Not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. Having a position of responsibility does not necessarily involve exercising leadership; it simply means to enjoy a position of power. Power is a part of leadership, but is not everything. In this article, we tell you what the five traits of a leader are:
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1- People
Good leaders are happy to see others thrive, they feel they are part of that success, and that’s why they work to help them grow and develop. They worry about the people around them and want the best for them because that has an effect on the team. No leader is born a leader, and passion for the people does not need to be genuine either. But a good leader can work with soft skills to acquire this trait, essential to a successful leadership.
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2. Results
After people, there come the results. If leaders can get good performance from their teams and develop the full potential of the people with whom they work, they will get the results they are looking for. Leaders are demanding and learn from failures, but leadership means never losing sight of the true goal: achieving results.
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3. Emotional Intelligence
Besides the necessary technical expertise to perform their job, leaders must have emotional intelligence to cope with crisis situations and resolve interpersonal conflicts with themselves and among members of their teams, adapt to changes, etc. Situations which cannot be learned in books, but only by practicing. That’s why simulators such as Merchants or Triskelion are so valuable for the development of soft skills, whose advantage over other learning processes lies in the possibility of learning by doing.
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4. Knowledge
Leaders are naturally curious, always want to know more, learn something new every day. Leadership draws on knowledge, reading, interacting, being interested in everything concerning the environment. Leaders are not enclosed in themselves, but speak with others, read constantly, manage information, investigate. They make every possible effort to improve their expertise and keep abreast of the latest developments in their profession.
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5. Communication
Good leaders are also great communicators. Leaders make sure that verbal communication and body language are in sync. They care about understanding others and correctly expressing their messages to convey their viewpoints and to make a team be a part of a project. Good communication is essential for leadership because it allows to delegate, negotiate, resolve conflicts and sell proposals properly. The course-videogame in negotiation Merchants has been created to help people develop those communication skills, essential for anyone with a leadership vocation who wants to grow personally and professionally.