What qualities should a leader have - strengths

When selecting personnel for a leadership position, you need to know what qualities a manager should have. Progress does not stand still, and every decade various innovations appear and priorities change. Many people are interested in the question of whether the set of professional and personal qualities that a leader should have has changed.

List of qualities

Personality structure includes temperament, volitional qualities, abilities, character, emotions, social attitudes and motivation. And also separately the following qualities:

• Independence;
• Intellectual self-improvement;
• Communication skills;
• Kindness;
• Hard work;
• Honesty;
• Determination;
• Responsibility;
• Respect;
• Confidence;
• Discipline;
• Humanity;
• Mercy;
• Curiosity;
• Objectivity.

A person’s personal qualities consist of internal perception and external manifestations. External manifestation includes a list of indicators:

• innate or acquired artistry;
• attractive appearance and sense of style;
• oratory skills and clear pronunciation of speech;
• a competent and sophisticated approach to non-verbal communication.

The main qualities of a person (her inner world) can be classified according to a number of characteristics:

• a comprehensive assessment of the situation and the absence of conflicting perceptions of information;
• an inherent love for people;
• open-minded thinking;
• positive form of perception;
• wise judgment.

The level of these indicators determines the individual characteristics of the individual being studied.

Leader effectiveness

A person holding a leadership position must develop in all areas: improve his qualifications, level of education, improve his knowledge and skills.

To analyze the effectiveness of a manager, it is necessary to take into account many factors, including:

• increasing labor productivity;
• growth of fixed assets;
• speed of fund turnover;
• increase in profits.

If the result on these indicators is positive, the director’s activities can be considered effective.

Knowledge

To be appointed to the position of head of a company, you must have at least a higher specialized education. In addition to this, you need to have a good understanding of economics, management and psychology. Professional knowledge implies an understanding of the relationships between various processes and the search for optimal options for solving assigned problems.

The strengths of a manager include the ability to competently manage a team, achieve high financial performance, comply with civil and labor laws, understand taxes, budgeting, and conduct personnel policies.

Stiff competition and time constraints must be taken into account. A modern manager must speak at least 1 foreign language, be able to drive a car, and have knowledge in related professions.

The director of an enterprise must understand the activities of all departments of his company:

• production workshops;
• branches;
• legal service;
• accounting;
• HR department;
• supply department;
• marketing department;
• logistics;
• archive, etc.

Responsibility for the work of all these departments lies with the director (regardless of the field of activity of the enterprise). Thus, he must have a wide range of knowledge to effectively organize work and control the implementation of assigned tasks.

Skills

A manager's professional skills characterize his ability to quickly respond to various changes, interact with people, and achieve high results. Here it is necessary to emphasize the following qualities:

1. Balance is the ability to take control of your emotions. This is the main quality of a leader: to remain calm in various situations and set an example for your colleagues.
2. Self-confidence is the main personality quality necessary for interacting with others. A confident person always remains calm. Subordinates will follow the example of such a leader. Such relationships between the director and the team will create a favorable atmosphere in the enterprise.
3. Resilience to stress helps you maintain clarity of thought. Such a person will not get lost whenever a problem arises; he will be able to maintain calm in the team. Making important decisions in any situation is the key to career success.
4. The desire to win. This character trait is characteristic of confident individuals. The desire to achieve a positive result provides an incentive for career advancement. Enthusiasm is contagious, and the company's employees will also strive for achievements.
5. The presence of organizational skills implies the skills of quickly assessing the situation, identifying primary goals and clearly calculating the time to solve them. Such inclinations are not only innate, they can be developed in the process of working on oneself. A competent manager evenly distributes the amount of work between subordinates and controls its implementation.

Skills

Skills are an important component of any type of activity. They reflect accumulated knowledge and experience gained. Professional skills represent knowledge that is constantly being improved.

The main business qualities of a manager are:

1. Logical and critical type of thinking (practical intelligence). It is easier for a person with such a mindset to work with large amounts of information, discarding everything unnecessary and not being distracted by trifles.
2. Carrying out a large number of tasks at the same time requires endurance and composure, and quick response skills. You must be able to use all your abilities and hidden potential to make the right decisions.
3. A manager must be able to feel other people and understand the hidden motives of their actions. This skill is called social intelligence. A person with such abilities has a good understanding of people and knows what to expect from an employee. He understands well that for effective work it is necessary to create a healthy microclimate in the team and motivate his employees.
4. Adequate self-esteem, a tendency to analyze one’s actions, self-criticism, choosing the right line of behavior - such abilities are the privilege of a manager. Low self-esteem and self-doubt hinder the full perception of information, and overestimated self-esteem often leads to the fact that planned plans turn out to be impossible.
5. Knowledge of economics and marketing. For an enterprise manager, it is not paramount to master all the nuances of the technological process and the work of each employee. His responsibilities include understanding the process and product quality, its compliance with standards and market requirements.

Habits

The director needs to understand that he is an example for his subordinates, so he must imagine what he wants his employees to be like:

• collected;
• delicate;
• active;
• scrupulous, etc.

If a boss wants to ensure that his team does not use obscene language during communication, then he needs to prove to his subordinates by his own example that it is possible to communicate without using obscene language. In the subconscious, subordinates will form a model of behavior in which a successful person communicates politely and culturally. Demanding that others follow any rules, you must directly adhere to them in life.

If the words and actions of the boss differ from each other, such a situation will not contribute to the formation of a respectful attitude towards him on the part of his subordinates. What a person brings into the world with his behavior, habits and appearance speaks for itself.

Habits are a reflection of a person’s personality, but in the process of daily activities a person ceases to notice them. Only those who have the makings of a leader can recognize their strengths and weaknesses, admit their shortcomings and work to correct them. The process of self-improvement should not stop.

