What Makes a Great Leader?
In the world of business and personal development, leadership isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the cornerstone of success.
But here’s the cold, hard truth: not everyone who calls themselves a leader actually has what it takes.
You want to know why most people fail at leadership?
Because they’re missing the crucial qualities that separate the mediocre from the magnificent.
Today, we’re diving deep into the 13 non-negotiable traits that every great leader must possess.
Buckle up, because by the end of this, you’ll either realize you’re on the path to greatness, or you’ll be forced to face the uncomfortable reality that you’ve got some serious work to do.
What Makes a Great Leader?
Quality leadership is crucial to making any idea or concept a reality.
If I were to start a tech company, for example, I would need my employees to follow my vision.
Great business figureheads such as Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet all have practical skills, and their success proves it.
Being in charge, you need people to follow you.
You could do this in many ways:
- Use more money to motivate them.
- Use fear and intimidation.
- Inspire them with words, ideas, actions, and vision.
- Hire people who are obedient and selfless.
I often look at businesses that fail or significant cities with persistent crime, corruption, and poverty problems that never go away as examples.
What thoughts, beliefs, and actions, or lack thereof, created the problem? My next question is, what new ideas, opinions, and steps must be designed to get things on track?
To be clear here, anybody can be in leadership positions, such as:
- Parents for Children
- Teachers for students
- Bosses for employees
- Managers
- School System
- Scouts
- Military
- Business
- Government
- Police
- Coach
- Doctors/Health/Healing
- Community Organizers
- Church/Synagogue/Mosque
- Political Democratic
- Educational
- Financial
- Non Profit
- Student Council
13 Qualities of a Great Leader
- An endless supply of energy
- The ability to recognize talent
- Integrity/Congruency/Righteousness
- Lowering of Ego/Self
- Strong Mental Focus
- Strong Organizational skills in all areas
- Invests in their personal growth
- Has flexibility with their beliefs
- Inspires Loyalty
- Disciplined
- Doesn’t like to waste time
- Life Experience
- Proactive
1. Energy, Health, & Vitality
“When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.” – Paulo Coelho
These three key ingredients are crucial. It drives me crazy to see lazy people in charge because they affect many people below them on the hierarchical pyramid.
Influential movers and shakers understand the importance of eating whole, healthy foods and drinks and exercising regularly.
2. Talent Recognition
A great leader spots talented individuals and uses them to their advantage by placing them in positions where their talents can be used effectively.
They surround themselves with enthusiastic and competent people in their assigned roles.
They can see weak or underperforming managers on their team and replace them with more effective managers.
A great leader can spot the proverbial “cancer in the locker room” and find a way to demote, transfer, or get rid of them outright. Successful people like J.P. Morgan knew it was crucial to surround themselves with the brightest minds they could find.
Morgan knew that he didn’t have all the answers, so he understood the importance of surrounding himself with people more intelligent than himself. This would greatly benefit his business success—which it did.
3. Integrity/Congruency/Righteousness
To be a good leader, you have to mean what you say and say what you mean. Your word must be as good as gold.
These days, average figureheads say one thing and do the exact opposite. Great leaders have integrity and do what they say they will do.
You must have a moral compass, which gives you a strong sense of integrity.
Competent Leaders understand right and wrong and how they should behave.
A quality commander doesn’t have to be perfect or saintly but must adhere to the rules for the rest of the team to follow suit.
Good chairmen don’t lie and manipulate their people to get what they want because they understand the importance of truth and honesty.
An acceptable commander knows that the people will lose respect for them once trust is broken through lying and deceitful manipulation.
They know their job is to improve the lives of their people and the nation, state, business, or Country they live or work in.
Integrity means to do, say, or be for the greater good.
A leader asks themselves this question- “If everyone did what I am doing, would it help humanity and the planet, or would it have a negative impact”? Are your actions helping the collective, or are they only benefiting you and your plan?
4. Lowering Of Ego/Self
Notice I didn’t say become egoless or selfless. That would not be very smart.
Good leaders have a vision that requires the ego/self to go along for the ride. Along with that ride, there will be mistakes, bad decisions, and often failures, but great ones don’t become stagnant because life gets too complicated.
Great leaders accept “The Human Factor” within themselves. The Human Factor means that you are imperfect and will never be perfect, yet learn from your mistakes and continually become a better version of yourself.
5. Mind & Emotions
Being in charge will be taxing on the mind and body. Great chiefs understand their minds and emotions and know when to take a break for self-care.
Great leaders are Type A personalities more often than not, and these types tend to be more prone to burnout than average. Type A’s learn through experience when to take a break and recharge their batteries.
A Great leader doesn’t command their emotions; instead, they use their feelings to their advantage when needed. Emotions are a great tool to get people to take action, yet emotions without a firm groundedness in logic and reason make for a terrible commander.
