In times of war and in times of peace, they change, but great leaders are always around us.
Winston Churchill may have been the man during WWII, but today, a great leader may look more like Elon Musk as he champions innovation in the tech world and beyond.
We have great leaders in every corner of our society, whether they are fighting for civil rights, pursuing global philanthropy, or striving to create strong sustainable businesses that will catapult us into the future.
But we can’t all wake up one day and be Bill Gates or Richard Branson.
The biggest not-so-secret of successful leaders—in the business world and beyond—is that they had others before them from whom they could learn. In fact, to this day, Bill Gates publishes a massive reading list, mainly comprised of the people who inspire him.
We want to inspire you as well.
This post is designed to be an exhaustive collection of resources that can equip you to be the best leader you can be today, all packed into a short, manageable read. Take the next few minutes with this post to immerse yourself in the qualities, actions, and thoughts of great leaders that you’d like to emulate—and find yourself quickly becoming the great leader you were meant to be.
What Is Leadership?
Leadership, as we all inherently understand it, is taking other people somewhere—someone who has followers. Whether that’s toward a business goal, a benchmark, or a life-and-death victory, a leader is the unifying factor in creating a team that wants to work toward one singular objective. But ultimately, a leader can lead in a bad direction as well. Not all leaders are great.
Practically speaking, a great leader is going to look different for different types of personalities. You’ve no doubt had bosses you loved and bosses you hated. Some people might even disagree you’re your assessment, because they may want to be led in a different style than you do.
With that in mind, here are the 5 types of leaders as outlined by Rose Johnson of Demand Media.
1. Participative
Participative leaders are also known as democratic leaders. They want everyone to be a part of the ideation and delegation process, making it feel much less hierarchical, and much more horizontal. While this can be a tough environment in which to make quick decisions, it’s often one where employees feel extremely valued.
2. Autocratic
Autocratic leaders are much different. They like to make all of the decisions themselves. That can make a stressful environment for more autonomous employees—the ones who like to get tasks done themselves, or be in the “inner circle.” This works best when there’s a major difference in roles for employees and managers. Otherwise, it can create a quickly toxic workplace.
3. Transactional
Another less relationally based style is the transactional leadership model. This presents a performance based work environment that trains employees to work towards their goals for the sake of avoiding punishment, or reaching a certain reward. If your employees are motivated in this way, it can ultimately be a very effective style.
4. Laissez-Faire
Laissez-Faire leaders want autonomous employees—the self-starters who don’t require a lot of feedback or supervision. This often works best in smaller company environments, where leaders may not really even have the time to supervise. In this case, the leader is putting serious trust in their employees to get their jobs done. This can hinder less experienced employees who crave and need proper guidance.
5. Transformational
Transformational leaders are just the opposite. They have a big picture in their heads of the goal that they want to reach, and they use high visibility and interaction to motivate their team towards that goal. They’re like the cheerleading coach rather than the cheerleader. They’re delegating small tasks to each of the employees in an effort to bring about a cohesive result.
You’ll more than likely see several of these styles being employed at the same time by a manager. The most important thing is that you’re relating to your employees in a way that inspires and motivates them.
Leadership Traits/Characteristics
But beyond style, what is it about great leaders that we are so drawn to? Is it just the sense of strength that comes with blazing a trail into uncharted territory? There are universally several traits that we all inherently understand are foundational for being a good leader.
Here are 14 traits that most prominently stand out in great leaders.
Integrity: You can probably hear the after-school special in your head now: “It’s what you’re doing when no one is looking.” You’d be surprised who really is looking, but regardless, being a great leader means not succumbing to the temptation of cutting corners.
Knowledge: While people can climb the ranks without really knowing a whole lot, those people aren’t the true leaders. The leaders are the ones who know what to do in a moment of crisis, the ones who can keep cool and rely on their deep knowledge of a problem to find the solution.
Courage: Six essentials that can help build a culture of courage in an organisation: set scary standards, be willing to fail, be decisive, reward the innovators, know the right opportunities, exercise your right to delegate.
Decisiveness: In other words, all of us have the potential to be decisive or indecisive. In a given day, most of us slip in and out of a decisive mindset. Train yourself to be decisive in everything, but never become so bull-headed that you can’t hear good recommendations.
Reliability: Reliability, or dependability is an important trait that every leader should embody. You never want your employees wondering if you’re going to “show up” when the going gets tough.
Initiative: Leaders aren’t always the ones in the big corner office. A great leader knows how to spot an opportunity to lead the charge and doesn’t hold back.
Tact: Ever heard of the expression, “Bull in a china shop?” That’s someone without tact. Learn how to be a great leader without bowling others over in the process.
Justice: Who ever said Batman was a bad leader? We all deep down have a sense that justice does an incredible good for society. The same is true in the world of business. Seek justice, and others will follow you.
