Leadership Traits – A great List

Leadership Traits – A great List

What are the qualities and characteristics of a good leader? Great leaders possess core leadership traits and skills. The list includes the most important leadership qualities and skills to look for in a great leader. These are must-have traits of a powerful and successful leader, the qualities a leader possess to be great.

A broad classification to six categories of traits is also done below: 

Physical Characteristics of the Leader:

  • Age
  • Height
  • Weight
  • Alertness
  • Energetic 
  • Masculinity
  • High energy level
  • Physical stamina
  • Tolerance for stress
  • Not concerned about being overworked
  • Vitality

Background Characteristics of the Leader:

  • Education
  • Social Status
  • Mobility
  • Experience
  • Experience in a variety of different types of situations
  • Broader perspective
  • Expertise in dealing with different types of problems
  • Competent and skilled

Intelligence Characteristics of the Leader:

  • Ability
  • Judgment
  • Knowledge
  • Clever (intelligent)
  • Conceptually skilled
  • Creative
  • Knowledgeable about group task 
  • Intellectual breadth 
  • Insight
  • Learns from experience
  • Adapts to change
  • Good judgment
  • Foresight
  • Intuition
  • Creativity
  • Self-knowledge
  • Coordinator
  • Objective
  • Decisive
  • Asks for more responsibility
  • Knows how to delegate

Personality/Emotional Characteristics of the Leader: 

  • Aggressiveness
  • Alertness
  • Dominance
  • Decisiveness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Extroversion
  • Independence
  • Self-confidence
  • Authoritarianism
  • Assertive
  • Tolerant of stress 
  • Conservatism
  • Desire to improve
  • Understands own strengths and weaknesses
  • Self-objectivity
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Self-awareness
  • Empathy
  • Self-regulation
  • Ambitious
  • Courageous
  • Knows self
  • Risk taker
  • Not intimidated by superiors
  • Personal competence
  • Optimistic
  • Exhibits concern for others
  • Encourages and engages opposing viewpoints
  • Constant and reliable
  • Self-disciplined
  • Determination
  • Need to achieve
  • Caring
  • Empathizing
  • Constancy

Task-Oriented Characteristics of the Leader:

  • Achievement Needs
  • Responsibility
  • Initiative
  • Persistence
  • Ambitiousness
  • Achievement-orientated
  • Decisive
  • Persistent
  • Willingness to assume responsibility
  • Organized (administrative ability)  

Social Characteristics of the Leader:

  • Sociability
  • Supervisory Ability
  • Cooperativeness
  • Popularity
  • Prestige
  • Tact
  • Diplomacy
  • Adaptability
  • Adjustment
  • Cooperative
  • Dependable
  • Tactful
  • Persuasive 
  • Socially skilled 
  • Emotional stability and composure
  • Good interpersonal skills
  • Well-adjusted
  • Oriented toward improving self
  • Detached
  • Honest
  • Ethical
  • Trustworthy
  • Behavioral flexibility
  • Understanding
  • Empathy
  • Social Insight
  • Charm
  • Tact
  • Diplomacy
  • Persuasiveness
  • Listener
  • Collaborative
  • Strong motivator
  • Cooperative
  • Influencer

Communication:

  • Ability to communicate
  • Ability to articulate a vision
  • Ability to persuade others
  • Communicate purpose
  • Communicate direction
  • Communicates passion to others
  • Good communication skills
  • Use metaphors
  • Experts at one-to-one communication
  • Superior speakers
  • Excellent writing skills
  • Creates and maintains a communications network
  • Has people keep them informed on problem situations
  • Networks with people inside the organization
  • Maintains contacts outside the organization
  • Doesn’t depend on only one source for information
  • Able to communicate with key individuals
  • Eager to explore new approaches to their work
  • Are not fuzzy about results, interested in ways to track their progress
  • Communicates persuasively
Leadership Traits – A great List

Related Links

You May Also Like

  • Symbolic Interaction and Social Change

    Symbolic Interaction and Social Change

    George Herbert Mead, an American philosopher, affiliated with the University of Chicago founded the theory of symbolic interactionism. A major aspect of this is that people interact by symbols both verbal and non-verbal signals and every interaction makes a contribution to the mental make-up of the mind thus every interaction with someone, changes you and you go away a different person signifying that humans and change go together.

  • Situational Theories of Leadership

    Situational Theories of Leadership

    The situational theories of leadership assume that the most effective style of leadership depends from situation to situation. Situational leadership is a leadership style in which the leader must adjust to match the development needs of the followers. They must adapt varying behaviors to strike the right balance between task & relationship based on different levels of maturity of followers and also as followers develop and cultivate their skills.

  • Trait Theories - Application

    Trait Theories - Application

    Trait theories of leadership explain the leadership traits that have been studied to determine what makes certain people great leaders. The practical application of the theory is looking at how the leader‟s behavior affects their subjects.

  • Transactional Theory of Leadership

    Transactional Theory of Leadership

    Transactional leadership theory is based on the concept of rewards and punishments. The transactional management approach assumes that the desires of the leader and follower are different and leaders give followers something in exchange for getting something they want. Transactional leaders expect followers to be compliant and focuses on structure, instruction, monitoring, organization, or performance to get tasks completed on time.

  • Leader-Participation Model

    Leader-Participation Model

    Leader-Participation Model provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision making. It helps identifies different ways a decision can be made based on the degree of follower participation. It proposes a method for leaders to involve all members of the organization work together to make decisions.

  • Situational Leadership - Application

    Situational Leadership - Application

    Situational Leadership Theories are well known and frequently used for training leaders within organizations. Practical application is how to choose the right leadership approach for the situation. The theory emphasizes leader flexibility and advises leaders to flex their style based on the followers' needs. Leaders must adapt their leadership style to fit the prescribed task, understanding given situation/maturity of followers.

  • Path Goal Leadership Theory

    Path Goal Leadership Theory

    The Path-Goal theory defines the characteristics of followers and organizational context and the corresponding leadership style best suited to these factors. A leader should adapt to a behavior that is most relevant for a given employee and work environment mix to achieve a goal. The application of theory drives increased employees' motivation, empowerment, and satisfaction resulting in increased productivity.

  • Likerts Management System

    Likerts Management System

    Rensis Likert studied the patterns and styles of managers and developed four management systems known as Likert's management systems. These styles developed by him are known as Likert management systems. System 1 - Exploitative Authoritative; System 2 - Benevolent Authoritative; System 3 - Consultative and System 4 - Participative.

  • Principles of Communication

    Principles of Communication

    Certain generally accepted truths or principles of communication are important to consider when communicating with others. These principles hold true for all people in every culture. By understanding these principles, you will experience greater communication effectiveness. An effective communication system is one that achieved its objectives. Communication is effective where there are no barriers to communication.

  • Five-Factor Personality Model

    Five-Factor Personality Model

    Five Factors Model (FFM) also known as Five-Factor Personality Model is based on five broad personality traits which are extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness represented by acronym OCEAN, these traits are often referred to as the “Big Five”.

Explore Our Free Training Articles or
Sign Up to Start With Our eLearning Courses

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved