Three unique traits of potential leaders

Many people believe leaders are born, not made. But this is not true. Many leadership traits can be learned and the same applies to general attitudes. What is true is that someone wanting to become a manager of people does need certain traits and knowledge. If you are trying to determine whether a candidate for promotion to managerial level is a good choice for the position, ask yourself whether that person has the following three traits that are relatively rare among people and make anyone who possesses them a good candidate to become a leader.

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Patience and hard work

A good manager must be patient. According to INC.com, patience is needed not only in communication and working with people; it is also necessary when making and implementing strategies for the given team because changes should never be too quick. A good manager is capable of working on long-term projects and slowly rebuilding systems so they head in the right direction. A leader never loses patience with people and is able to control their own emotions.

Self-criticism

Though a quality manager must be self-confident and have authority, they must also show a certain humility. Someone who is over-confident, unaware of their negative traits and sees themselves as the only ideal role model is usually not a good manager. Such a person compares everything to their own ideal, namely that of themselves, and does not tolerate differences of employees in terms of values and work, even if heterogeneity of team members is always desirable.

Good leaders must acknowledge they do not have all the answers and that there are people within the company who might do certain things better than them. Employees' individual talent must be supported, as should the heterogeneity of individual business teams and other teams.

Helping others

Only someone who makes work easier for other people, gives advice to others and helps them, can become a good leader. Sometimes, unfortunately, management positions are reached by people who just work hard on their own career, regardless of the common good. In such cases the situation usually does not work out well. Ideal managers know that if the people they lead are functioning in an efficient and happy manner, they, the managers, will have less work and can focus on strategic management of the team. Therefore, a manager should help others, empathise with them and be aware of how they work.

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Article source Inc.com - a U.S. magazine and web focused on starting businesses
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