• Published December 1, 2023
  • 9 Minute Read

12 Characteristics of a Good Leader

What Are the Characteristics and Qualities of a Good Leader?

Leaders shape our teams, organizations, communities, and world.

We need good leaders to help guide us and make the essential decisions, big and small, that keep things moving forward.

Our society is usually quick to identify a bad leader, but how can you identify a good one? What would most people say are the qualities of a good leader?

What Good Leadership Looks Like

Based upon our decades of research and experience working with leaders at thousands of organizations around the world, we’ve found that the best leaders consistently possess certain fundamental qualities and skills. Here are 12 essential leadership traits.

12 Essential Leadership Qualities

  • Self-Awareness
  • Communication
  • Learning Agility
  • Collaboration

TIP: Download an action guide & summary of these essential characteristics of a good leader in PDF format to keep this list of leadership qualities at your fingertips as a reminder.

Infographic: 12 Characteristics of a Good Leader. 1. Self-Awareness. 2. Respect. 3. Compassion. 4. Vision. 5. Communication. 6. Learning Agility. 7. Collaboration. 8. Influence. 9. Integrity. 10. Courage. 11. Gratitude. 12. Resilience.

1. Self-Awareness

While this is a more inwardly focused trait, self-awareness and humility are paramount qualities of leadership. The better you understand yourself and recognize your own strengths and weaknesses, the more effective you can be as a leader. Do you know how other people view you and understand how you show up at work and at home? Take the time to learn about the 4 aspects of self-awareness and how to strengthen each component.

Treating people with respect on a daily basis is one of the most important things a leader can do. It helps ease tensions and conflict, fosters trust, and improves your effectiveness.  Creating a culture of respect  is about more than just the absence of disrespect. Respectfulness can be shown in many different ways, but it often starts with showing you truly value others’ perspectives and making an effort to build belonging in the workplace — both critical components of supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion.

3. Compassion

Compassion is one of the most powerful and important acts of leadership. It’s more than simply showing empathy or even listening and seeking to understand — as compassion requires leaders to act on what they learn. After someone shares a concern or speaks up about something, they won’t feel truly heard if their leader doesn’t then take some type of meaningful action on the information, our researchers have found. This is the core of compassionate leadership , and it helps to build trust, increase collaboration, and decrease turnover across organizations.

Motivating others and garnering commitment are essential parts of leadership. Purpose-driven leaders ensure they connect their team’s daily tasks and the values of individual team members to the overall direction of the organization. This can help employees find meaning in their work — which increases engagement, inspires trust, and drives priorities forward. You’ll want to communicate the vision in ways that help others understand it, remember it, and go on to share it themselves.

5. Communication

Effective leadership and effective communication are intertwined . The best leaders are skilled communicators who can communicate in a variety of ways, from transmitting information and storytelling to soliciting input and using active listening techniques . They can communicate well both orally and in writing, and with a wide range of people from different backgrounds, roles, levels, geographies, and more. The quality and effectiveness of communication among leaders at your organization will directly affect the success of your business strategy, too.

6. Learning Agility

Learning agility is the ability to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. If you’re a “quick study” or are able to excel in unfamiliar circumstances, you might already be learning agile. But anybody can foster and increase learning agility through intentional practice and effort. After all, great leaders are really great learners.

7. Collaboration

The most effective leaders can work with a variety of colleagues of different social identities , locations, roles, and experiences. As the world has become more complex and interconnected, good leaders find themselves spanning boundaries and learning to work across various types of divides and organizational silos. When leaders value and embrace collaboration, whether within their teams or cross-functionally, several benefits arise — including increased innovation, higher-performing teams, and a more engaged and empowered workforce.

8. Influence

For some people, “influence” may sound unseemly. But as a leader, you must be able to influence others to get the work done — you cannot do it all alone. Being able to persuade people through thoughtful use of appropriate influencing tactics is an important trait of inspiring, effective leaders. Influence is quite different from manipulation, and it needs to be done authentically and transparently. It requires high levels of emotional intelligence and trust.

9. Integrity

Integrity is an essential leadership trait for the individual and the organization. It’s especially important for top-level executives who are charting the organization’s course and making countless other significant decisions. Our research has found that leader integrity is a potential blind spot for organizations , so make sure you reinforce the importance of honesty and integrity to managers at all levels.

10. Courage

It can be hard to speak up at work, whether you want to voice a new idea, provide feedback to a direct report, or flag a concern for someone above you. That’s part of the reason courage is a key leadership trait — it takes courage to do what’s right! Leaders who promote high levels of psychological safety in the workplace enable their people to speak up freely and share candid concerns without fear of repercussions. This fosters a  coaching culture that supports courage and truth-telling . Courage enables both team members and leaders to take bold actions that move things in the right direction.

11. Gratitude

Being thankful can lead to higher self-esteem, reduced depression and anxiety, and better sleep. Sincere gratitude can even make you a better leader. Yet few people regularly say “thank you” in work settings, even though most people say they’d be willing to work harder for an appreciative boss. The best leaders know how to show frequent gratitude in the workplace .

12. Resilience

Resilience is more than the ability to bounce back from obstacles and setbacks — it’s the ability to respond adaptively to challenges. Practicing resilient leadership means you’ll project a positive outlook that will help others maintain the emotional strength they need to commit to a shared vision, and the courage to move forward and overcome setbacks. A good leader focuses on resilience, both taking care of themselves and also prioritizing leading employee wellbeing , too — thereby enabling better performance for themselves and their teams.

Characteristics of a Good Leader download cover

Download a PDF action guide and summary of these characteristics of a good leader, so you always have a visual reminder available of these 12 qualities of good leadership.

Develop the Characteristics of a Good Leader in Yourself & Others

Our 3 core beliefs about leadership & leadership development.

At the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, we’ve been researching the qualities of a good leader and the role of leadership for over 5 decades. Here are 3 of our core beliefs about good leaders and effective leadership.

Good leaders are made, not born.

First, we believe that leaders are made, not born. Put another way, leadership is a skill that can be developed . Good leaders are molded through experience, continued study, intentional effort, and adaptation. So you can strengthen any of these 12 characteristics of a good leader, if you’re open to growth, use your experiences to fuel development , and put in the time and effort toward self-improvement.

Similarly, organizations can help their people hone these top leadership qualities by providing ample opportunities for training, offering support for learning from challenges, and providing access to coaching and mentoring programs .

Leadership is a social process.

It’s also essential to recognize that  leadership is less about one strong or charismatic individual, and more about a group of people working collectively to achieve results together . If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader, but fail to grasp this key point, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well-liked and respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals. At CCL, we like to say that the  outcomes of leadership are about creating direction, alignment, and commitment, or DAC , within a group.

Good leadership never stops.

Also, we believe that leadership isn’t a destination, it’s a journey   — it’s something that you’ll have to work at regularly throughout your career, regardless of what level you reach in your organization or what industry you work in. Different teams, projects, and situations will provide different challenges and require different leadership qualities and competencies to succeed. So you will need to be able to continue to apply these leadership characteristics in different ways throughout your career. Just continually keep learning and growing, and you’ll be an agile learner with a long career .

We Can Help You Develop the Qualities of a Good Leader

Organizations can strengthen leadership qualities and foster deeper levels of engagement at work through providing a variety of on-the-job learning experiences, mentoring, and formal development opportunities. At CCL, we have many award-winning leadership solutions with clients around the world, and we’d be honored to work with you and your organization as well.

But individuals don’t have to wait to begin strengthening these leadership characteristics within themselves. If you decide you want to work proactively on developing your leadership qualities and skills,  download our action guide & visual summary  of this content. And get our tips on how to  convince your boss to make an investment in you  and your future. We’re here to support you every step of the way on your journey to becoming a better leader!

Ready to Take the Next Step?

After you download the 12 Characteristics of a Good Leader , keep on learning and growing: never miss our exclusive leadership insights and tips — subscribe to our newsletters to get our research-based articles, webinars, resources, and guides delivered straight to your inbox. 

Keep these qualities of a good leader top of mind in the future: download a PDF summary of this article as an action guide and visual reminder of the leadership qualities to nurture in yourself, on your team, and at your organization in the future.

Leading Effectively Staff

This article was written by our Leading Effectively staff, who analyze our decades of pioneering, expert research and experiences in the field to share content that will help leaders at every level. Subscribe to our emails to get the latest research-based leadership articles and insights sent straight to your inbox.

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Writing an Effective Leadership Essay: Tips and Examples

definition of "leadership essay" that is restated in the article

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Whether you’ve led a horse to water or led your team to a victorious championship, you’re probably more of a leader than you give yourself credit for. It turns out, college admissions officers want to hear about that horse and/or championship in your application essay. The leadership essay is one of the hallmarks of college essays, but what’s the right way to do it?

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a subset of college application essays that help college admissions officers understand your previous experiences as a leader. While that might seem extremely specific, it comes with the understanding that leadership looks and feels different based on the person and situation.

To give you a real world example: The president is ostensibly the leader of the United States. However, the president has a whole cabinet of other leaders for every other aspect of running a country. You might not be a leader of foreign policy, but you might be a leader on the football field or within your community volunteer group.

Leadership Essay Ideas and Topics

While you might see a few variations, almost all leadership essays go back to two main forms:

  • What is your leadership style?
  • Describe a moment when you showed leadership.

There’s inherently a bit of overlap with both of these. You’ll likely give an example of a leadership moment when talking about your leadership style, and you’ll probably talk about your leadership style when talking about a leadership moment.

In either case, the school will want you to use anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the idea. Go with what feels right, whether that’s leading a club or team in school or leading some ducklings across a busy highway. Even if your experience sounds cliché, it’s unique because it involves you.

How To Write a Leadership Essay

Probably the biggest trap that people fall into is “Well, I’ve never been a leader.” Even if you’ve never held some sort of leadership position at school or had an official title, chances are pretty high that you have exhibited some form of leadership at some point in your life. Beyond that, the actual writing of the leadership essay is fairly straightforward.

Formatting Your Leadership Essay

Your leadership essay will include an introduction paragraph, one or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Depending on the word or page limits, you can almost treat this like a five-paragraph essay .

  • Introduction - Capture the reader’s interest, define good leadership in relation to you, and directly address the given prompt
  • Body paragraphs - Give some background information using anecdotes to describe your leadership style or moment
  • Conclusion - End with a compelling statement about your leadership qualities and how you hope to apply them to your education, career, and the world in general

How Long Should a Leadership Essay Be?

The length of the leadership essay depends on what the college or application system says. Thankfully, this is the one part of the essay that you don’t need to question. Nearly every school will provide a word limit, typically ranging from 250 words (for supplemental essays) potentially all the way up to 1,000 words.

In the rare event that you don’t see an obvious word limit, stick to a maximum of about 500 to 600 words.

Tips for Writing a Leadership Essay

Unfortunately, we don’t know your personal life, and we certainly don’t know moments where you exhibited leadership. So we can’t write your essay for you, but we can give you some tips to at least guide your writing process.

Define Good Leadership Before You Start

Before you begin writing your essay, think about what qualities make someone a good leader, at least in your opinion. What great leadership qualities do you have? What makes a “good leader”? Make a list before you begin writing your essay. 