Enthusiasm: If you don’t love what you do, you aren’t going to inspire others to love what they do. To create a great following, you have to have a purpose that you really believe in.
Bearing: Not every leader embodies the archetype of a CEO “look,” but there’s something about the way you look in a good blazer. The great leader carries themselves as someone with a lot of weight to carry. If others don’t see you as someone fit to carry it, they won’t trust you.
Endurance: As we’re all painfully aware, a good business doesn’t take off overnight. If you can’t hang for the long-haul, it’s going to be hard to find people to back you up.
Unselfishness: Leader often takes on the meaning of “chief servant.” When you’re managing the books, it means making sure everyone gets paid before you take anything away. If you’re not willing to be selfless in your business, you won’t create a team that’s truly great.
Loyalty: In the same way, there are a lot of people investing in your company—both in time and money. If you don’t show that love and investment back to them, you cannot maintain their respect.
Judgment: Knowing when to say “No” is tough. That’s why most people don’t do it well—and that’s exactly why it sets a great leader apart.
Quotes on Leadership
This may be a lot to take in, but sometimes these concepts are best summarised by those that have practiced them. Here are some incredibly inspiring quotes on what great leadership really looks like (h/t to John Brandon for finding and collecting these):
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?” Margaret Thatcher
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Ralph Nader
“Hire character. Train skill.” Peter Schutz
“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” Colin Powell
“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” Max Lucado
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” Rosalynn Carter
How To Maximise & Motivate Your Team (A.K.A How To Bring Out The Best In People)
Bringing out the best in people isn’t all that hard as it turns out.
The reality is, it starts with you. You need to get in your own head, tell yourself that you’re a great leader, and then go out and do. If you’re not doing, then others have nothing to follow.
For starters, you can get more from your team if you lead like a multiplier.
The idea is that you’re first managing yourself. If you lack discipline, then your team is going to lack discipline. Learn how to get up every morning and motivate yourself to have another ass-kicking day on the job. That in and of itself will open the door to real motivation for your team.
If you look at what the experts have to say about the best ways to keep employees motivated, it all comes back to leading by example. Show them how great they are, show them the potential that they have, and show them what it looks like to work harder than you ever have before—and just how rewarding it really is.
If you feel like the spark is simply dead in your office, then you may need a shake up. No, don’t fire everyone, just try doing something different: take them out of the office, make space to talk, and be open to changing the way you do things. Sometimes a change does people better than they would have even guessed.
Common Leadership Mistakes
We all slip up from time to time.
If you feel like you’ve been reading this list, and already have a lot of the style and qualities of a great leader, but it’s still not clicking, there may be some mistakes you need to correct in the way you run the show.
Here are a couple of those classic mistakes we don’t even realise we’re making:
Not Providing Feedback
According to 1,400 executives polled by The Ken Blanchard Companies, failing to provide feedback is the most common mistake that leaders make. People need affirmation and correction. Just because you have a lot of business savvy doesn’t mean they do.
One practical solution is to start hosting one-on-ones with your employees. Give them space to give you feedback, and to get feedback from you, so that communication feels more open and honest.
Forgetting To Set Proper Expectations
Managers may worry that if they set specific targets their people can’t achieve, they too will look like failures. The problem is, if you never set a target, your employee has nothing to reach. Good leading means the willingness to fail. If your team fails, you fail with them—and together, you learn how to pick up the pieces and try again.
Forgetting What Motivates Employees
Build an effective incentive program. That’s going to look different depending on the size and personality of your company. If you try to introduce an incentive program that worked for one company, but clearly doesn’t match the personality of your employees, they’re just going to feel misunderstood and further demotivated.
How good are your motivation skills? Test them here!
Don’t Micromanage
You’ll be viewed as new or inexperienced. If you’re just hovering over your employees, you won’t have time to do the work that you really need to get done. Instead, you’ll be training your employees how to work with someone constantly at their back. That produces bad habits that make it impossible for them to work well on their own.
Failure to Execute
Having a great idea is one thing, but executing on it is something else entirely. Poor follow through is one of the chief marks of a bad leader. Say you promise to hire a sales team for your company, but then a year later you still haven’t. That’s going to produce poor results for you, and make your team doubt the strength of your word.
What Makes a Great Leader
According to the HR Specialist, there are a number of things that employees crave in a leader. Based on surveys, at least 74% of respondents these traits out of their leaders—often that number shot up to around 90%:
Honesty: If you’re not being honest when things get bad, it will only make it worse for your employees when they do find out.
Fairness: You shouldn’t play favourites as a manager. Set a standard, and stick to it for all of your employees.
Trust: Things aren’t always going to be great at your business, but if your employees trust you, they’ll go into the fight ready, willing and able.
