The 10 Leadership Qualities Every Great Boss Possesses

Posted in Business Advice on January 27, 2015

Whether you’re a starting a company or the owner of an established small- or mid-sized business, if you have employees and run the company, you’re the leader.

All successful leaders tend to have similar traits. Read below for 10 leadership qualities common to great bosses, managers and leaders.

1.    They help their employees succeed. They reward those workers who go above and beyond what is required of them and help all employees move in the career direction they want. They promote those who deserve it and never feel threatened by great talent.
2.    They have vision. They have a knack for seeing the big picture – while everyone else is obsessed with the task at hand. They know where they want their company to go and they have a plan on how to get it there.
3.    They have integrity. Great leaders don’t play games. They are honest and expect honesty from others. Great leaders, in other words, do as they say they will do.
4.    They are confident. They make decisions firmly after weighing all the information available to them. Because they take the time to weigh decision – although they don’t dawdle – they don’t second-guess a decision once it’s made.
5.    They are humble. That is, great leaders aren’t above rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. They do what is needed to make sure their customers are served well, that products are made well and that employees are engaged and challenged.
6.    They delegate. They hire for talent and then let their talented employees do their job, capitalizing on the strengths each employee brings to the company. Great leaders don’t try to “do it all” themselves.
7.    They have a sense of humor. They know that computer systems fail. That employees make mistakes – sometimes making the same mistake a few times. They know that even the steadiest of employees has a breaking point. In other words, they are forgiving of mechanical and human foibles.
8.    They have a positive attitude. And they keep this positive attitude even when things are going in the wrong direction.
9.    They communicate well and often. They speak with employees one-on-one, they blog, they send out company-wide e-mails, and so on.
10.  They drive for results. While they want employees to be engaged and happy. While they understand that mistakes happen. While they know that there will be some tough challenges ahead, great leaders nevertheless have an incredible amount of drive and will push employees to step up when mistake occur and workplace energy starts to lag.

We’re going to add an 11th leadership quality (because it’s our blog post and we can if want to): great leaders know that it’s wise to save money on overhead when starting a business. That’s why they rent a desk in a cowork space or an office or two in an executive office suite such as those offered here at 90 State Street. Contact our leasing experts at 518-694-0662 or send us an e-mail at office@90StateStreet.com to learn more.