Leadership qualities can include:

  • The ability to motivate others
  • Personal integrity
  • Placing a value on relationships with team members
  • Prioritizing the larger good over any individual

Review your list and choose the qualities you want to highlight. Write your own definition of what makes someone a great leader as it relates to the quality you chose. It should be one or two sentences long. Use that definition as the backbone of your essay.

Tell a Story About Your Leadership

It’s time to turn that list of potential leadership qualities into something meaningful and interesting. The best way to do that is with an engaging narrative.

You should obviously state good leadership qualities, but that shouldn’t be your entire essay. Tell a story about your leadership.

  • Did you face a specific challenge?
  • How did you overcome that challenge?
  • How has your leadership style changed over the years?
  • Was there a specific moment or experience that caused that change?

Really ask yourself questions and dig into the concept of leadership as a real thing that has had real effects on your life.

Write With Your Own Voice and Style

Although you shouldn’t be super informal in college application essays, they are also designed to help you display your own voice and personality. College admissions officers want to learn about you, and your writing style is inherently a big part of that, whether that means using humor or puns, maintaining a unique level of sincerity throughout the essay, or being invitingly verbose.

Don’t Be Down On Yourself

Whether it’s your personal statement , a supplemental essay, or this leadership essay, avoid being too down on yourself. Admissions officers want to hear about all your successes, trophies, and kittens saved from trees. They really don’t want to read a whole essay about you saying you’re a bad leader.

Humility is definitely an important leadership trait, but there’s a fine line between being humble and being hurtful to yourself. Even if you’re normally prone to some self-deprecation, try to keep it at a minimum for this essay.

Leadership Essay Example

If you’re not sure where to start, take some time to brainstorm ideas. Even the weirdest idea can blossom into something neat. If you need inspiration, one of the best things is to look at other examples of leadership. That could be from your favorite show, a good nonfiction book about sailors, or the essay below.

full text essay example with labeled parts restated from the article

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Leadership Essay Introduction Example

The introduction should pull the reader in while directly answering the prompt. When in doubt, try to start with something concrete over something abstract. Or as writers and writing teachers like to say: Show, don’t tell.

The room was filled with the gentle hum of microphones and video cameras, cut only by the occasional cough or cleared throat. It was easy to feel out of place in this room full of wood furniture, leather seats, and powerful men capable of changing not just my life, but an entire sector of television programming as we knew it. I had never thought of myself as a leader, but I also knew that this was about something bigger than me, something that I could actually influence.

Leadership Essay Body Example

The body is where you’ll get more into the details of your narrative and connect it to ideas of leadership. Try not to get too hung up on the exact wording of what makes a leader. That can get far too abstract. Let your story speak for you.

I took a deep breath and began to talk. I wasn’t known to have a particularly commanding or powerful voice, but people always seemed to listen, including these men with their name placards and tall seats. They had been ready to cut funding for public broadcasting, which included programming that they had never seen. I was simply someone who lived in a neighborhood and cared about children’s education, beyond just math and reading. All I could do was be honest.

Leadership Essay Conclusion Example

Your conclusion considers the broader effects of your leadership. How might your leadership evolve or change? How can you apply that leadership to your education, job, or community?

To me, leadership is about connection. I know that I have a voice and an immense dedication to emotional intelligence in children. My ability to focus on other people goes hand-in-hand with my ability to speak through a tiger puppet. Both are about closing gaps and bringing people closer to a basic understanding. I hope to use my leadership abilities within the field of psychology to build more connections between people and communities.
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What Makes A Good Leader: Essay Hints

Jessica Nita

Table of Contents

a good leader characteristics essay

In this essay, you need to discuss the essential qualities needed for becoming an effective leader. In fact, different situations require different types of leadership styles, so it may be hard to choose the qualities that define good leaders admired by people from bad ones.

Besides, there are common misconceptions about their role. In this article, we will try to answer the question of “what makes a good leader essay” and give you some recommendations about the aspects you should focus on.

Essay structure and key points to cover

Wondering what the best way to approach an essay on leadership qualities is? Leadership essays can be written in the expository style and structured to include different subtopics:

  • Discussion of major leadership theories.
  • Personality traits defining great leaders.
  • Leadership styles and how they work.
  • Leadership principles and core values.
  • Examples of leaders in different spheres of society.
  • People you consider to be leaders in your life.
  • Leadership skills you have.

It’s important to demonstrate an original personal understanding of leadership concept and provide impressive illustrative examples taken from today’s real life or history. That’s the best thing to do when reviewing various leadership qualities.

What are the qualities of a good leader: essay ideas

When we take an in-depth look at history, we see countless leadership qualities that were adopted by both good and bad leaders. When writing what are the qualities of a good leader essay, you should focus on the characteristics and strengths of a leader, and how they help influence and motivate other people along with achieving own goals.

These are emotional and behavioral characteristics of well-known leaders that helped them succeed:

  • Vision – effective leaders have exciting ideas, they usually are forward-looking, and have excellent strategic planning skills.
  • Communication – communicating ideas clearly and concisely is essential to ensure teamwork towards the same goal.
  • Integrity – they are honest and can always tell the truth in any situation.
  • Confidence – they dare to take risks to achieve their goals and never give up.
  • Responsiveness – good leaders value their team, listen to people they lead, and quickly change their behavior to match different situations.
  • Determination – good leaders are passionate about what they do and can motivate people by demonstrating their own commitment.
  • Empathy is the most important skill which allows to create strong bonds of trust and build successful teams.

Tips on writing a winning essay on leadership

When working on what makes a good leader essay, students should follow certain basic steps.

  • Research relevant sources on the internet to get a better understanding of the concept, read a lot, and make notes of interesting ideas which can be used in your paper.
  • Brainstorm ideas to write about, formulate a strong thesis statement and create a detailed working outline. Organize information in a logical order.
  • Start writing a draft with an introduction. Engage readers with a hook – provocative question, anecdote, stunning fact, convincing statistics. Introduce a subject, providing relevant background information. End introductory paragraph with a specific thesis that sums up your ideas.
  • Devote separate body paragraphs to specific points supporting the main argument. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences, presenting key points, give detailed explanations, and provide additional evidence and examples. Include appropriate citations with proper referencing. Sum up and demonstrate how each paragraph contributes to the logical argument.
  • Create a convincing conclusion to wrap up the paper’s key points.
  • Revise the first draft , make improvements in content, logic, and sentence structure. Edit to improve word choice and clarity.
  • Proofread the final version – fix minor errors and typos. Create references list and check the formatting of the entire paper.

a good leader characteristics essay

The use of a leadership essay sample

Still not sure that you can write a good leader essay that will impress your readers? Read biographies of famous people who played crucial roles in human history, created big successful businesses, managed large corporations to learn which qualities contributed to their success.

Besides, you may want to check out some good paper examples.

Find out how powerful papers on this topic are structured and what interesting points they cover. Use essay samples as templates or models to follow.

See this short sample paragraph which discusses one of the leadership qualities for inspiration.

Empathy, an ability to recognize other’s feelings and perspectives and understand other people’s needs is crucial in leadership. Being empathetic means you can step into another person’s world and this character trait is essential for success due to several reasons. It’s impossible to effectively lead people you don’t understand. You can effectively motivate and influence someone if you know their feelings. Empathy is one of the keys to successful leadership because it helps build relationships with people they lead and create an environment of open communication. Luckily, empathy is natural for humans and we can even learn to be more empathetic and demonstrate this ability to people around us.

No time to write your essay on leadership? We’ve got plenty of time here! Our writers strive to help you out. Click the button faster and get yourself a perfect essay with no struggle!

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Leadership Essay

27 August, 2020

12 minutes read

Author:  Richard Pircher

As a college student, you must write essays on a regular basis since the latter is one of the most common types of home assignments. All this means is that in order to get good grades and be successful with writing the papers, you need to have a sound understanding of the structure. Additionally, what you should never neglect is the variety of essay types. Indeed, your essay will significantly differ from one type to another: description essay will most likely have a structure that is slightly different from an argumentative one.

Leadership Essays

What you may have already encountered in your academic life is the work on a leadership essay. Although it sounds pretty complicated and vague, it is mostly possible to master an essay on leadership. Below is a guide for you to get an insight into this particular essay type.

What is a good leadership essay?

A good leadership essay is the one in which the essay writer has fully covered the topic of leadership and understood its core ideas. More specifically, to end up with a flawless leadership essay, you will need to indicate what makes a person a good leader. For achieving the latter, you will most likely need to conduct research and trace how a particular person reaches his or her goals. In other words, the task is to discover which actions the person undertakes, what their followers say about him or her, and how the person organizes the work. So, a leadership essay implies providing real-life success examples and further revealing them.

Above all, a good leadership essay is the one that follows a precise, clear, comprehensive structure. Structuring your essay about leadership in the most coherent way leads to a win-win situation: you have fewer troubles and barriers to writing a brilliant essay, and your teacher is able to comprehend the essay easily. This guide is what you will need to refer to to get an insight into how the flawless structure for a leadership essay looks like and how it will let you take a benefit.

How to write a Leadership essay?

To write a leadership essay that stands out, you first need to brainstorm all the ideas that you have and come up with a topic for your essay. If you are struggling with this step, you may think of some of the most influential people, read about them, and find out what makes them unique. Or, you can pick any topic which is mentioned at the end of this article. After you have chosen an issue, it is time to structure your essay appropriately.

how to write a leadership essay example

As you already know, an essay constitutes three essential sections: introduction, main body, and conclusion. Below is the more detailed description of each of the parts.

Introduction

Of course, your leadership essay introduction will always vary depending on the topic of the essay. However, you can always begin by stating your vision of leadership regardless of the topic. Additionally, to motivate the reader and instantly catch his or her attention, you may use a quote of a famous leader, or simply a quote which you find relevant to the topic. Be aware that you should avoid outlining the essence and the role of the leadership in your introduction; leave it for the body paragraphs.

What you may also do in your leadership essay is ask a question, which will most likely intrigue the leader. Or it will at least give your reader an overview of what you will dwell on  in your essay.

Body Paragraphs

You will need to divide the main body into 3-5 paragraphs to make the structure more comprehensive. What you have to do at this point  is  give your reader a sound understanding of your ideas. Therefore, try to fit each idea in a single body paragraph so that you do not confuse your reader. Do not hesitate to indicate your examples to strengthen your arguments. For instance, you may explain a fact that makes a particular person you are writing about a real leader.

Also, always stick to your thesis statement and don’t forget that the body paragraphs should reveal the parts of your thesis statement.

As you may already know, you need to restate your opinion and briefly summarize all the points from the main body in conclusion. For instance, if you wrote your essay on qualities of an effective leader, state the most fundamental qualities and indicate why they matter the most. Besides, try not to copy what you have already written in the body – it is better to restate your opinion using different words. And, of course, beware adding any new and extra information; indicate only those points that you have already outlined in the text. Finally, keep in mind that it is always favorable to keep your concluding remarks short.

leadership essay

Leadership Essay Examples

Writing a leadership essay requires some research and time. In case you feel the necessity to go through an essay example, below is a leadership essay sample you can refer to.

Is leadership an inborn or an acquired feature?