Respect: Your employees aren’t your peasants. They want you to treat them with the same respect you command from them as a leader.
Collaboration: While there are five different leadership styles, more than three quarters of surveyed employees said they want a leader who wants to be creative with them.
Genuineness: You’re giving a solid portion of your life to these people—spending 40+ hours a week with them. Take the time to have a genuine relationship.
Appreciation: Words of affirmation are a big love language for countless people. It doesn’t cost you a thing to encourage your employees and let them know you know they’re doing a great job.
Responsiveness: Sometimes it’s as simple as being able to listen, and actually follow up. That second step is a major failure among leaders, and those that are able to do it are counted among the greats.
Specific Strategies On How To Be a Great Leader
So what now?
The fight to become a great leader doesn’t just end when you adopt a few new styles and shape yourself to fit some character traits.
You need to have a plan that you can stick to day in and day you. Jon Gordon has come up with 5 Positive Leadership Strategies that are centred around making your company into a place that can really get **** done.
The secret is in maintaining a positive energy and a culture of open communication. His five steps include putting culture first, casting a vision, bringing other leaders on board, constant follow up, and presenting solutions instead of negativity and problems.
If you’re going to be a great leader, you’re going to have to have the stamina to be a cheerleader when everyone else just wants to mail it in.
If you can create a strategy, and truly keep to it, the results will be unparalleled.
Books, Videos, Courses On Leadership
After reading all of this, you’re naturally still going to have some questions, and want to go in depth further on a lot of what was discussed. In our view, the best way to do that isn’t just by reading more posts. It’s about getting into books, watching videos, and even taking courses that are going to help you hone in on your leadership skills.
Here are a handful of each that we think will really help you get on your way to being an amazing leader.
Books
Books uncover the depth of a story that blog posts never can. Like a good film, a book gets you attached to characters, and helps you to feel the magnitude of overcoming a conflict. Here are some great books that tell stories as well as give practical advice that you can apply to work every day (h/t to John Rampton at Inc for the list).
Driven to Distraction at Work: How to Focus and Be More Productive
by Ned Hallowell
We all get distracted, almost to an infuriating point at work. This book gives you an outline of practical strategies that you can take to overcome that distraction, get motivated, and in turn motivate your employees to be their most productive selves.
The Self-Made Billionaire Effect: How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value
by John Svioka and Mitch Cohen
Those that are at the top of the economic chain—at least, the ones who didn’t rely on old money—got their because they have a relentless passion to do what they do. They will stop at nothing, virtually day and night to get a task done. You can catch some of that contagious motivation when you pick up a copy of this amazing read.
Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!
by Nicholas Carlson
Marissa Mayer continues to be an inspiration as she fights gender stereotypes and wages war in fighting for her recovering company, Yahoo!, that’s still in peril today. This book will inspire you to keep fighting even through the hardest, lowest points of leading others. Because if you fold, so will they.
Videos
Videos are a great way to take a mental break at work and dive into something without getting unproductive or wasting a lot of time. Here are a couple of great videos you can check out right now(h/t to John Kotter via Forbes).
Great Leadership Takes You to Uncomfortable Places
You’re going to have to take a lot of risks as a leader. Sometimes, you just need a push over the edge to really get that done. Be encouraged to know that you’re not alone.
What Makes a Leader? It’s How You Act. It Has Nothing to Do with Your Position.
This is a great reminder that leadership isn’t limited to a title or position. It’s everywhere. This video shows you how you can bring out the best in the leaders whom you’re leading yourself.
Courses
It’s never too late to go back to school. You can check out a whole library of amazing courses over at Lynda, a LinkedIn Company. Here are three that directly apply to lessons we covered in this post.
Decision-Making Fundamentals
Taught by Mike Figliuolo
Remember how we talked about decisiveness? Here’s your crash course on learning to make smart decisions. While there are always good risks to take, there are smart risks and dumb ones. Learn the difference, and gain the confidence to support all your decisions.
Body Language for Leaders
Taught by Carol Kinsey Goman
We’re not all people persons, but that doesn’t mean we can’t embody a great leader. Some of us just have to learn some of the basics once or twice extra. Body language is a big intangible that’s always going to set leaders apart. Learn to master it, and your employees will reap the results of a better, healthier office environment.
Improving Your Conflict Competence
Taught by Craig Runde
We’ve all been experiencing conflict, practically since the day we were born. But that doesn’t mean we all know how to manage well. If you’re blowing up at your employees, or not handling a bad client with tact, you’re going to lose a lot of respect fast. This course will teach you what you need to know to effectively handle workplace conflict. To start, it’s about constructive engagement.
And that’s it!
The tools are in your hands, and your excuses have run dry. Get out there, get motivated, and get to leading your team to the goals and success that you’ve been dreaming of!