The Most Important Trait of an Effective Business Leader

Leadership and business goes hand in hand. A strong leader unites the workforce to strive towards a common goal or vision while a poor leader looks out for his or her personal gain which creates a selfish and distrusting environment; eventually leading to a businesses downfall. When looking at some of the most successful companies, a common thread is each has had an effective leader guiding them.  

Leadership does not necessarily refer to who is at the top of the hierarchy. All those within the organization at every pay grade can act as a leader. Organizations are at its best when the mind set of a leader is seen from the top to the bottom. 

What Makes a Good Leader?

Leaders come in various shapes, sizes and personalities however they all share one very important trait; trustworthiness.

While creativity and vision are key factors in a business, without trustworthiness a leader cannot effectively communicate his or her message. The best leaders are great listeners and internalizes every word that was said.  

Empowering Others

A good leader is able to unite the workforce under the vision of the company. Hopefully empowering people to take responsibility and work together as a team to achieve what is being set out to do. Telling someone to do something is nowhere near as powerful as creating an environment where employees are given the freedom and autonomy to work on projects that helps achieve the goals of the company. Now only does this assign responsibility to the employee, but also demonstrates that you trust them as well.

Creating a Culture of Trust

Culture is created from the top-down.  If the leader shows faith in his or her employees then that trust will ultimately be reciprocated. This nurturing environment enables people to come up with innovative ideas. Leaders like Mark Zuckerberg trusts his employees to be productive in an unstructured environment where no one is micro-managing.  Employees in turn, work really hard because they feel a tremendous sense of responsibility. This culture of trust cultivates the innovation and creativity a cutting edge company needs to stay ahead of the competition. While this kind of approach may not work for every company, an effective leader will understand that a culture of trust is paramount.  

Being Trustworthy

It is extremely important for leaders to practice what they preach. There should be little to no exceptions when it comes to policy. If employees sense that they cannot count on the leader to follow their own rules in business or their own personal lives, then it is likely employees will not trust them.   

While there are many different factors to the composition of a strong leader, there are no clear cut qualities.  Each successful company has its own unique blend of qualities and characters. They all share a common bond; a trustworthy leader navigating the company through the unknown.