on people, the respect you garner and how you manage to walk the talk. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” says John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of US. The measure of a great leader has much less to do with how you define their role and more about their actual impact on others. Great leaders don’t reach the height of success without facing their share of minor challenges and major crises. 

In fact, most outstanding leaders would say that working through difficulties made them even better. A truly great leader will rise to the top in troubling times, when difficult decisions are made and decisive action must be taken. It takes someone with a clear vision and unstoppable fortitude to lead an organization through its worst times, whether they involve economic troubles, public relations nightmares or product failures. 

In 1997, Starbucks, faced a crisis when tragedy struck and three employees were killed during a robbery in Washington, D.C. The outstanding leadership of CEO Howard Schultz was demonstrated when he flew straight to D.C. and spent a week with the co-workers and families of the three employees. While some leaders might have stayed as far away as possible from this tragic situation, Howard’s natural leadership traits prevailed. With compassion, approachability and a dedication to meeting his employees’ needs, he did what was right. As a result, public viewed him and Starbucks more favorably. Now let us take a look at the skills that great leaders must have. 

Effective communication and listening skills have seen leaders become even greater leaders. Imagine the CEO of a company trying to get more business for the company but is unable to communicate effectively. This will definitely not go well. For you to become a great leader, you need to be able to communicate clearly and be a good listener. The success of you as a leader or business relies heavily on effective communication. According to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (pdf), poor communication and listening skills can lead to low morale, missed performance goals, lost sales and inability to respond effectively to the needs of the organization or community.  

A conversational, connected and capable, Wendy Clark, former senior marketing executive at Coca- Cola and currently the president and CEO of DDB  presents herself differently than most executives which makes her stand out and very marketable. Her ability to relate well with her audience using gestures and appropriate language is the kind of executive presence Speakers Roundtable, an invitation-only society of North America’s top speakers, authors and thought leaders advocate, teach and admire. 

In addition to effective communication skills, resilience in a leader is very important. When a leader is said to be resilient, what is the first thing that pops to mind? For me, this comes into mind, a fighter. At Stanford University, they believe change is constant. There’s so much change in the work place today and when change occurs, great leaders must be able to respond accordingly and continue to produce results. Great leaders assume these changes and develop alternative solutions. 

Henry Louis Gates, former leader of the African and American Research Institute at Harvard University once said “People are afraid, and when people are afraid, when their pie is shrinking, they look for somebody to hate. They look for somebody to blame. And a real leader speaks to anxiety and to fear and allays those fears, assuages anxiety.” When a leader is able to remain positive during difficult times, they encourage confidence in their team members so; they too, will remain effective at the most crucial times. 

The third leadership skill a great leader must have is being trustworthy. What makes one leader trustworthy and another not? Trustworthiness is built upon integrity and character. If you were to be given two leaders to choose from, one whom you trust and one whom you do not, who would you choose? A definite choice would be the one whom you trust. But why is this so? 

People trust and follow leaders when those leaders exude the types of behaviors they value themselves. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric is a good example of a great leader who rose to power because of the trust he instilled in his team mates. He lived by his quote “Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency and credit.” Building trust can take time and is no easy task, but it is a valuable effort to make, if sincere. When people trust leaders and value their integrity, they tend to be more open to new ideas and exude a willingness to try.

The penultimate skill a great leader should have is the ability to inspire, empower, motivate and encourage others to unlock their full potential and become greater. Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in them. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals. Larry Page, CEO at Alphabet Inc. says “My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society. As a world, we’re doing a better job of that. My goal is for Google to lead, not follow that.” Larry as a leader was able to empower and motivate the employees at Google to work towards achieving the goals that had been set. 

With their ideologies, passion, compassion and working styles, effective leaders always keep inspiring others. I remember during my internship at One Acre Fund, I got very supportive managers who inspired me to take on tasks independently and lead on a project that was very impactful in the recruitment department. The kind of empowerment I received really impacted heavily on my courage and leadership skills. Indeed true leaders invest in their people, foster skill development and encourage initiatives. 

Lastly, a leader with a vision is a very powerful leader as they work to achieve their vision. What is your goal? What is your vision? What is your purpose? We all have goals for ourselves that we are working towards achieving. Theodore M. Hesburgh clearly put it out “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”

Steve Jobs was not the world’s most likable guy as the people who worked closely with him perceived him to be abrasive. Despite this, he was perceived as a master at inspiring and leading people. As the co- founder of Apple, he led it to be the most profitable company in the world at one point in time. He often reiterated the company’s vision and set clear, achievable and persuasive goals. He believed that having a uniting vision for a company moves the employees to the same direction hence the goals are attained. 

Different people have different views of the key leadership skills a leader should possess and it may take forever discussing all of them. The ones highlighted above are very important and have put some of the greatest leaders in the limelight. These qualities have not only driven the company’s success but also individual leaders’ abilities to continuously inspire the team they work with.

At The Youth Café, we believe in great leadership skill and strive to empower the youths at large by training them. We also believe in the great leadership skills I have mentioned above and strive to better them amongst ourselves. As our Motto states, we aim to Empower, Amplify and Connect. We believe that when we empower young people, stronger communities and brighter futures are built and strong leaders emerge. Commitments are hard decisions to make but at The Youth Café, we have purposed to commit to investing in youths and ensuring that they are empowered to unlock their full potential. It is very clear that there is a need to invest in strong, emerging, result oriented African leaders despite challenges. What do you think could be accomplished if these youths were allowed to unlock their full potential?

Synthia is a researcher at The Youth Cafe

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