Leadership Qualities Required For Running A Successful Business

Leadership qualities is a popular term plugged into search engines thousands of times each month when trying to answer the question of what makes a “good leader.” What the searchers might not realize, however, is that the definition of Leadership Qualities refers to an individual’s personality traits or “hardwiring.” Examples of leadership qualities or “unconscious” personal preferences can include being introverted or extroverted, big picture or detail-oriented, objective or subjective in their problem-solving approach, and whether they are rigid or relaxed regarding time.

Leadership Skills, however, relate to a leader’s ability to learn and “consciously” apply techniques or approaches to achieve a desired outcome. Many people are searching for leadership qualities when it may be more beneficial to search for leadership skills, especially when understanding what’s needed in a leader for running a successful business today.

In our customized leadership learning journeys with private and family businesses, we invest time in understanding participants’ personality preferences or leadership qualities. Once we know our hardwiring, we can better understand each other and learn how to work collaboratively. With this as a foundation, we then turn our focus to BUILDING and APPLYING leadership skills while always staying alert so we can FLEX to the leadership qualities or hardwired personality preferences of others. Leadership roles are mainly skill-based and require individuals to be “consciously competent” (knowing what they are doing, how to do it and why they are doing it) and not merely reliant on their personality preferences or innate leadership qualities.

Leadership Qualities and Leadership Skills for Running a Successful Business

With self and social awareness, we can FLEX to the leadership qualities of our colleagues. On the other hand, leadership skills must be LEARNED to be appropriately applied.

Even with this distinction between leadership qualities and leadership skills clarified, one of the challenges a leader faces is determining whether they are more interested in running the business or developing people. Many organizational leaders attempt to achieve an integration of both. However, it is more likely that they will ultimately need to flank their weaker side with additional leaders on their teams who can provide these supplemental strengths to balance each other as well as the needs of their organization. Your organization needs a mix of leadership qualities and skills for both running the business and developing the talent bench.

Here are (5) Requirements Leaders Must Demonstrate to Run A Successful Business

Vision

A strong business leader needs to develop a compelling vision for the future. They must understand the external dynamics of the marketplace and see how their organization can compete and innovate to win! This vision becomes the guiding light, inspiring others to achieve a common goal. The leader’s ability to clearly articulate this vision and make it resonate with their team is crucial for fostering a shared sense of purpose and securing alignment to successfully execute it in the marketplace with operational excellence so the business succeeds.

Communication

Being a strong communicator is mandatory for a business leader’s success, and communication is what we call a Leadership Currency or Master Skill Set. A leader must convey ideas, set clear expectations, give appropriate feedback, and demonstrate effective body language to engage with and influence others. Leaders also need to be equally adept at effectively listening to their team members to hear what is being said as well as what is NOT being said, given there are powerful messages conveyed in both approaches regarding business risks and consequences. Open, transparent, and consistent communication, along with embracing healthy, productive conflict to debate ideas, fosters a positive work environment with trust. If leaders are not skilled in this area, their potential blindspots can sabotage business success.

Decision-Making

Running a successful business requires making tough decisions. A strong leader understands that “Being Decisive,” being able to choose from options quickly,  is a leadership quality or preferred behavior that may be too often relied on with less than desirable outcomes. Alternatively, “Decision-Making” is a learned leadership skill that requires information gathering, insightful debate using critical thinking to consider possibilities and probabilities, and an ability to make smart choices that are on-strategy for your business and can be executed with excellence. Leaders skilled at decision-making use process and structure to work through their assessments instead of relying on gut-driven, impulsive actions

Adaptability

The business landscape is ever-evolving with technological advancements, market shifts, and unforeseen challenges. It is often referred to as a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world today. A strong leader must have the ability to adapt to these changing conditions. We call it being Change-Ready. Now, while some individuals have leadership qualities or natural hardwiring preferences for being more open to embracing changing dynamics vs. being reluctant or resistant to them, adaptability can be a learned leadership skill, especially at the enterprise level.

Successful businesses today are run by leaders who embrace a “Pilot, Learn and Pivot” approach. They encourage their organizations to “test hypotheses” at lower levels of risk and then quickly scale up those that work. The VUCA solution for running a successful business includes staying focused on your (V)ISION, (U)NDERSTANDING that these fluctuating dynamics are just a normal part of the environment today, (C)OMMUNICATING the path forward consistently, including an acknowledgment of the bumps in the road, and embracing the need for organizational (A)GILITY so the chances you take are a just a first or next shot in your ongoing process and not your last or only shot at success.

Resilience

A strong leader will demonstrate resilience in the face of setbacks and challenges. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity and establish a leadership quality of toughness or the capacity to get up and get back in the game. The leadership skill required to fully demonstrate resiliency is being open to learning from your mistakes and failures to inspire an appropriate next-step approach for your team or organization with an informed perspective.

Leaders who impulsively jump back into the game doing more of the same are not resilient; as Einstein said, they are practicing “insanity” because they are potentially repeating mistakes vs. raising their level of play by applying new insights.

To run a successful business, leaders must be willing to stop and reflect. Using tools like a lesson-learned discussion or “after-action review” can assist leaders in assessing what went right, what went wrong, and where we go from here. This conscious approach can cultivate a culture of tenacity and determination grounded in insightful learning and purposeful pivots. Leaders who consistently practice reflective learning increase their organizations’ likelihood of future success.

How to Leverage These Insights For Your Business Success

Leadership training and skill-based learning have become a critical priority for CEOs and their Executive Leadership Teams, given the dynamic challenges organizations struggle with, including uncertain market conditions, employee turnover, and, most importantly, a lack of engagement. We can offer you an opportunity to break through these struggles with a customized solution for your organization and get “rave reviews” from those who have been among the first to experience it!

Introducing The Leadership Rigor Academy, an enterprise-level program that can give you the competitive advantage to secure cultural connectivity, talent engagement, and contemporary skills for today’s hybrid work environment. In addition to great content that utilizes whiteboard animation and cutting-edge micro-learning techniques, our user-friendly high-tech platform and high-touch program design and delivery are achieving levels of engagement that are off the charts!

Invite your organization to engage in a customized leadership learning journey where the future of work, an amazing employee experience and collaborative peer-to-peer learning all converge to accelerate your Business and Talent Growth!

Start your journey today at The Leadership Rigor Virtual Academy or email erica@ericapeitler.com