5 Essential Characteristics Of Leading

By Brian Dodd

I love promoting other leadership bloggers and Dan Black is one of my favorites!  He has a passion to help people of influence reach their potential. He writes about leadership at danblackonleadership.com. You can connect with him on Twitter and also get a free leadership quote eBook by clicking here.
Dan recently wrote a wonderful post entitled 5 Essential Characteristics Of Leading.  He has graciously agreed to guest blog and share those thoughts with you.  Enjoy this post and do not forget to visit his site.
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If you want to be a great leader it requires some indispensable characteristics and qualities. I have already written on some important Quality’s of a Leader, so today let’s focus on some characteristic of an effective leader.

1.  Visionary- A leader must have a clear picture of the future while remaining focused on the present. This can be hard because as Jonathan Swift said, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” If a leader takes the time to think about the future of their industry and the possible changes, then they will see the “invisible” and stay ahead of today’s fast paced society. Effective leaders have a clear picture of the future then gather people around them who can produce results which lead to the vision being accomplished.
2.  Team Builder- An essential characteristic of leading others is the ability to build and maintain teams of people. Good leaders know the value of having a united team that can effectively work together to produce results. This can be done if a leader puts the right people in the right places within the team or organization. Doing this requires taking the time to know and understand your people
3. Communicator- A leader needs to be able to effectively communicate with others, both verbally and non-verbally. The leader’s words and body language needs to be lined up with the message they are communicating. Becoming a better communicator is a skill every leader must develop. This is because so much of leadership is about communicating. James Humes said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
4. Change Agent- Leaders need to avoid the dangers of not changing by becoming change agents. The status quo might be to stay the same and resist change but effective leaders chose to rise above the status quo and create change. Great organizations and teams only happen if the leader is moving forward. Many of the businesses and organizations that have fallen during the recession were resistant change and kept doing what they have always done. Those who have stayed strong have leaders who were creating change.
5. Producer- Effective leaders have the ability to produce and can influence others to produce results in given areas. The true test of an effective leader is their ability to produce desired results, whether it’s individual or team results. It’s wise to remember leadership and results are closely connected with each other.

Question: What other characteristics would you add to the list?
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