Is everyone capable of becoming a leader, or is this ability innate? A lot of researchers have been struggling to answer this question. One assumption about leadership implies that the leader is the person who possesses particular characteristics. Another assumption claims that leaders are capable of acquiring specific features over their life span. As the evidence shows, leaders own many features that distinguish them among others and make more and more people become their followers. These might be cognitive abilities, psychological traits, professional qualities, and a lot more, and all of them will be either acquired or innate. Based on the importance of leadership qualities, such as commitment, stress resistance, and the ability to make quality decisions, it is reasonable to claim that leaders are made, not born. 

One can deem commitment as one of the top fundamental qualities of the leader. In essence, such a feature indicates that a person is passionate about the common goal, strives to be a team player, and makes every effort to reach a shared goal. As the history shows, none of the successful companies was uncoordinated by an influential, committed leader: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft – all of these companies are examples of dominant teams led by a dedicated leader. A committed leader also inspires his or her team to achieve common goals and put more effort into the shared activity. Besides, commitment is unlikely to be an innate feature; it instead comes with experience. This is so, since commitment implies dedicating oneself to the shared task, and one can reach it only via learning and continuous self-improvement.

Stress resistance is another incredibly important feature that every good leader should possess. This is because only a stress-resistant leader has sufficient capabilities to overcome any complexity and not let the anxiety and stress prevent him or her from making proper decisions. Besides, such a leader will most likely have a positive influence on the team, as long as leading by example will motivate the team members to attain the same emotional stability. What is so far familiar about stress resistance as an effective leader’s feature is that it can be either innate or attained. However, although some researchers admit that emotional stability is something one is born with, it is not entirely true; many people still put a great effort into self-improvement, changing the attitude to unfortunate situations, and so on. Therefore, being resistant to stress can be mostly attributed to a personality.

An ability to make high-quality decisions most likely determines the chances for an enterprise’s success. In particular, such quality is incredibly fundamental for a company of any size and professional orientation. Additionally, it is one of the top tasks of a good leader to make final decisions. What he or she should do implies brainstorming, discussing various opinions in the group, making forecasts, analyzing all the pros and cons. However, the leader is the one to make a final decision. Thereby, he is in charge of researching the market, discovering all the hidden truths, and analyzing the organization’s potential and capabilities to result in the most effective decision. As it flows logically from the latter, an ability to make sound quality decisions is purely a professional quality. This leads to the conclusion that one has to work hard to become a genuine leader and master the skill of making effective decisions. 

Overall, the leader may possess a multitude of different skills and master them perfectly. However, what has so far become transparent is that any leader, regardless of which team he leads, must possess three essential qualities. These qualities are commitment to the common goal, ability to handle and resist stress, and, finally, an ability to make effective decisions. All of the three qualities are most likely to be acquired over a lifetime. The statement below leads to the conclusion that even though some qualities can be innate, most are not the ones that leaders are born with. Hence, this answers an essential question: leadership feature is acquired, and not necessarily inborn.  

20 leadership essay topics

When coming up with your next leadership essay topic, it is imperative to brainstorm ideas and think of what leadership might be related to. If you are struggling with a topic of the importance of leadership essay or any relevant type of essay, you may quickly take a look at some of the possible topics we prepared for you:

  • What are the main qualities of the leader?
  • Successful Time Management as a feature of an effective leader
  • The role that rhetoric plays in leadership
  • The most exceptional leader in the history of the 20-th century
  • The role of female leadership
  • What are the challenges of the leader of the 21-st century?
  • How college helps students develop leadership skills?
  • Qualities of the leader that motivate people to follow them 
  • Top things to avoid doing to become a team leader
  • Examples of effective and ineffective leadership in the history
  • Top techniques for developing leadership skills
  • The interconnection of creativity and leadership 
  • Is a university’s role fundamental in developing leadership skills?
  • Dictatorship as an anti-example of leadership
  • Liberal vs Authoritative leadership: which one works better?
  • The influence of the leader’s role model on the followers’ mindset
  • Main difficulties that the new leader may face in a new team
  • Leadership of today vs leadership of the past: what has changed?
  • Reasons why I want to become a member if the leadership program
  • The role of cognitive abilities for the leader 

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A Full Guide On How To Create Good Leadership Essay

Guide On How To Create Good Leadership Essay

Attempting a leadership essay isn’t such a daunting task, provided you have a grasp of the necessary information needed for a leadership paper. To write this special essay, you’ll need to redefine what exactly an essay on leadership is, how to choose the perfect topic, what should be in the content, and how to organize and structure the paper. Let’s delve deeper!

What Is A Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a well-formatted, organized and specialized type of formal writing which elaborates on a generic leadership topic or a superior human figure exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals.

What Makes A Good Leader Essay?

There are some peculiarities needed to infuse in your write-up if, for example, you’re trying to learn how to write a leadership essay about yourself.

Also, if you’re just trying to produce leadership essays for college, then you’d first and foremost, learn  how to structure an essay , among other skills needed for this type of essay. Here are some qualities which can be found in a good essay about leadership.

  • Choose a creative topic
  • Avoid the passive voice (the active voice sounds stronger)
  • Search for and study leadership essay examples
  • Follow the appropriate essay style
  • Focus on the essay structure
  • Review the essay

How To Choose A Topic And Make A Great Title?

To choose a topic for a paper on leadership, you need to do some research on the concept of a leader (whether in the corporate industry, political society or even in the criminal world). You have to know the current leadership tendencies in organizational groups or society. You can choose to make a leader the point of your reference by explaining the consequences of their leadership abilities or inabilities.

In the body of your essay, don’t forget to mention several types of leadership styles and point out which one the subject portrays. Finally, you should not rule out making comparisons of famous leaders in the modern world or in history. An example of a great prompt for a leadership essay that deploys the comparison technique would be the leadership styles of President Trump and The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte as both leadership styles have been subjected to political reviews in recent times since their emergence as president of their respective countries.

Outline For A Leadership Essay

When writing a college or professional essay such as -long and short essays on leadership, planning is the key to perfection. The general outline for any essay, including leadership papers, include an introduction, the body paragraphs (which must be properly linked with transition words and/or phrases) and a recapitulating or finding-based conclusions. Here’s what your outline should look like:

Introduction

Knowing how to start a leadership essay depends on your introduction writing ability. The introduction is the gateway to the essay. Aided by punchy opening words, which are the hook, the purpose of the introduction is to draw the reader’s attention. The introduction presents the thesis statement and leaves the body paragraphs to sustain the reader’s interest.

Body Paragraphs

Having informed the readers of the topic of the essay in the introductory paragraph(s), the body paragraphs follow immediately.

Here, you can elaborate on the concept of leadership and do a meaningful interpretation of the subject – the topic or the thesis statement. Don’t forget to talk about your leadership philosophies and leadership experience in whatever capacity you might have found yourself in. Remember, people are more interested in personal experiences. They are great in helping to sustain readers’ attention.

Remember to state a thesis or hypothesis in the opening paragraphs – which is the intro. In each of the body paragraphs of the essay, try to relate your points to the thesis and use each point to prove its validity.

The conclusion is the end part of any well-structured essay. Its purpose is a no-brainer. You don’t want to leave your reader hanging by ending the essay cold turkey. Any standard essay without a conclusion is just as useless as an essay with no purpose. However, be careful not to present new ideas not mentioned in the body.

As mentioned, the conclusion serves to summarize the developed points, restate the thesis and/or present the findings. It is your last opportunity to create an impression on the reader, and this is where they take the message away. If your conclusion is weak, then we might say the essay’s objectives are not achieved.

What To Include In A Leadership Essay?

Here are some tips on what your leadership essay should include.

Your Definition Of A Good Leader And Why He Or She Is Important

Since your essay revolves around leadership and the traits of a good leader, you’ll need to define what it takes to be one. You may also take this opportunity to trash some common myths on what a leader is (i.e., a manager being confused for a leader).

For reference purposes, the concepts of leadership and being a good leader are explained:

Leadership is the quality of a leader and is that person capable of exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals. A leader is a guide; someone with ideas and goals that can spread to a large group of people who still believe he or she can lead them in the right direction.

There are many types of leaders and therefore, of leadership since people generally always look for a person or group that shows them a direction to follow. You can find religious, political, social, or philosophical leadership. Leadership can be exercised in a traditional way. In many countries, there is a monarchy. The king or queen is a leader with limited political power, at least in western democracies, but still have the respect and consideration of the people. Their words continue to be heard and taken into account, especially in problematic times. There are other types of leadership that are not given by birth, such as legitimate leadership exercised by, for example, political leaders freely chosen by their people, or charismatic leaders.

In a way, charismatic leaders are what many understand as leaders since they are people who, by their way of behavior and characteristics, get many people to follow and adhere to their ideas. Some charismatic leaders can become legitimate leaders if they choose the path of politics. A traditional leader can also be charismatic. There have always been kings loved by his people more than others. But it can also be a person who prefers independent movements outside of power.

Charisma is the personal magnetism a person has. It is something very difficult to define but makes one capable of convincing others without too much effort, making people follow and trust the leading figure. Charisma can be used positively or negatively. The leaders of the most destructive sects are very charismatic people that are capable of convincing their followers of the eeriest ideas, including donating all their belongings or committing collective suicide.

Examples Of Your Leadership Style

In the content of your essay, you may consider giving an interpretation to your (or your chosen leader’s) leadership traits. Below are some examples of leadership qualities that separate a good leader from a bad leader.

What qualities are necessary for leadership

  • Communication
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Strategic thinking
  • Commitment and passion
  • Knowledge and experience
  • Leading by example
  • Active listening
  • Ability to enhance talent
  • Setting goals and expectations
  • People investment
  • Discernment
  • Concentration
  • Positive attitude
  • Problem-solving
  • Self-discipline

Leadership Essay Example

To know how to do essay fast, you’ll need some ready-made essay examples for the sake of guidance and inspiration. You may find below a leadership essay written by Oliver Smith useful in your leadership paper.

Writing a leadership essay should be easy. A good essay on leadership starts from the hook, and the thesis statement in the introduction. The points developed in the body paragraphs help affirm the hypothesis. Finally, the conclusion offers the reader a summary through the restatement of the essay’s main idea.

As required for every essay type, your essay on leadership has to follow a definite style and format. Examples are MLA, APA, Chicago and AP styles. Take your time in choosing a creative but new topic and also in writing the content. By following this guide, everything should be as perfect as possible.

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Essays About Effective Leadership: Top 6 Examples and Prompts

Effective leadership is an essential trait that all people should strive to develop; here are 6 examples and topic ideas essays about effective leadership .

Many qualities make an inspiring and effective leader, such as vision, focus, and motivation. Like other skills, effective leadership can be innate or learned and practiced. When writing about leadership, include the strengths of an effective leader and how these qualities positively impact their team. You can also discuss weaknesses that can make a poor leader and how to combat these issues.

Here are 6 examples and 10 essay prompts to get you started on your next essay.

1. What Makes an Effective Leader? by Tony Gill

2. a guide to becoming an effective leader by yashi srivastava , 3. leadership: 5 practices of effective leaders by yvette gyles, 4. 6 characteristics of an effective leader by lauren landry, 5. six leadership lessons by order of the peaky blinders by andrew denton mbe, 6. leadership and the quest for certainty by keith grint,  1. what is effective leadership, 2. what does effective leadership look like in the corporate industry, 3. what to avoid to become an effective leader, 4. habits of an effective leader, 5. studying the mindsets of effective leaders, 6. effective leadership and its benefits to an organization, 7. indicators of strong and effective leadership, 8. poor leadership vs. effective leadership, 9. real-life examples of effective leadership, 10. how perception creates effective leadership.

