Contrary to popular belief, one doesn’t have to be on the Forbes rich list to be classed as a truly great business leader. While each and every member most definitely slots into this category, there are countless other names who could join them but perhaps haven’t coined in as much money.
In other words, great business leaders aren’t necessarily assessed just by their bank balance – there are plenty of other factors involved as well.
We’ve put together this page to scrutinize the exact science behind these great leaders. If you’ve ever come across a respected leader in business, there’s every chance they possess the majority of these attributes.
Intuition
We’ll start with one of the most natural attributes around; intuition.
It doesn’t matter what business a leader is involved in, he simply has to have that natural intuition that can guide him through unchartered territory from time to time.
You’ve only got to look at Steve Sorensen to see this. Having been part of The Select Family for 27 years, it’s fair to say that he encountered his fair share of unique problems. The fact that he was able to negotiate these successfully, and ultimately grow the business to great heights, highlights that natural intuition.
Those that don’t have it are more at a loss when something unexpected does happen; something that the text books don’t cover.
Honesty
Next on the list is honesty and while it wouldn’t be fair to say that only “good” people make great business leaders, those that act with honest and integrity certainly gain more respect from their team.
The idea is simple; if the leader can act honestly, the rest of the team will follow suit.
Additionally, it tends to paint a better picture for those outside the business, whether this is customers or potential investors, and this is only going to help.
Confidence
This next attribute is often misinterpreted. When we say confidence we’re not suggesting that all great leaders are extroverts and quite bullish in nature.
Instead, they could be an introvert, but they must display confidence when presenting their ideas and products.
Without this, it’s impossible to gain any sort of support on any level. As well as this, when troubles are encountered, those that display confidence can show to the rest of the world that things will change soon and there’s no reason to panic.
It’s again about getting your team to buy into this – and this can’t be done without a confident demeanor.
The ability to delegate
One of the big mistakes from the rookie entrepreneur is that they think every task should be done by themselves. Micro-managing is a big problem amongst these individuals; they don’t realize that delegation is one of the best tools a business leader can have.
The ability to recognize that some individuals are better suited to certain tasks, and to delegate accordingly, is the only way to take a business further. Without this, it becomes impossible to grow.