Do You Have What it Takes to be an Awesome Leader?

Whether you’re dreaming of starting your own business or you already have your new business up and running, it’s important that you have what it takes to be a good leader. After all, the people on your team are counting on your for your guidance, good advice and leadership qualities so they can help you take your business to the next level. Molly Owens, TruityLabs CEO said recently that “research in the field suggests that, on a broad level, employees and employers are looking for similar characteristics in their leaders – no matter what business they’re in.”

Here are five characteristics every great leader possesses. Do you possess them all or do you need to work on a few?

An effective leader is someone who:

Always Behaves as Though They’re in Complete Control

While luck can have something to do with your business’s success, it takes more than sheer luck to make a business succeed. A great leader behaves as if success or failure is completely under their control. In other words, if they make their business succeed, it is because of the effort they put forth and if things don’t work out, that’s on them too.

Can Get Past Those Things They Have No Control Over

Instead of wasting time on things they cannot control, good leaders cast these things aside and forge on. It makes no sense to dwell on something which is out of your control. But it makes perfect sense to shake off this type of things and keep on going. Businesses that fail tend to be run by people who cannot let go of negative things that have impacted their businesses. They tend to complain and point the finger at someone or something else which does nothing except waste time and energy.

Learns From the Past

Lessons learned from the past can go far in teaching you new things about how to keep your business on the right track. Great leaders look at the past as a learning tool they can use to sharpen their skills and techniques. The best business owners see bad things as learning opportunities that can make them better business owners and leaders. Of course, you should think of why something didn’t go as planned, that is if you have the mindset that you’re doing it to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Can Give Praise when Praise is Due

A true leader doles out praise to colleagues and staff when they do something great. As Jeff Haden says, “Memorable bosses show sincere appreciation for hard work and extra effort.” If you cannot give praise when praise is due, you’re not going to be looked at as a good leader. Plus, this type of non-caring attitude can lead to people feeling resentful toward you as they’ll believe they’re just not valuable in your eyes. When someone on your team has done something awesome, be sure to celebrate it by giving that person a shout-out, a pat on the back and maybe even a reward.

Is Not a Whiner or Complainer

Good leaders don’t complain, whine and criticize over every little thing that goes wrong. Instead, they put their mental energy toward making a negative situation better. Instead of talking about what went wrong, a great leader jumps into action to fix that wrong. Not only is it a big waste of time to whine and complain, but it will also lead to people trying to avoid  you due to the negative vibes you’re sending out.