“Work at using leadership styles that do not come naturally, styles that you find difficult. By becoming a well-rounded leader, it is easier to adapt your leadership technique for different situations.”

Gill uses a research-based approach to answer the central question of his essay. He looks at various sources that tackle the topic of effective leadership and stitch them together to make a comprehensive guide to effective leadership.

“Leadership is not a mystical quality, and anyone can become a more effective leader by developing some important skills.”

The author, Yashi Srivastava, defines what differentiates leaders from managers first. Then, she provides some dos and don’ts of an effective leader and how people could apply them in different situations. 

“Whereas as leaders, we need to be concerned about creativity and innovation, making positive changes, and seeking to challenge and push boundaries.”

Gyles specializes in leadership training for companies, so her approach to the essay is geared more toward company leaders. Nevertheless, it’s highly educational for all those interested in learning effective leadership meant for dealing with various people and guiding people to a direction or goal.

“Effective leaders don’t avoid the hard truths. Instead, they take responsibility for their decisions, maintain optimism, and focus on charting a new course of action.”

Landry’s essay focuses on her six top characteristics of an effective leader. Some of these characteristics are what you’d expect to see in an essay like this. Entries like transparency are less common but equally important in practicing effective leadership.

“Rolling your sleeves up with everyone else not only sets an example, it makes people want to follow you.”

Fiction mirrors life, and it’s one of the best sources to learn lessons that are otherwise too complex or vague to see in real life. Despite his penchant for crime and violence, Thomas Shelby is undeniably one of the most influential leaders on TV. This essay details the leadership skills used by a 1920s gangster character and how you can use them in modern life to become an effective and inspiring leader.

“Leadership is often associated with certainty; indeed, it is sometimes reduced to the decision-making process such that anything which smacks of uncertainty is categorized as weakness or a failure of leadership.”  

Grint’s essay on leadership explores the factors around leaders’ certainty or confidence. Of course, not all leaders have a clear answer to a problem, which is fine. The important thing is that they have a mindset to look for solutions and a modicum of honesty about their lack of uncertainty.

10 Essay Prompts on Effective Leadership

It’s your turn to express and explore your view of effective leadership. Use these prompts to work out your approach or steps to effective leadership. Here are ten prompts about effective leadership to help you get started on your essay.

Defining effective leadership is one way to explore your understanding of the idea. Remember that your definition of effective leadership could vastly differ from the other essays you’ve read. It’s also a great starting point for new people who want to warm up to the habit of writing essays about leadership.

Essay writing tip: If you’re new to writing essays, consider simplifying your essay. Try shortening it down to a five-paragraph essay .

Essays about effective leadership prompts: What does effective leadership look like in the corporate industry?

You can find many leaders in the corporate industry, but some are more effective than others. Use this prompt to work out how you envision effective leadership in the corporate world. You can also apply the same idea to other fields, like at school, among friends or peer groups, or in the family. Consider carefully the field or organization you’d like to use for the essay.

You may have personal experience with a person who could have been an effective leader if not for their bad habits. You might have been that person and realized how your bad habits had held you back from practicing effective leadership. This is your chance to write about your experience, whether via observing someone else or through personal growth.

Practicing effective leadership goes beyond having direction and a vision for the organization. Becoming an effective leader also takes time and patience. Use this prompt to discuss the habits of great leaders and how these habits make them effective in their leadership.

Get into the mind of a leader and explore how such a person might become more effective in their leadership. This topic may involve discussing various people, whether real-life persons or fictional characters. Research how they think, handle their role and manage the people they lead.

Understanding the benefits of effective leadership is one of the best ways to drive someone to practice and adopt it. Use this prompt to detail how an effective leader boosts morale, productivity, motivation, communication quality, and confidence in the people they lead. It applies to all organizations, like businesses, teams, and networks.

How do you know whether a person’s leadership style and approach are effective or not? Use this essay topic to discover the different methods of measuring effective leadership. Read about the different measurements and indicators of leadership used in corporations and organizations.

Leaders can be good, mediocre, or bad in their leadership approaches and styles. This essay prompt will push you to compare bad leadership and effective leadership. You can also add methods of improving one’s leadership style to become more effective.

You can find a lot of excellent leaders throughout history. This idea focuses on discussing different leaders, their leadership styles, and levels of effectiveness.

Interpersonal skills are vital to great leadership. Perception of others’ feelings and thoughts can help you become an even better and more effective leader. Discuss how intuitiveness positively affects one’s leadership style. 

Check out our list of great essay writing topics for students for more topics to improve your writing.

a good leader characteristics essay

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Feb 15, 2023

Essays on Leadership for Students | 200 - 500 Word Essays

Are you writing an essay about leadership? Check out these examples!

Leadership is often defined as "the action of inspiring others to act in concert to achieve a particular goal." It signifies the harmony in actions that lead to a common objective. A genuine leader not only exudes confidence but also paves the way for their followers towards triumph. Over the years, various leadership styles have been identified and discussed by psychologists.

 Qualities such as intelligence, adaptability, extroversion, innate self-awareness, and social competence often emerge as the hallmarks of impactful leaders. There's a consensus that these traits mold an individual into an effective leader. Interestingly, some theories suggest that extraordinary situations can thrust an ordinary individual into the spotlight, bestowing upon them the mantle of leadership. It's also believed that leadership isn't a static trait but an evolving journey. It underscores the belief that with dedication and the right resources, anyone can hone their leadership abilities.

 True leadership goes beyond merely advocating for a cause. It involves taking responsibility, igniting motivation in others, and differentiating oneself from just being a 'boss'. A leader's essence lies in their ability to inspire and propel people towards grand visions, whereas a manager typically focuses on oversight and operational aspects.

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay falls under the category of student application essays and serves to provide student admissions officers with insight into your past leadership experiences. Despite appearing to be very specific, this type of essay acknowledges that the nature and perception of leadership can vary significantly depending on the individual and the context.

 If you find yourself in need of further insights or a unique angle for your leadership essay, consider exploring an expert essay-writing tool designed to assist students in crafting compelling narratives by analyzing vast data and generating fresh ideas within minutes. In this article, we'll also delve into various leadership essay examples to offer a clearer understanding of the genre and inspire your writing journey.

4 Examples of Leadership Essays

Qualities of a good leader, introduction.

Confidence is the most important attribute first of all. One of the most important qualities in a leader is confidence in one's own abilities. A lack of self-assurance is fatal to a person's leadership potential. If you want others to follow you, you need to exude self-assurance. It's imperative for a leader to have faith in his own judgment and actions. How can people want to follow him if he doesn't even know what he's doing?

Every effective leader knows that they need to be an inspiration to their followers. A leader needs to set an example for his team. In addition, he ought to inspire them whenever feasible. A leader must also maintain optimism in trying times.

What qualities a good leader must have?

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide individuals or groups toward a common goal. A leader must possess several qualities to be effective, including:

Communication skills: A leader must be able to communicate their vision and goals clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. This requires excellent listening skills, empathy, and the ability to adapt to different communication styles.

Emotional intelligence: A leader must be able to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as those of their team members. This includes being able to understand and respond to the emotions of others, and handling conflicts in a constructive manner.

Visionary: A leader must have a clear and inspiring vision of the future, and be able to articulate this vision in a way that motivates others to work towards it.

Strategic thinking: A leader must be able to think critically and creatively to identify and solve problems, make decisions, and develop plans and strategies to achieve their goals.

Flexibility: A leader must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and be open to new ideas and perspectives. This requires the ability to embrace change, be innovative, and continuously learn and grow.

Integrity: A leader must have strong ethics and values, and be willing to make difficult decisions that are consistent with their beliefs. This requires honesty, transparency, and accountability.

Decisiveness: A leader must be able to make tough decisions quickly, without undue hesitation or procrastination. This requires courage and the ability to take calculated risks.

Empowerment: A leader must be able to delegate responsibilities, give team members the resources they need to succeed, and foster a sense of ownership and accountability among their team.

Conclusion 

These qualities are essential for effective leadership, and when combined with hard work, determination, and a commitment to excellence, can help leaders to achieve great things.

How one can be a Great Leader?

Leadership is the act of performing the duties of a leader. In the business world, for instance, it is essential to have someone in charge of a team to ensure everything runs well. Effective leadership is essential for any group that wants to maximize its prospects of success.

Leadership Comes from Experience

As we've shown, leadership can be innate in some cases but is more often learned through practice and exposure. Sometimes the best traits of a leader must be learned over a lengthy period of time, so that one can become a notable one, proving that leadership is not always about a person's innate qualities. Leaders should continuously be on the lookout for opportunities to grow their leadership skills.

Nobody can disagree that experience is a key component of leadership. Numerous examples exist to back up this claim, such as:

Instance 1:

Our school's head boy or girl has traditionally been an older student who has been around for a while and thus has a better grasp of the ins and outs of school politics.

Instance 2:

When there is a vacancy for a team leader, it is common practice for the employee who has consistently put in the most effort and attention to the office job to receive a higher number of votes than their coworkers. 

“The best teacher for a leader is evaluated experience.” - John C. Maxwell

How one can be a Great Leader/Skills to be a Great Leader?

Effective leadership is a skill that develops through time. Developing into a leader with all the qualities that are needed takes a lot of hard work and potential. Being a prominent leader calls for a wide variety of traits. Some of these characteristics are addressed in further detail below:

One should be a Good Communicator

To be an effective leader, one must be able to convey his thoughts clearly to his/her/its subordinates.

Should have Confidence

The individual should have faith in what he says and does.

Give Credit to other Team Members too

A leader not only needs to impose his viewpoints and opinions instead he must also hear to the suggestions of other members of the team and offer them credit if their concept is appropriate.

Good Bond with the Team

A leader's ability to command respect from his team members depends on his ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with them.

Leads with Responsibility

A leader needs to be completely committed to his position. It's important that he takes on responsibility so that he can effectively deal with the various challenges he will inevitably face.

Any group or organization needs a leader above all else. Leadership development takes time and effort. One needs to have lived through a lot to be an effective leader. It's not enough to simply have years of experience in the field; one must also have the traits that make one an effective leader. You can't be a great leader unless you possess certain traits.

What makes a Good Leader?

Trying one's hand as a leader appears easy when viewed through this lens. Is that so tough? Of course not; leading is difficult, and not everyone aspires to be a leader. The vast majority of us have settled into well-established careers where we report to superiors and make a living. Still, not everyone is content to go along with the crowd. They become leaders in whatever field they pursue. A leader is an example to followers and will prioritize the needs of those around them.

Some Unique Qualities of a Leader

Many individuals resort to their leaders to vent their frustrations, therefore it's important for them to be good listeners.

A leader ought to be completely forthright; they can't play favorites or give anyone preferential treatment. One of the most essential qualities of a strong leader is the ability to make decisions with integrity.

They need to be aware of the bigger picture and understand what makes an individual stand out or become a leader. It's their expertise in addition to other distinguishing traits. Their awareness of current events and the results of recent studies is essential. In many ways, this is helpful, and it's the leader's responsibility to stay current.

