Introduction
Everyone has heard of the great business leaders of our time. People like Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg, and Jeff Bezos are renowned for their successes in managing and leading the biggest organisations in history.
It’s often tempting to imagine they are a different breed of person entirely. Superhuman figures who plan and execute on a scale far beyond the rest of us mere mortals. But it turns out that the most successful individuals all share certain core characteristics. Namely, goal-setting, an ability to structure and delegate tasks, and an acute awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses.
Great leaders can plan effectively while remaining flexible enough to succeed in the face of adversity or changes in the market. They have the drive to continue growing, learning and making improvements, separating them from those who cannot realise their business visions. In other words, great business leaders aren’t so much different as they are relentlessly ambitious.
But what does it take to be a great business leader? What qualities make someone stand out from the rest? Let’s explore the essential attributes that make up a great business leader.
Goal Setting
Not daily or monthly targets (although they are important). No, when these business titans set a goal, it’s a massive, audacious, ambitious goal that nobody would believe possible.
Why? Because why the hell not? They aren’t here to play around in the lower leagues. They know that success comes from bold ideas.
Having an overarching goal, or North Star, is one of the most significant aspects of being an effective business leader. It serves as a beacon for focus and direction that can guide teams through potentially turbulent waters.
Research suggests that having a North Star helps unify a team behind a single mission and provides comfort and reassurance while making decisions along the way. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that having such a goal helps foster resilience when unforeseen change occurs and provides clarity even in times of great uncertainty.
Ultimately, an overarching goal is the foundation on which successful leaders can take their teams further toward unbelievable results.
Structure and Delegation
So, how do you get there once the North Star is set? This is where structure and delegation come into play.
Effectively breaking down big goals into smaller, more manageable steps is essential for any leader. Setting clear expectations and timelines helps keep everyone on track while allowing you to see what needs improvement or additional resources along the way. Plus, having a long-term goal is fine, but it can be hard to stay focused and motivated if it’s too far in the future. So, implementing smaller, achievable goals leads to a sense of accomplishment that keeps teams energised and hungry for more success.
In addition to creating the journey, the best leaders know how to use their available resources for maximum benefit. Therefore, learning how to delegate tasks is an essential skill. Not only will it help you manage your workload more effectively, but it is also vital for helping you focus on the big picture.
When done right, delegation ensures all your team members utilise their strengths and skillsets in the best way possible. This leads to them achieving better results and increasing productivity overall. Delegation encourages collaboration as tasks are dispersed among a team or department, which builds relationships and allows everyone to contribute their unique perspectives to completing larger goals. The result? A successful company built on effective leader delegation.
Self-Awareness
The third quality of a successful business leader is self-awareness. It’s easy to get caught up in the details of a project or strategy and forget about your unique skills (or knowledge gaps). There’s nothing more embarrassing than starting a task you thought you could do but then finding out you can’t. It destroys your credibility with your team and damages your ability to lead.
But the top leaders know their own strengths and weaknesses intimately. This means they can delegate tasks to the right people while allowing them to take ownership of those roles.
Understanding their own weaknesses allows them to bring in a business coach or mentor to help them overcome their shortcomings. A business coach is an invaluable asset for any leader, providing experience and insight to help them succeed. Having someone with you on your journey who can act as a sounding board and mentor is a guaranteed way to reach your goals. Just ask any professional athlete.
Summary
Being a great business leader means more than having impressive credentials or a degree from a prestigious school. It requires hard work, dedication, communication skills, an open mindset, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
In many ways, true business leaders can see the big picture while still attending to the small details that make a difference in the long run. By being aware of their abilities and having an ambitious goal, they can structure and delegate effectively, leading to remarkable results.
Want to learn how to become one of the great leaders? Contact us to learn more about our business coaching and company transformation services.