6. Organized
They are organized in all areas of their lives. They understood early that having all aspects of their responsibilities neat, orderly, and systematized creates an environment where “flow” can occur much more naturally.
They have an uncanny aptitude for logistics and planning.
7. Education & Self Improvement
They have open minds and are continually educating and improving themselves consistently. They read a lot of books and research topics online and off.
They continuously improve themselves in any way, shape, or form.
⇒Related: Incompetent People In Power [The Dunning-Kruger Effect]
8. Flexible Beliefs
An honest commander recognizes limiting, self-defeating beliefs and replaces them with empowering beliefs.
They aren’t afraid to step outside of their views from time to time to test the waters. This key component is what separates a mediocre leader from an exceptional one.
9. Inspires Loyalty
They gracefully inspire loyalty by being authentic and generally caring and considering for their people. In return, loyal people generally hold them in high regard and do almost anything to please them.
They can “read the people’s pulse” and make decisions that would benefit the greater good of their people.
10. Disciplined
They are disciplined. What separates barbarians from great commanders is one word: Discipline. Being disciplined means setting up your beliefs, values, and rules and then adhering to them consistently.
A titanic leader DOES NOT say, “Do As I Say and Not as I Do,” a colossal leader says, “Do AS I DO!”
11. Doesn’t Like To Waste Time
They understand the value of their time. They know that sitting around a table talking is not the same as taking action.
Great leaders know the Pareto Principle: 20% of invested input creates 80% of the results, or roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
This is very common in the workplace, where only 20% of employees carry out 80% of the workload. The other 80% of people are usually time wasters indulging in idle chit-chat and goofing around on Social Media.
12. Life Experience
Life gives you experiences just by being alive; the more life you live, the more skills you will have. Exceptional ones start young in their positions and learn through experience what they need to change to become great.
Winston Churchill, a great leader, had an epic failure early in his political career during WWI when he decided to attack Turkey at Gallipoli.
It failed so miserably that he was dismissed from his cabinet position, excluded from the war council, and banned from any doings with the war effort.
Winston eventually bounced back through humility, self-reflection, and correction to become prominent.
13. Proactive
They do not exist in a state of reactivity. They have a supernatural ability to see future challenges and deal with them before they happen.
Through life experience, they know what to avoid and how to handle challenging situations confidently.
Charlemagne Was A Great Leader
One of the most significant political and military leaders (and a distant relative of mine) of known human history is Charlemagne, Western Europe, from 768-814AD. Charlemagne was tall, standing at 6’3&1/2″; he was a man amongst boys.
Charlemagne understood the importance of taking care of his vision for his empire and did everything in his power to unite, educate, and improve the lives of everyone in his territory.
He was such an active and respected commander that Pope Leo III approached him for help from Rome’s enemies. Charlemagne came from a strong bloodline of top leaders, including his father, Pepin the Short, and his grandfather, Charles “The Hammer” Martel.
A great leader studies humanity’s history and learns what ideas and principles worked and what didn’t. They are an avid reader of human history because they know that he who does not learn from his past is bound to repeat it.
When you have time, I suggest you read about The Carolingians and see how powerfully and effectively they led their empires, including how they usurped power from the Merovingians.
Leadership in Business
The best bosses have a complete and intimate understanding of every facet of their business and industry.
They know everything about their own companies (their strengths and weaknesses, for example), their customers, their competition, and the business environment in which they operate.
There is a direct relationship between the number of prospective customers your company can attract and the number of sales you will make.
As the boss, you must ensure that lead generation is central to your marketing and sales activities.
Understanding what works and what doesn’t will also help you take charge in improving your company’s marketing methods to generate more leads and attract more potential customers. Marketing is everyone’s business—from the corner office to the front lines.
The priority of business is to attract interested prospects. The second is to convert them into customers, buying from you rather than someone else.
Your sales strategies and techniques in this area can make you or break you. Being in charge, you must guide and enable a continued effort to increase conversion rates.
How can your company convert more prospects into paying customers? The answer begins with a leadership understanding of why prospects buy and don’t.
They must also recognize that the market is continually changing, so sales strategies and techniques may need to adapt.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve laid out the 13 essential qualities of a great leader let’s get real for a second. Leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s not about fancy titles or corner offices.
It’s about rolling up your sleeves, facing challenges head-on, and inspiring others to reach their full potential.
If you’re not willing to embody these qualities, to live and breathe them every single day, then do yourself and everyone else a favor—step aside.
But if you’re ready to take on the responsibility, push yourself beyond your limits, and make a real impact in this world, then congratulations.
You’ve just taken the first step towards becoming the kind of leader people will follow through hell and high water.
Remember, great leaders aren’t born—they’re forged through relentless self-improvement and unwavering commitment. Now go out there and lead like your success depends on it, because guess what? It does
Read Next: Keith Ferrazzi Leadership Course