Since some might not understand them, they should utilize straightforward, easily comprehended language. Leaders need to be able to communicate effectively at all times. In reality, what sets them apart is their exceptional communication skills. Adolf Hitler was such a gifted orator that his followers believed every word he said.

No matter how you're feeling or what's going on in the world, if you listen to a leader, they may make you feel energized. Since leaders are in charge of inspiring confidence in their followers, they can't afford to be wary or unsure of themselves. People tend to blindly follow their leaders.

Whether you're a leader or a doctor, you should devote yourself completely to your chosen field. Everything we do is for the benefit of others; engineers, for example, spend much of their time designing and constructing buildings for other people. So, take pride in what you do, and if you possess the aforementioned traits, you are also a leader who doesn't have to rely on others to succeed. No matter what you do, aspiring to leadership positions will always benefit others.

What is Leadership in Management and what are the weaknesses and strengths of a Leader?

Simply said, leadership is acting as a supervisor or manager of a group. Different mental pictures pop up when we hear the word "leadership" used in conversation. One might think of a political leader, team leader, corporate leader, school leader, etc. Leaders facilitate order and efficiency in the workplace. Teamwork and success are fundamental to effective leadership. Leaders utilize their managerial abilities to establish courses and guide their teams to success.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Leadership

Able to express oneself more clearly

Growth of character.

Self-awareness.

Possession of teamwork skills.

Gain assurance in yourself.

Weaknesses:

Acting favorably toward one's teammates.

Having no faith in the leader.

Thinks they're better than everyone else, but act hypocritically.

Not living up to the promised standard.

Insufficient morals.

Leadership and Management

Management and leadership are inextricably linked to one another. Leadership and management are both vital to the efficient operation of an organization; but, they accomplish very different things in the process. Leadership is a necessary skill for anyone aspiring to be an effective manager. The terms management and leadership are synonymous with one another. In this manner, we are able to draw the conclusion that a manager who demonstrates the traits of a successful leader is, in fact, a manager who is effective.

Leadership in School

Leadership is essential in nearly every group, as we've seen above. That group includes one's educational institution. Every school needs an outstanding figure to serve as its head of school. Class monitor, assembly captain, cultural leader, etc. are all examples of leadership roles that can be taken on at school, but this raises the question of what makes a person a successful school leader.

Any student hoping to be chosen as a student body leader will need to demonstrate a wide range of competencies. He or she needs to be a consistent student who pays attention in class and does well in extracurricular activities. For the simple reason that no intelligent and hardworking kid would ever be considered for leadership. Student leaders are most often selected from among those who participate fully in all activities.

Leadership in Organization

Leadership in an organization, also known as organizational leadership, is the process of establishing long-term objectives that further the company's mission and help it reach its ultimate destination. This is a classic illustration of how Bill Gates often works with his team: they agree on a strategy, and Gates implements it. To the same extent, it is the responsibility of the leader in each given organization to determine what it is that the group is trying to accomplish.

Leadership in Politics

Leadership in politics, also known as political leadership, is the process of becoming actively involved in a political party in the role of a party leader. Knowledge of political processes, their outcomes, and the political agenda is central to the idea of political leadership.

An effective leader can be developed in anyone who has the determination and drives to do so. Both the strengths and the areas for improvement should be nurtured. Whether in the classroom, the workplace, or the political arena, leadership is always necessary. Therefore, one can exercise leadership anywhere they like inside their own organization.

What are the types of Leadership?

The ability to lead is a rare trait that not everyone possesses. The ability to do so is a gift, so count your blessings if you possess it. It's recommended that you hone it even more so that you can propel your career forward and serve as an example to people around you. However, it is crucial to grasp the various leadership styles before you go ahead and polish your skills.

Types of Leadership Styles

Democratic Leadership

In this style of management, subordinates are given a voice in decision-making. Although the subordinates' efforts are highlighted, the leader is ultimately held responsible for the group's actions. Many people find this type of leadership to be effective.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders motivate and inspire others to adopt new behaviors and ways of thinking in order to improve their own performance and that of their teams and organizations. A transformational leader is someone who encourages their team to strive for greater things and works to boost morale and output.

Team Leadership

A good leader fully incorporates his team into the task at hand. Members of the team are motivated to reach their goals and advance in their careers thanks to the leadership of the group.

Strategic Leadership

It requires a chief executive who doesn't restrict himself to brainstorming sessions with his superiors. He contributes on every level of the team. He is well-liked for his ability to unite the need for fresh ideas with the necessity of grounding them in reality.

Autocratic Leadership

The leader in a command and control structure is the center of attention. The chief executive has absolute power in this setting. He decides things on his own, without polling his staff. He relays this information to his staff and stresses the importance of swift action. The buck stops with him, and he alone must answer for his actions. Not much room for negotiation exists. It's no secret that this method of leading has its detractors.

Visionary Leadership

This kind of leader appreciates the abilities and requirements of his team members. He describes his ideal outcome and the teamwork that will be necessary to attain it.

Coaching Leadership

Leaders who coach their teams do so regularly in an effort to raise output. He inspires his employees to do better and works to keep them motivated. This approach to leadership has been much praised.

Facilitative Leadership

With occasional guidance, a facilitative leader ensures that the process runs smoothly for his team. As a precaution in case his team is ineffective. If the team is highly effective, the leader will take a hands-off approach.

Cross-Cultural Leadership

The leadership of this type is necessary when interacting with people from various cultural backgrounds. Because of the wide variety of cultures represented in the workforce across the United States, many managers and executives hold cross-cultural positions.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

The members of the team are given responsibility in this style of management. They are free to choose how they spend their time at work, with minimal oversight from the boss. It's not a good way to lead, according to experts.

Transactional Leadership

An interactive approach is integral to this kind of leadership. When team members successfully implement their leader's ideas and choices, they are rewarded with immediate, material benefits.

Charismatic Leadership

In order to bring out the best in his followers, this kind of leader makes the effort to change their attitudes, values, and actions.

This article should dispel the notion that leadership qualities can't be further subdivided. It should also assist you in pinpointing your own personal brand of leadership so you can perfect it over time.

Final Words

In conclusion, leadership is a complex and multifaceted concept that involves various qualities and skills. Effective leaders possess traits such as integrity, vision, empathy, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire and motivate others. They are able to navigate challenges, make difficult decisions, and lead their team toward success. Leadership also involves continuous learning and self-improvement, as leaders must adapt to changing circumstances and remain relevant. Effective leadership can have a positive impact on both individuals and organizations, fostering growth and creating a culture of success.

You can use Jenni.ai to quickly compose an essay on leadership, or any other topic, of your choosing. It's a fantastic choice that promises convenience and relief. Create an essay on any topic in a matter of minutes with the help of our AI-powered program. Membership is immediately available upon your free registration here.

You can use Jenni.ai to quickly compose an essay on leadership, or any other topic, of your choosing. It's a fantastic choice that promises convenience and relief. Create an essay on any topic in a matter of minutes with the help of our AI-powered program. Sign up on Jenni.ai and get a free trial.

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Leadership — Key Qualities Of Good Leader

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Key Qualities of Good Leader

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Published: Jul 15, 2020

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Though people who manage others are often self-serving, true leaders want those they work for to accomplish team goals. According to Meredith Moore Crosby from Leverette Weekes , “The jump from individual contributor to leader is a mindset shift to care about the broader organization outside of daily responsibilities. Leaders take on challenges instead of waiting for assignments. Leaders build organizations and help managers understand their function. Leaders study the organization and contribute beyond their role by developing managers” (Council, Forbes Coaches). Unlike managers, leaders are more holistic workers rather than micromanagers.

Leaders, besides wanting their teams to succeed, are also visionaries. Alan Zimmerman, with a PhD in Communication, notes that, “Many people would argue that the best CEO (maybe not the best person) of the 20th century was Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric . When asked for his thoughts on leadership, he echoed the same sentiment. Leadership starts with vision” (“Leaders Are Visionaries”). Real leaders seek to challenge the norm and look for fresh ideas in their sphere of work. Through these visions, they inspire their subordinates.

And speaking of inspiration, leaders are known to be profound inspirers. They can easily increase the morale of a group, and push those that are downtrodden towards a common goal. As leadership coach Kris McCrea Scrutchfield says, “A leader creates a path forward with people using curiosity to hear ideas from their perspective. They inspire themselves and others to be the best they can be while stretching beyond what’s comfortable. Being a leader begins from within, not outside ourselves” (Council, Forbes Coaches). Commonly, leaders begin by being self-inspiring. They know how to motivate themselves, and from this basis, they know how to motivate others.

In addition to motivation, leaders act as guides. Instead of being forceful with directions, leaders help others understand what they need to do complete certain tasks without being oppressive. They have the best in mind for their team, and want to bring out the best out of every individual. Another part of being a guide is that leaders are continuously examples of what to be within a company, an organization, or a team. This means that leaders need to be ethical, well-mannered, and diligent in order to impress upon his or her staff.

Despite all the amazing qualities leaders possess, they cannot do without self-assessment. According to the University of Notre Dame, “Knowing your areas of weakness does not make you weak; on the contrary, it allows you to delegate to others who have those abilities, in order to achieve the common goal. Rather than clinging to the false belief that they can do it all, great leaders hire people who complement, rather than supplement, their skills. Working on your areas of weaknesses will improve your leadership ability – and recognizing them makes you more human” (“What Makes an Effective Leader”). The worst thing for a leader is to get egotistic about his or her position, and to believe he or she can do it all, or that being in a position is all that matters.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, but there are several qualities that form what a great leader is. Commonly, competent leaders desire those under him or her to succeed, are visionary in their work and goals, are inspiring to the masses, guide others towards an end point, and are proficient in self-assessment. As mentioned before, there are many other characteristics that comprise great leaders. However, these are the main ones that appear in the majority of shining examples of leaders.

Works Cited

Council, Forbes Coaches. “What Makes A Good Leader? Key Differences Between Management And Leadership.” Forbes , Forbes Magazine, 21 Nov. 2017,

Zimmerman, Alan. “Leaders Are Visionaries.” https://www.drzimmerman.com/leadership-motivation/leaders-are-visionaries.

“What Makes an Effective Leader.” Notredameonline.com , www.notredameonline.com/resources/leadership-and-management/what-makes-an-effective-leader/#.W5o1Mp9fjCI.

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Leadership Traits and Characteristics Essay

Introduction, authentic leadership.

The video starts with the introduction of the guests present in the program. The host, Charlie Rose gives a comprehensive coverage of some of the great achievements of both guests, Bill George and John Whitehead. He identifies them as leading business leaders with careers in key leadership positions spanning over four decades.

Bill George is currently at Harvard Business School as professor of management practice. He was the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic, well known as the leading company dealing with medical technology. He is also the author of bestselling books on leadership. John C. Whitehead is a former US Navy officer where he was in charge of D-Day.

He later joined the Goldman Sachs where he rose to the chairmanship position and later a Co-chairman. Whitehead also served in the US government’s administration as Deputy Secretary of State. He currently chairs the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. The conversation then moves on to invite the insights about leadership from each of the guest’s perspective. Before that, the host highlights the idea that a biography is a central part of every leader.

