1. 0 Introduction
Over the years, many studies have been carried out on the qualities of a good leader. These
studies have indicated that the most critical problem facing the world today is the leadership
vacuum that has grown in different areas of the human society ranging from politics, religion,
business and social structures (Ahmed and Bach, 2014). There is a unique link between
leadership qualities and the success of any group or organization. This means that the leadership
of any group will determine its success or failure.
Leadership can be described as the ability to influence others positively. John C. Maxwell views
a leader as one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Irrespective of how
leadership is defined, a good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn ideas into real
world success stories. The ability to be productive, make critical decisions and have a good
listening ear are amongst the crucial characteristics of a good leader.
In this time of unprecedented opportunity and plentiful resources, it is somewhat contradictory to
find out that there are less people who possess these qualities. Hence, it is necessary to create
awareness about the importance of having good leadership qualities for the transformation of the
society. This paper therefore aims at a critical exposition of ten qualities of a good leader. It uses
examples that are drawn from history, scripture and everyday lived experiences to expound on
these qualities.
2. 0. Ten Leadership Qualities that Make Good Leaders
2. 1. Honesty and Integrity
It is very clear that the prime quality of a good leader is unquestionable integrity. A leader has to
be honest in other to gain the trust of his/her followers. Without this quality, no real success is
possible in leadership, no other how large or small the group is. Honesty and integrity are
intertwined in leadership. In fact, they are the two important ingredients which make a good
leader. Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs.
The Bible describes some dark and difficult times in the life of Joseph (cf. Gen 37: 12-36), but
every time he faced adversity, he used it to develop himself personally and build trust with
others. Joseph’s honesty in his dealings with was outstanding. As a result, he proved himself
trustworthy as a leader.
2. 2 Confidence
For effective leadership, a leader should be confident enough to ensure that others follow his/her
commands. Decisions taken by leaders have a profound impact on the entire group. If you are
unsure about your own decision, then your followers will certainly loose confidence in your
words. For instance, the head of a school has to make sure that the teachers and students are
regular and punctual to classes. This can be achieved through setting rules to determine at what
point in time a teacher or a student is considered to be late to school. In this case, the head of the
school should also endeavor to keep to the same rule. Leaders are bound by the rules they make
and good leaders keep to the rules guiding the group.
Douglas MacArthur cited in Anderson (2015) states that ‘A true leader has the confidence to
stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of
other. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the
integrity of his intent. As a leader, you have to be oozing with confidence, show some
assertiveness to gain the respect of your subordinates. This does not imply that a leader should be
overconfident, rude, or autocratic. This only means that a leader should at least reflect the degree
of confidence required to ensure that the followers trust him/her.
2. 3 Good Communicator
Leaders with good communication skills have various abilities when dealing with issues and they
always prefer dialogue to solve problems. They believe in teamwork and transparency. They are
able to communicate what they have in mind effectively to the team. A good communicator can
be a good leader. Words have the power to motivate people and make them do the unthinkable.
If a leader uses them effectively, better results can be achieved.
A good leader doesn’t keep quiet and allow things go wrong in the group. Frequent
communication with the members of the group aids in knowing what actually they are thinking.
Peter Drucker, the father of American management, believes that 60 percent of all management
problems result from faulty communication. Having a message doesn’t matter if leaders don’t
communicate clearly and motivate others. A biblical leader with good communication skill was
Samuel. His communication inspired Saul to overcome his fears (1 Sam 10:3-6). His
communication also encouraged the people and gave clear direction to the people and hope for
their future.
2. 4 Empathy
Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what
someone else might be thinking or feeling. Good leaders have a high level of empathy.
Unfortunately, most leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to
this, they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the problems of
your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective leader. For instance,
the manager in a firm should be able to understand a staff who is heavily pregnant and about to
give birth. This understanding will certainly move the leader to consider granting the staff a
maternity leave. Another example is a leader who clearly feels for a member who have lost a
dear one. Empathy helps leaders connect with their followers.
2. 5 Flexibility
Good leaders are flexible. They can easily adapt to a new thought, idea or situation in as much as
it contributes to the growth of the group. Flexibility is important in leadership because there are
always suggestions on new ways to solve a particular problem. If a leader is rigid, there won’t be
an opportunity to try these new ideas proposed even by his/her followers.
2. 6 Resilience
The popular saying that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going can be applied to good
leaders. They are resilient and optimistic. Irrespective of how difficult the circumstances might
be, you will always find good leaders trying to move forward. While most people are busy in
complaining about the problems, great leaders focus more on solutions, not he problems.
2. 7 Creativity and Innovation
What separates a leader from a follower? Steve Jobs, the greatest visionary of our time answers
this question this way, “Innovation distinguishes a leader and a follower.” In order to get ahead
in today’s fast pace world, a leader must be creative and innovative at the same time. Creative
thinking and constant innovation are what make a good leader stand out from the crowd. This
means that a good leader thinks out of the box to come up with unique ideas and turn ideas and
goals into reality.
2. 8 Emotional Intelligence
Good leaders always have higher influence. They do this by connecting with people emotionally.
This is where emotionally intelligence comes into play. Emotional Intelligence involves the
process in which a person can control his or her behavior in order to maintain and develop dayto-day relationships. For Goleman (1998), emotional intelligence encompasses four basic
capabilities namely, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill.
With emotional intelligence, leaders can control their emotions, which helps to prevent negative
thought patterns from influencing their decisions. As a result, they are less likely to make hasty
decisions. Moreover, emotionally intelligent leaders are great in understanding the emotions and
care about the feelings of others. That is not all, leaders who have this leadership quality not only
handles conflict in a better way but also play an important role in conflict resolution (Hassan,
2019).
2. 9 Commitment and Passion
The team members look up to the leader. This means that when the teammates see their leader
get passionate and committed to the growth of the group, they will also give their best. But, if
they feel that you are not fully committed or lacks passion, then it would be an uphill task for the
leader to motivate your followers to achieve the goal.
2. 10 Vision and Purpose
Good leaders always have a vision and purpose. They not only visualize the future themselves
but also share their vision with their followers. When their followers were able to see the big
picture, they can see where they are heading. A great leader goes above and beyond and explain
why they are moving in the direction they are moving and shares the strategy and action plan to
achieve that goal.
A good example of a business leader who has a great sense of purpose is Aliko Dangote
(President & CEO of the Dangote Group). The Dangote Group which owns 13 subsidiaries was
founded in Lagos, Nigeria in 1981 by Aliko Dangote who started by trading in rice, sugar,
cement and later on started full scale manufacturing operations (Dangote Group, 2015).
3. 0 Conclusion
Leadership involves persuading and convincing people to go the extra mile in achieving the
organization’s goals. The qualities of a leader affect the operational efficiency of an organization
and at the long run determine the overall success of such organization. To become a good leader,
you should possess the qualities explained above.
References
Anderson, A. R. (2013), Good Leaders are Invaluable to a Company, Bad Leaders will Destroy it
https://forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2013/01/14/ assessed on 21/12/2020
Dangote Group (2015), Management Team dangote.com/aboutus/managementteam.aspx/
assessed on 22/12/2020
Goleman D., (1998), Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ, New York:
Bantam Books
Hassan, S., (2019), Top 15 Leadership Qualities That Make Good Leaders
https://blog.taskque.com/characteristics-good-leaders/ assessed on 21/12/2020
Maxwell J. C. (2007), The Maxwell Leadership Bible (2nd Ed.), Dallas: Maxwell Motivation Inc.