Those of you who have ever been impacted by a strong leader can easily attest to the value they bring to our society and our lives. A good leader has the ability to guide one person or an entire group of people in the right direction. They’re able to pinpoint solutions and convince people to get on board with those solutions. A leader can convince people to do the right thing, even when it’s not the most popular alternative. Leadership is not for everyone, but we do need to breed and nurture people to become leaders to ensure that our society continues to function and thrive under the steady hand and level head of strong leaders within our communities, schools, businesses and households.

There is a strong correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and leadership. EQ is a learned ability to identify, experience, understand and express human emotions in healthy and productive ways. In our Success Profiler we have several assessments that help identify an individual’s perceived level of leadership. One of those assessments in our Leadership Profile is The Leadership Skills Map.

Basic Traits of Leadership – The Leadership Skills Map

Many researchers have conducted extensive research on leadership characteristics throughout the years. Surveying thousands of participants, they have put together a list of the most widely recognized attributes or characteristics of leaders. The top fifteen characteristics most frequently identified as critical to being a leader, as measured by our Leadership Skills Map, are as follows:

1. Character – Having Strong Moral Beliefs

2. Charisma – An Attraction to Others. A positive power over others.

3. Attitude – An outlook that expects good things to happen. The ability to find something good in every situation.

4. Competence – Abilities necessary to perform or do well, especially under pressure.

5. Courage – The ability to face anything that is dangerous, difficult, or painful instead of running from it. The ability to control one’s fears.

6. Accomplishment – Success on a task. To achieve set goals.

7. Problem Resolution – The ability to find ways to solve or fix a problem. To find an answer to a question.

8. Conflict Resolution – The act of finding a solution or answer for some sort of disagreement, argument, or fight.

9. Vision – The ability to look or think toward the future. To guess what is going to happen in the future. The ability to make a plan for the future.

10. Focus – The understanding of the goals and the ability to relate those goals to others. The ability to stay on a task and finish it.

11. Assertion – The direct and honest expression of one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in dealing with others.

12. Empathy – The understanding of others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand how he/she thinks, feels, and acts.

13 Influence – One’s effect on how other people think, feel, or act. Help others to continue, persist, and achieve their goals.

14. Motivation – The ability to stay on a goal until it is achieved or reached. The ability to lead oneself or others toward a goal or to motivate others.

15. Nurturance – The ability to help others grow and reach their full potential or ability.

Leadership doesn’t happen overnight. People don’t go to bed one night a follower and wake up in the morning as a leader. As people take on more responsibility and get reassurance of their abilities, they gradually start taking on leadership roles. Our Leadership Skills Map can help foster potential leaders by reinforcing these leadership characteristics and guiding them to reach their full potential.

Want to learn more? Visit our website for more information.