Leadership Traits and Characteristics

Leadership has been a major concern over a long period of time in virtually all parts of the world. Outstanding leaders have existed since past generations and they have exhibited specific characteristics and traits. Some people have always believed that great leaders are born and do not need any training on how to lead while other schools of thought are convinced that anyone can learn how to become a leader (George & Sims, 2007).

The arguments presented can be used to justify the fact that both schools of thought are applicable. It is believed that leaders have common basic characteristics and traits which can be nurtured and altered as one develops depending on the various situations and encounters in life.

It is important to find and determine what qualities are found in great leaders but few have made attempts to investigate this. According to George (2007), an individual can decide to learn to become a leader by nurturing appropriate traits and characteristics of leadership. He argues that one has to develop the passion for leadership that is inborn.

The desire to successfully lead an organization, whether it is large or small, into achieving its mission and vision has proved to be one of the greatest challenges faced by leaders. Leadership means service and meeting all the needs of the stakeholders is not an easy task (Rose, 2007).

With all these varied demands, leaders should exercise some reasonable degree of authenticity in order to remain focused on their vision for the entire organization. According to George (2007), a successful leader should be able to bring the best resources to the organization.

Great corporations of the twenty-first-century are faced with complexities which can only be dealt with by exceptional leaders. Leadership demands purposefulness, integrity, and strong values that act as guiding principles in pushing an organization forward. Great leaders of organizations who demonstrate authenticity have been known to continue with the good dreams of their predecessors with the desire to leave longstanding legacies (George & Sims, 2007).

Authenticity is about being the best one can be with inborn character development (George & Sims, 2007). The greatest desire of an authentic leader is to genuinely serve and help organizations and the people through their leadership positions.

They are not guided by selfish desires but instead seek to empower others with passion and compassion as well as their own intelligence. In his book, George and Sims point out that authentic leaders are not born that way but they nurture their natural leadership gifts to full potential (2007).

Outstanding leaders are well aware of not only their natural abilities but also their weakness and strive to overcome them. Consistency and self-discipline are some of the key characteristics of authentic leaders and this helps in building confidence of the people in them and what they stand for.

Being courageous is one of the most important characteristic of any leader and keeps leaders focused on what they are determined to achieve. A confident leader inspires those who are being led into action and remain committed to the course set by the leader (Whitehead, 2005). This trait is usually confused with arrogance which may be detrimental to the spirit of team work. A leader who is arrogant will always cause resentment among the team members. Confidence should be exercised with a sense of humility.

Listening is a very important skill for any successful leader (Rose, 2007). It involves hearing the speaker’s words, understanding the message being conveyed and how it is important to the speaker, and being able to give appropriate feedback to the source. Listening is one of the earliest skills of communication to be learnt yet very few are able to master it (Rose, 2007). There is a close a close relationship between effective listening and efficient leadership.

Effective leadership entails proper communication and that is why listening becomes a crucial component. Good leaders communicate clearly and at the right time in order to enhance understanding. This shows that effective leadership involves keen listening and empathic attention to the speaker. According to Whitehead, leaders who listen promote positive relationship in a team and inspire a sense of trust (Taylor & McDonald, 2009).

As it has already been mentioned, listening is a skill and therefore one has to learn. An effective listening maintains an encouraging eye contact with the speaker.

Effective leaders ought not to seem to be in a hurry during any communication process since attention makes the speaker feel important. Great leaders have also mastered the skill of asking questions in the course of communication, particularly when the speaker asks a question. Responding to such questions and finding out more from the speaker implies a sense of interest and directed listening.

Apart from asking questions, a good listener provides feedback based on the response from the speaker. Acting on the response promotes mutual understanding between the parties. Every successful leader, therefore, would want assure the people of his unwavering attention and listening is one way of ensuring this. One of the basic rules of effective communication is not to talk and listen at the same time (Whitehead, 2005).

Moreover, effective leadership in any field demands a number of virtues and characteristics. Great leaders have demonstrated that patience is another very central characteristic that must be cultivated. Having held key and demanding leadership positions in the business sector and government departments, George and Whitehead agree that patience plays an important role in promoting relationships with employees and board members (Rose, 2007).

In order to effectively achieve the goals and missions of any organization, leaders must exercise high degree patience so as to harmonize the often varied views, feelings, opinions and other preferences of the employees (George, McLean & Craig, 2008). According to Whitehead (2005), some exceptional situations may call for impatience in order to get things done but most astute leaders have come to realize that patience can help in meeting objectives.

In the conversion, Whitehead notes that making appropriate judgments depend on the situations which can help leaders achieve the acceptable degrees of tolerance and patience. He argues that some objectives do not have to be met instantly and hence patience from the side of the leader is paramount.

Professional researchers have suggested that patience is multi-dimensional. Three facets of patience have been identified and they include; perspective, politics, and perseverance (the 3 P’s). A leader who has perspective is capable of making wise decisions as far as taking actions is concerned (Taylor & McDonald, 2009). Perspective ensures that a leader gets the entire picture of any situation as opposed to parochial considerations, concentration on matters that matter less.

Effective leaders are able to see clearly into the future by creating a perspective. Every organization has its own politics and leaders have to be aware of what is going on in the environment. This knowledge will guide the leader in making correct judgments about which projects and proposals need to be made (George et al., 2008).

The third sub-virtue is persistence which involves continued presentation of suggestions which a leader is strongly convinced of its viability. Getting of approval for proposals and purchases from the responsible board may not be immediate and this is when persistence comes in.

Trust and Respect

Greatest leaders have reached great heights due to the trust and respect they command from their followers. Effective leaders have these two key characteristics and are able to execute their responsibilities with minimal difficulty. Being able to generate trust and respect does not imply that one is like as an individual but rather by consistency of actions.

Failure is very important in helping an individual to understand him or herself and to start on a higher note. Going through difficulties in life hardens a person to face challenges with a lot of determination. Many great leaders of the world have had significant instances of failure before they realized their full potential (George & Sims, 2007).

A real leader learns from the mistakes and challenges that he or she experiences. Bill George points out that he lost a number of student elections while at college but that did not deter his desire to become the best he wanted to be (2007).

Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln were able to face their challenges and they eventually overcame their demons (Rose, 2007). They both saw failures as learning opportunities rather than regarding them as the most unfortunate events to have ever happened in their lives.

Over the past six dates, according to the guests, American leadership has changed significantly. They argue that leaders in America in the modern time are elected for the wrong reasons while the should-be-leaders are left out of the leadership path (George et al., 2008).

The essay has discussed in detail the traits and characteristics of leadership. The conversation about leadership has brought out five major traits and characteristics of leadership. Authenticity, courage, listening skills, patience, and trust and respect have been elaborated from the view of the guests and other authors.

Taylor, F. & McDonald, J. A. (2009). Understanding leadership: theory and practice. International Journal of Leadership [Peer Reviewed]. Routledge

George, B. & Sims, E. P. (2007). True North: discover your authentic leadership . Wiley, John & Sons

George, B. & McLean, A. & Craig, N. (2008). Finding your True North: a personal guide. Harvard Business Review . [Peer Reviewed].Wiley, John & Sons

Rose, C. (Executive Producer). (2007, August 27). Charlie Rose . [Television broadcast].

New York: Public Broadcasting Service. Web.

Whitehead, J. C. (2005). A life in leadership: from D-Day to Ground Zero . Basic Books

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Leadership Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on leadership.

First of all, Leadership refers to the quality of leading people. Probably, it is one of the most important aspects of life. Above all, Leadership has led to the progress of human civilization . Without good Leadership, no organization or group can succeed. Furthermore, not everyone has this quality. This is because effective Leadership requires certain important characteristics.

Leadership Essay

Qualities of a Good Leader

First of all, confidence is the most quality. A leader must have strong self-confidence. A person lacking in confidence can never be a good leader. A person must be confident enough to ensure others follow him. The leader must have confidence in his decisions and actions. If he is unsure, then how can people have the desire to follow him.

A good leader must certainly inspire others. A leader must be a role model for his followers. Furthermore, he must motivate them whenever possible. Also, in difficult situations, a leader must not lose hope. How can a leader inspire people if he himself is hopeless?

Honesty is another notable quality of a leader. Honesty and Integrity are important to earn the love of followers. Above all, honesty is essential to win the trust of the people. Probably, every Leadership which loses trust is bound to fail. People will not work with full effort due to an immoral leader.

Good communication is a must for a good leader. This is because poor communication means the wrong message to followers. Furthermore, good communication will increase the rate of work. Also, the chances of mistakes by followers will reduce.

Another important quality is decision making. Above all, if a leader makes poor decisions then other qualities will not matter. Furthermore, good decision making ensures the success of the entire group. If the leader makes poor decisions, then the efforts of followers won’t matter.

A good leader must be an excellent innovator. He must display a creative attitude in his work. Most noteworthy, innovation is a guarantee of survival of a group or innovation. Without creative thinking, progress is not possible.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Real-Life Examples of Good Leadership

Mahatma Gandhi was an excellent example of a good leader. He was a staunch believer in non-violence. With his brilliant Leadership skills, he made the British leave India. Probably, this was the most unique independence struggle. This is because Gandhi got freedom without any violence.

Abraham Lincoln was another notable leader. Most noteworthy, he ended the slavery system in the United States. Consequently, he made many enemies. However, he was a man of massive self-confidence. His struggle against slavery certainly became an inspiration.

Sir Winston Churchill was a great patriotic Englishman. Most noteworthy, he led Britain in the 2nd World War. Furthermore, he was extremely inspirational. He inspired Britain to fight against Nazi Germany. His great communication motivated the entire country at a time of hopelessness.

To conclude, Leadership is required in probably every sphere of life. Good leadership is the door to success. In contrast, bad leadership is a guarantee of failure. Consequently, good leaders are what make the world go round.

FAQs on Leadership

Q.1 Which is the most important quality for being a good leader? A.1 The most important quality for being a good leader is self-confidence.

Q.2 Why Sir Winston Churchill is a good leader? A.2 Sir Winston Churchill is a good leader because he inspired Britain to fight in 2nd World War. Furthermore, his excellent communication also raised the motivation of his people.

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Essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader

Students are often asked to write an essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader

Introduction.

Leadership is a special quality that not everyone possesses. A good leader guides others towards success. There are certain qualities that set these leaders apart. This essay will talk about those qualities.

A good leader is always confident. They believe in themselves and their abilities. This confidence helps them make decisions and stand by them. It also motivates their team to trust and follow them.

Good Communicator

Leaders need to express their thoughts clearly. They should be good listeners too. This helps them understand their team better. It also ensures that everyone knows their role and goals.

Honesty and Integrity

Honest leaders earn respect. They always tell the truth and keep their promises. This builds trust within the team. Also, they lead by example, showing the right path to their team.

Ability to Inspire

Leaders should inspire their team. They should encourage them to do their best. By setting a good example, they can motivate their team to achieve their goals.

In conclusion, a good leader has many qualities. They are confident, good communicators, honest, and inspiring. These qualities help them guide their team towards success.

250 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader

What makes a good leader.

A good leader is like a captain of a ship. They guide their team towards their goals, just like a captain guides a ship to its destination. But what makes a good leader? Let’s find out.

A good leader is always confident. They believe in themselves and their team. This confidence helps the team feel secure and motivated. It’s like a football team captain who is sure they will win. This makes the team play better.

