6 Leadership Qualities to Develop If You Want To Be a Great Manager

These personality traits can be developed and nurtured to help further your career and your role as a leader, at work, in your community, or in life in general.

Even if you’re not currently a manager, or don’t wish to be, these qualities can still be really useful in the workplace and help you on that road to promotion:

1. Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another is incredibly important in any workplace environment and can help manage conflict. However, it’s become even more important as businesses compete to better understand the needs of their customers. Customers don’t want to be analysed. They want brands to understand what they want and need. Empathetic leaders tend to function better within a company and can fuel growth by bringing the team together more efficiently.

2. Optimism

You might think that, if someone is being optimistic, it indicates confidence (and in some cases arrogance) in a successful outcome. Whereas blind optimism and egotism isn’t a good thing, optimistic leaders can inspire and motivate teams with energy and positivity.

3. Forgiveness

No one enjoys the boss who lords every mistake they’ve ever made over their head. There is real power in allowing employees to take calculated risks, but they have to know it’s not going to be held against them later. Doing so kills creativity and motivation. It causes people to think twice before bringing a new idea to the table, or experimenting with a new process or product. Learn how to forgive mistakes to nurture creativity and inspiration and your team will pay you back ten-fold.

4. Altruism

Looking after colleagues and helping them to do better, feel better, and perform better will create a good, productive atmosphere in the office. Famously, no man is an island. Shared credit will help you all look better to board. Although this isn’t a traditional leadership quality, those with great power and strength will always look to those around them for help.

5. Eloquence

The ability to speak and write persuasively has gained importance in the age of digital communications. People expect leaders to communicate and they want to be “wowed.” An eloquent speech can close a deal. An eloquent memo to staff can quell fears, dampen dissent, or inspire people to reach new heights. Practice your writing and speaking to become a more effective, persuasive leader.

6. Modesty

No one likes to hear how awesome someone else is all the time, especially when it’s someone blowing their own horn. Let your work speak for itself. Confidence can a great trait, but should be tempered with modesty to gain the most respect.

This article was based on an idea by Larry Kim.