Honesty is another important quality. A good leader is always truthful. They do not hide things from their team. This makes the team trust the leader. Like a teacher who is honest about a student’s performance, it helps the student improve.

A good leader knows how to talk and listen well. They explain things clearly. They also listen to their team’s ideas. This makes the team feel valued. Like a good friend who listens to you, it makes you feel important.

Decision Making

A good leader is a good decision maker. They make choices that are best for the team. They are like a chess player who makes the right moves to win the game.

Lastly, a good leader respects their team. They value everyone’s work. Like a parent who respects their child’s efforts, it makes the child feel proud.

In conclusion, a good leader is confident, honest, a good communicator, a good decision maker, and respectful. These are the qualities that make a leader someone others want to follow.

500 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader

Leadership is a vital role in any team, whether it’s a sports team, a class project, or a big company. A good leader can guide a group to achieve great things. But what makes a good leader? Let’s explore some key traits that every great leader should have.

Good Communication

Firstly, a good leader must be an excellent communicator. They need to clearly explain tasks and expectations to their team. This means not only speaking well but also listening. By listening to their team, a leader can understand problems, ideas, and feelings. This helps the team feel valued and understood.

Confidence is another important quality. A confident leader can make decisions quickly and stand by them. This doesn’t mean they are always right, but they are not afraid to make tough choices. They also inspire confidence in their team, helping them feel secure and motivated.

Responsibility

A good leader takes responsibility for their actions and decisions. If things go wrong, they don’t blame others. Instead, they accept their mistakes and learn from them. This shows their team that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn and grow.

Respect is a two-way street. A good leader respects their team members and earns their respect in return. They value everyone’s ideas and contributions, no matter how big or small. This creates a positive environment where everyone feels important.

Inspiration

Lastly, a good leader inspires their team. They set a good example with their hard work and dedication. They also encourage their team to reach their full potential. This can be done through positive feedback, recognition, and supporting their team’s growth and learning.

In conclusion, a good leader has many qualities. They communicate well, are confident, take responsibility, respect others, and inspire their team. These qualities help them guide their team to success. So, if you want to be a good leader, start developing these qualities today. Remember, leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in your charge.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Essay about Characteristics of a Good Leader

A good leader needs to have many particular characteristics. Some of these are obvious, such as that they care about what you are doing and always puts you before themselves. Also another trait of a good leader is that they always keep promises they make. Some of the subtle attributes of a good leader are that they do not hide behind bad news. Moreover, they are easy people to talk to and they have a good if not excellent sense of humor. In my opinion, the best leader would be one that enjoys being the leader, is anyways there when I need him or her, sets tangible milestones, always believes that I can do everything, is optimistic, gets everyone involved, wants everyone to be successful, and lastly is courageous and brave. All these …show more content…

I do not think that there is a single person out there in the world like what I stated above because someone could be good in one area, but lack in another area and such. I sincerely believe that I have characteristics of a good leader, although some of them could be different from the more conventional ones. For example, I am a team player and care about the well being of others, I try my best to help everyone in their time of need, I am generally patient about things, and I really celebrate success in a very enthusiastic way. I think that these qualities are good enough for me to be able to be some type of a good leader. However, I am human so I am not perfect and lack certain traits of a good leader. For instance, I often do not use language that is easy to understand because I use many “big” words, I do not really give people second chances because I feel that one chance is all they need, and also I am not the best person to communicate. Most of the time I try not to do these things, but these bad things still happen once in a while because I am frustrated or aggravated at something. For the most part, I am a calm and reasonable person that helps people out. Overall, I am a pretty good leader in some areas and like to help others in their time of need. However, I am only a good leader depending on the situation and that is the major thing

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A good leader shows others the proper way to act in everyday life. Good leaders help others with their challenges but they also acknowledge that they themselves have challenges in everyday life. A good leader is there to support and aid anyone at anytime. Even if that means getting up early to help before a long day or staying after a hard day and provide guidance those who need it a true leader will do it. Leaders put in the extra work to pick up the slack within the group if it is necessary. Leaders change groups into families. You can not be a leader over others if you first can not lead yourself in the proper way. The only thing different from leading yourself over leading others is that the actions you make while leading yourself only affect you, when you lead others, your actions affect you and others. The person has to be able to take responsibility over their own actions, respect themselves and show, do the work that is necessary and cooperate with

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Those who show good leadership share qualities such as strong integrity, consideration of others, and the ability to lead by example. A good leader will know what’s wrong and what’s right. When leading others, they choose the option that is morally acceptable. A good leader has been taught what is right and wrong and doesn’t choose to do what’s wrong when leading others. A good leader thinks of others when making their decisions. They consider what will be best for the group when

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Being a leader is an important position to fulfill because not everyone carries leadership qualities. In order to become a good leader, this person must obtain specific qualities which should come to them naturally. However every good leader still needs to work on their qualities to become an even greater leader which may require a long time of work. Being a good leader can be hard because not everyone is going to agree with the decisions being made. Every good leader should have certain qualities that will help them succeed in every situation. A good leader should qualities such as being passionate and motivated in everything they do, to have patience when working with others, and to be fearless.

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To begin, I exhibit qualities of a great leader. Firstly, at my Saturday morning bowling league, I am positioned as the anchor, which means I am expected to lead my team to victory.. Secondly, I lead by being a good example to my peers, and I am a positive role model. Lastly, when my friends have problems they come to me and I lead them to a positive solution. This is being a good leader.

Njhs Application Essay Examples

I have many different qualities that attribute to my character. Some including, I am a naturally positive person, I am non-judgmental, and I try my best to be focused and efficient. I also like to make people laugh, but I know when to be serious. Part of being a good leader is knowing how to work as a team. Many of the activities I participate in have shown me how to do so. I believe in working as a team to come up with solutions, plans, and ideas.

I Want To Join National Honor Society

It takes a lot to be a leader. It takes experience, communication, positivity, passion, and much more to be an effective leader. Communication, positivity, and passion are the three most important characteristics to me. I represent all three of these with great pride. I communicate effectively whether it be in the classroom, on

National Honor Society Essay Examples

As a leader, I want to be able help others and be a good example. Also as a leader, not only am I not afraid to voice my own opinion and ideas, but am I willing to listen others’ opinions and ideas as well. To be a good leader, I believe one needs be willing to listen and work with others, compromise, and be open minded and empathetic towards others. I believe I have all of

NHS Essay For NHS

A leader should have characteristics like being responsible, trustworthy, and professional. I think I have all those characteristics and more. Being the oldest of four, I was expected to help out around the house. Tasked with getting my younger siblings up and ready for school helped me to become a mature a responsible person. Helping to care for my siblings when my mother went to work and getting them up every day for school helped instill a sense of responsibility in me.

Examples Of National Honor Society Essay For Nhs

I believe myself to have all of the characteristics of a leader. The ability to get a team to work together smoothly during group activities so no disagreements occur. Listening to everyone eliminates the possibility for disagreement because if a team is in agreement before making a plan, the team will execute the plan easily. One of the main characteristic of a leader is being inspiring to everyone, this is why I pride myself to be a leading role model for student who want to follow in my footsteps, and become a great leader themselves, and maybe one day be in my

Lower Richland High School Leadership Report

A good leader possess important characteristic traits that separates him from followers. Such as staying focus. Being a leader you cannot major in minor things. You have to think beyond what is expected. You have to show a vast amount of confidence and also integrity. One trait that makes a leader stand out from the crowd is the ability to lead by example. A leader instill confidence and have a clear vision on life. As a women leader, I feel that it is important to not only tell people that you are a leader but also be able to show them and interact with them with swag. When she walk into a building with grace and a light that shine bright. However, a true leader stands out at these things mentioned, making all the difference in driving to be successful.

National Honor Society Leadership Analysis

The other quality of a leader that I exhibit is hard work and dedication. I do my best to make each assignment or activity I do the best it can possibly be. I only ever miss school, practice or work if I have no other option available to me, and when I do miss, I try to make up my work as quickly as I can. I use the drive that I have in school, swim, and work to strengthen my leadership qualities.

Analysis Of The Movie ' Remember The Titans '

Having patience, self-discipline, optimistic, intelligence and confident are all good qualities a good leader should have. Leaders are encouraging to the team members and not negative toward them, that gives the players confidence so they can concentrate on what they need to improve. In addition they

Leader Ship Research Paper

Leader ship is an attribute I believe I already possess. I believe I would make a great leader because, I am determined to always do my best. Throughout my academic career I have had many instances where I had to step up and take charge as leader. The reason I feel I would make a suitable leader is, the fact that I am ready and willing to do the job. No matter what place in office I go for, I am ready to do all the work needed to keep each and every meeting of the National Junior Honor Society as organized as possible. I also have been told I am very trust worthy and considerate person by many people in my life, those are two attributes that I personally believe all leaders should have. I also feel like I would make a good leader because

Vision of Leadership Philosophy Essay

  • 5 Works Cited

From research we see that there are many qualities that people value in leaders. Some of these qualities include: having high standards, supportive, inquisitive, involved, honest and having integrity. When I think about leadership I think of a person who is self-aware and always striving for improvement. To be a good leader you need to know how your personal biases may impact decision making in various situations. Bias or values can effect how you interact with those you come in contact with on a daily basis. A good leader can set the tone for students, staff, and parents by being consistent and clear in thoughts and in actions. The leader is the foundation of the building.

Leadership Qualities Essay Example

I understand being a good or even great leader takes a great amount of hard work and dedication. No matter where I am or what I am doing, I push myself to the limit and do what needs to be done; sometimes even more. I strive to be the best in all I do. I want to become a good leader like my father. I want to be able to handle even the most difficult situations in the most calm and confident manner.

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What Is Effective Leadership?

Learn the skills and traits you need to become an effective and successful leader in the workplace.

[Featured Image] A female leader sits in front of a group of employees.

Strong leadership skills are necessary for those holding positions of influence at any business or organization. As an employer, boss, team lead, or mentor, you must know how to lead your teammates, employees, and mentees and how to do so effectively. An effective leader in the workplace helps establish trust and unity and aids in getting the task at hand done well.

What is effective leadership?

An effective leader is one that others rely on. Effective leaders are trustworthy, understanding, and communicative. When leadership performs well and correctly, the leader is the person that individuals feel comfortable coming to when they have problems that need resolving or want to talk through a specific situation.

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a good leader characteristics essay

What does an effective leader do?

Effective leaders work with their employees and teammates to reach a common goal. As an effective leader, you make your colleagues feel part of one team with the same result in mind. You lead them in making decisions that will benefit that result and bring new ideas and innovations that will enhance your work and inspire others to do the same. 

Traits of an effective leader

Self-confidence: Confidence is inspiring. When you’re confident in your decision-making, you inspire others to gain their confidence. Self-confidence shows that you trust yourself, which indicates that others should also feel comfortable trusting you as a leader.

Influential: As an effective leader, your ideas impact others. This typically influences them to create their ideas, and they look to you as the person they can turn to when they have questions.

Decisive: Effective leaders are good at making decisions to continue moving forward. As an effective leader, you don’t waiver or change your mind frequently. You make a choice and stick with it with the best interests of everyone in mind. That doesn’t mean effective leaders don’t take feedback, but they have a strong decision-making process that they trust.

Patience: Effective leaders think before making decisions. They are thoughtful and patient when processing new information and deciding on and implementing an idea. Leaders persevere when things get hard, too. They are tenacious and continue working diligently and seeing things through.

Positivity: Positivity motivates employees and encourages them to find the good in all situations. Even when things are difficult, maintaining a positive attitude is one of the best things you can do as a leader. You have to remind your team of the good in the situation while still having empathy and understanding their frustrations. This will allow everyone to move forward and reach the same common goal.

Effective leadership skills

As an effective leader, you need specific leadership skills that help you positively influence others and make yourself easily accessible, trustworthy, and reliable.

Communication

Effective leaders are communicative individuals. As an effective leader, you communicate with your team members and make them feel heard. Articulating your thoughts, feelings, and ideas to your team is vital in creating a good foundation among one another and allows others to feel like they can come to you with their ideas.

Adaptability

Change is inevitable, so it’s essential to keep that in mind. As an effective leader, you’ll have to adapt to changes, such as new hires, problems that need solving, or new ideas brought to your attention. Showing your team that you are adaptable and ready to embrace change proves you have the skills to be an effective leader.

Collaboration

Working with your team is essential to being a good, effective leader. Collaboration makes employees feel like you listen to them and want to hear their thoughts and ideas. Effective leaders work alongside their team and lead by example, ensuring everyone’s ideas are welcome and helpful, assisting them in reaching the same goal.

Personal development

Effective leaders are always looking to grow and improve themselves. As an effective leader, you want your teammates to know you will continue looking for ways to improve yourself. A good leader wants to learn new things and ways to get things done, as personal improvement is always possible.

Who uses effective leadership?

Effective leadership looks different in every industry, field, or position, but ultimately, it comes with the same focus of leading others and inspiring them to reach a common goal. Leadership is essential in the workplace as leaders become someone others turn to and count on when they need guidance.

Leadership in a business setting is important in guiding your employees and colleagues toward the end goal. Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), and Jerry Yang (Yahoo!) are recent examples of effective corporate leaders. When you act as an effective leader in a business setting, you promote teamwork, unity, and a sense of direction. Strong business leadership is a guiding force that inspires those around you to work harder, which includes encouraging yourself to face challenges and push innovative boundaries.

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a good leader characteristics essay

How to become an effective leader

Becoming an effective leader requires effort, experience, and education over time. You have to work hard on your leadership skills and learn more about yourself as a leader to be successful. Doing the following things can lead you on the path to becoming an effective leader:

An effective leader is realistic and sets goals that are reachable as a team. When you set goals, make them both challenging and attainable. By challenging yourself and your teammates, you allow room for growth, but having achievable goals ensures accomplishment. Setting goals shows you have a place you want to end up in and will work hard to get there.

Build trust.

To foster trust, you must build and nurture relationships. Forming long-lasting connections on a personal and professional level makes others feel welcome and valued and makes you more trustworthy as a leader. Slowing down and getting to know those around you will often help you become a better team and build a foundation that can work through anything.

Ask for feedback.

Feedback is necessary to evaluate your leadership performance and where you have room for improvement. By asking for feedback, you invite your teammates to share their opinions and perspectives and remind them that you want to improve.

Continue to grow.

Effective leadership is an ongoing process, not a result. The path to becoming an effective leader is continuous and can change and evolve as you change and evolve. To fully become an effective leader, you have to leave room for yourself to grow and adapt to new roles, tasks, and situations. 

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Getting started with coursera.

To start or continue your journey to becoming an effective leader, consider taking a course to improve your skills. The Leading People and Teams Specialization from the University of Michigan or the Inspired Leadership Specialization by Case Western Reserve University offer the tools you need to become a more effective leader in the workplace. Upskilling and developing a group of leaders in your organization? Coursera for Business uses role-based assessments to identify skills gaps and advancement opportunities.

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

  • Rebecca Knight

a good leader characteristics essay

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

a good leader characteristics essay

  • RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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  1. Essay on Leadership Qualities

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  2. 12 Characteristics and Qualities of a Good Leader

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  3. What Are the Characteristics of a Good Leader?

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COMMENTS

  1. 12 Characteristics of a Good Leader

    Collaboration. Influence. Integrity. Courage. Gratitude. Resilience. TIP: Download an action guide & summary of these essential characteristics of a good leader in PDF format to keep this list of leadership qualities at your fingertips as a reminder. 1. Self-Awareness.

  2. Characteristics of a Good Leader

    However, even with all these, a leader should have the emotional intelligence to be successful and sustain the leadership status that is made possible by the primary characteristics listed. There are various aspects of emotional intelligence that are critical to good leadership. According to Goleman, "they include self-awareness, enthusiasm ...

  3. The Qualities Of A Good Leader: [Essay Example], 462 words

    Another important quality of a good leader is integrity. A leader should be honest, ethical, and consistent in their actions. They should be able to gain the trust and respect of their team members, and lead by example. Research has shown that leaders who demonstrate integrity are more likely to have loyal and dedicated followers (Simons, 2002).

  4. Writing an Effective Leadership Essay: Tips and Examples

    A leadership essay is a college application essay that requires you to share your previous experiences as a leader. We've got examples to help you write one. ... You should obviously state good leadership qualities, but that shouldn't be your entire essay. Tell a story about your leadership. Did you face a specific challenge?

  5. 8 Essential Qualities of Successful Leaders

    8 Essential Qualities of Successful Leaders. Summary. Becoming a great leader is a journey of continuous learning and growth. It's a process — one that thrives on embracing challenges, seeking ...

  6. What Makes A Good Leader: Essay Hints

    What are the qualities of a good leader: essay ideas. When we take an in-depth look at history, we see countless leadership qualities that were adopted by both good and bad leaders. When writing what are the qualities of a good leader essay, you should focus on the characteristics and strengths of a leader, and how they help influence and ...

  7. What Makes a Great Leader?

    Summary. Tomorrow's leaders master three key roles — architect, bridger, and catalyst, or ABCs — to access the talent and tools they need to drive innovation and impact. As architects, they ...

  8. Leadership Essay Writing Guide with Examples

    A good leadership essay is the one in which the essay writer has fully covered the topic of leadership and understood its core ideas. More specifically, to end up with a flawless leadership essay, you will need to indicate what makes a person a good leader. ... Based on the importance of leadership qualities, such as commitment, stress ...

  9. The Key Characteristics of a Good Leader

    One of the most important characteristics of a good leader is having a clear and inspiring vision. A good leader is able to articulate a compelling vision for the future and communicate it effectively to their team. This vision serves as a guiding light, inspiring others to work towards a common goal and stay focused on the bigger picture.

  10. Qualities That Make You a Good Leader

    Social skill, empathy, self regulation, motivation and self awareness are the qualities to consider in determining high degree of emotional intelligence (Harvard business review on what makes a leader, 2001). Many businesses have failed because of poor leadership determined by the level of intelligence and skills the reason why Goleman insists ...

  11. A Full Guide On How To Create Good Leadership Essay

    Here are some qualities which can be found in a good essay about leadership. Choose a creative topic. Avoid the passive voice (the active voice sounds stronger) Search for and study leadership essay examples. Follow the appropriate essay style. Focus on the essay structure. Review the essay.

  12. Essays About Effective Leadership: 6 Essay Examples

    Practicing effective leadership goes beyond having direction and a vision for the organization. Becoming an effective leader also takes time and patience. Use this prompt to discuss the habits of great leaders and how these habits make them effective in their leadership. 5. Studying the Mindsets of Effective Leaders.

  13. Essays on Leadership for Students

    4 Examples of Leadership Essays. Qualities of a Good Leader; Introduction. Confidence is the most important attribute first of all. One of the most important qualities in a leader is confidence in one's own abilities. A lack of self-assurance is fatal to a person's leadership potential. If you want others to follow you, you need to exude self ...

  14. Key Qualities Of Good Leader: [Essay Example], 538 words

    Confidence. A good leader will show confidence in the face of challenges, and will inspire confidence in histeam by reminding them that (blocking or stopping things) are just there to be overcome. The confident leader will keep his eye on the goal and will not allow anything discourage him or her, or their team, from success.

  15. Leadership Essay

    A successful relationship between the servant leader and followers is a two-way process and followers must be accepting of the principles of empowerment and the opportunity to grow. A characteristic of leaders which seems to be related to good leadership is emotional intelligence. Goleman (1998, p.317) defines emotional intelligence as 'the ...

  16. Leadership: What Makes a Good Leader? Essay Sample, Example

    In most cases, good leaders want those under him or her to succeed, are visionaries, are inspiring, guide others towards an outcome, and are great at self-assessment. Though there are many other qualities of good leaders that can be mentioned, these are the main ones that contribute to their position. JOIN OUR LEARNING HUB.

  17. Leadership Traits and Characteristics

    Conclusion. The essay has discussed in detail the traits and characteristics of leadership. The conversation about leadership has brought out five major traits and characteristics of leadership. Authenticity, courage, listening skills, patience, and trust and respect have been elaborated from the view of the guests and other authors.

  18. What Makes a Good Leader (Free Essay Samples)

    A good leader sets you up for success. Because he is invested in your growth, he has no personal agenda where he benefits in a selfish way. All of what he does for you is geared towards your growth and eventual success. He makes sure that there is a set direction for his team.

  19. Leadership Essay for Students and Children

    500+ Words Essay on Leadership. First of all, Leadership refers to the quality of leading people. Probably, it is one of the most important aspects of life. Above all, Leadership has led to the progress of human civilization. Without good Leadership, no organization or group can succeed. Furthermore, not everyone has this quality.

  20. Essay on Qualities Of A Good Leader

    Conclusion. In conclusion, a good leader has many qualities. They communicate well, are confident, take responsibility, respect others, and inspire their team. These qualities help them guide their team to success. So, if you want to be a good leader, start developing these qualities today. Remember, leadership is not about being in charge, it ...

  21. Essay about Characteristics of a Good Leader

    Some of the subtle attributes of a good leader are that they do not hide behind bad news. Moreover, they are easy people to talk to and they have a good if not excellent sense of humor. In my opinion, the best leader would be one that enjoys being the leader, is anyways there when I need him or her, sets tangible milestones, always believes ...

  22. What Is Effective Leadership?

    Traits of an effective leader. Self-confidence: Confidence is inspiring. When you're confident in your decision-making, you inspire others to gain their confidence. ... As an effective leader, you want your teammates to know you will continue looking for ways to improve yourself. A good leader wants to learn new things and ways to get things ...

  23. (PDF) Characteristics of Effective Leadership

    For example, Kapur (2020) reviewed literature to acquire an understanding of characteristics of effective leadership and skills and abilities required in effective leadership and Baker (2014 ...

  24. Three Characteristics of a good leader

    A good leader wants what is best for every person in the organization they lead. Three characteristics found in good leaders are empathy, communication, and dignity. Empathy The most underused characteristic of a good leader is empathy. A leader that shows empathy towards their employees can create a positive and productive work environment.

  25. 6 Common Leadership Styles

    Summary. Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business ...

  26. UNV-104-RS-T3-Expository Essay Outline (1)

    Expository Essay Topic: Three Characteristics of good leaders Essay Title: Good Leader Characteristics I. Introduction: (Begin with a hook sentence to capture your audience's attention, then provide a brief background of the topic and end with your thesis statement.) a. Hook: It is essential to understand what leadership entails to be able to ...