A competent leader knows how to manage his subordinates, because he has mastered management skills, without which it is impossible to lead a team.

Characteristics of a good leader:

• setting high goals;
• finding the right approach to colleagues;
• staff development;
• promoting your products on the market;
• establishing relationships with key clients and investors;
• rewarding the company's employees for their contribution to its development.

The boss's leadership should be such as to stimulate employees to grow and develop.

Structure of individual qualities

To more accurately determine the quality of a person’s personality, one should highlight its biological structure. It consists of 4 levels:

1. Temperament, which includes characteristics of genetic predisposition (nervous system).
2. The degree of unique mental processes that allows one to determine a person's personal qualities. The level of individual perception, imagination, manifestation of volitional signs, feelings and attention influences the achievement of results.
3. The experiences of people, characterized by knowledge, abilities, capabilities and habits.
4. Indicators of social orientation, including the subject’s attitude to the external environment. The development of personal qualities acts as a guiding and regulating factor of behavior - interests and views, beliefs and attitudes (state of consciousness based on previous experience, regulating the attitude and behavior of people), moral norms.

The above categories are closely related to the needs and character, abilities and egocentrism of people. The set of general indicators influences the creation of an individual personality shell.

Hard and soft leadership

The main feature of modern society is the choice of management style or type of managerial leadership. Leadership aptitudes and qualities form the basis of management skills. There are 2 types of managerial leadership, depending on the approach to management: soft and hard leadership.

Soft Leadership

Soft leadership involves the coincidence of interests of employees and the company's leader. The director of such a company is interested in attracting personnel with the appropriate skills and knowledge, and a high level of professionalism. With this management method, effective feedback and a system of delegation of authority are formed. An important aspect is the level of staff satisfaction with their work.

Tough Leadership

Strong leadership is based on unquestioning submission to management. The company does not waste resources and energy on attracting qualified employees, but works with those who are already working on staff. This model provides for obtaining high performance with minimal expenditure of effort, time and financial resources.

A leader who adheres to a strict management method must be persistent and charismatic, be able to persuade, influence and maintain distance between himself and his subordinates.

What role to play?

Hard leadership is more often used in companies than soft leadership. But world practice has shown that a soft approach to personnel management helps to achieve better results. Such companies have more competitive advantages. But building a management system based on trust and mutual support is not easy.

Traits of people that characterize their temperament

The innate qualities of a person shape him as a social being. Behavioral factors, type of activity and social circle are taken into account. The category is divided into 4 concepts: sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic.

• A sanguine person is a strong and balanced person who easily adapts to a new environment and overcomes obstacles. Sociability, responsiveness, openness, cheerfulness and leadership are the main personality traits.
• A melancholic person is a weak and sedentary person. Under the influence of strong stimuli, behavioral disturbances occur, manifested by a passive attitude towards any activity. Isolation, pessimism, anxiety, tendency to reason and resentment are characteristic features of melancholic people.
• Cholerics are strong, unbalanced, energetic personality traits. They are quick-tempered and unrestrained. Touchiness, impulsiveness, emotionality and instability are clear indicators of a restless temperament.
• A phlegmatic person is a balanced, inert and slow person, not prone to change. Personal indicators show how to easily overcome negative factors. Reliability, goodwill, peacefulness and prudence are the hallmarks of calm people.

Moral properties of personality

At the genetic level, moral programs inherent in distant ancestors are laid in a person. These properties are adjusted by life under the influence of such factors:

• family education;
• the influence of the school and the yard company;
• social and personal relations;
• life experience.

Each aspect is subject to certain rules of moral behavior. They form the individual’s attitude towards himself and other people. Based on what values ​​were embedded in the inner world, moral qualities are divided into categories: humanistic, nationalistic, racial, religious-fanatical.

Morality is established in childhood

Only the first category refers to positive characteristics. It is based on respect for all people, regardless of their religion, nationality and race.

Individual character traits

Character is a set of individual traits that manifest themselves in different types of activity, communication and relationships with people. The development of personal qualities is formed against the background of life processes and the type of activity of people. To more accurately assess the character of people, behavioral factors in specific circumstances should be studied in detail.

Types of character:

• cycloid – mood swings;
• hyperthymic accentuation consists of high activity and failure to complete tasks;
• asthenic – capricious and depressive personal qualities;
• sensitive – timid personality;
• hysterical - the makings of leadership and vanity;
• dysthymic – focused on the negative side of current events.

Relationships with the team

The manager's characteristics must include a paragraph that describes his relationship with his subordinates. To build healthy relationships in a team, a manager should study the basics of psychology and interaction with people. How to encourage subordinates to perform productive activities, how to become an authority in the eyes of your employees and create a strong team - all this should be known to the manager.

Feedback

Feedback is a response, a response to current events. There are 3 principles of feedback: constructive, negative and positive. Each of these principles affects the work of employees differently and has its own positive and negative sides.

Using criticism is a negative method of influencing subordinates and rarely leads to the desired result.

To create effective feedback, you must:

1. Offer your colleague ways to get out of a difficult situation.
2. Convey to him your wishes regarding his work and behavior.
3. Analyze situations that occurred in the recent past.
4. Don't mention past defeats.
5. Encourage employees to develop and move up the career ladder.
6. Discuss employee behavior in private.

A good manager understands that the best incentive for an employee is praise.

Granting decision-making rights

Even managers can sometimes make mistakes, so it is necessary to give freedom of speech and thought to your subordinates, and be able to listen to their opinions. A wise boss is always ready to listen to the suggestions of his colleagues, compare them with his decision and draw the right conclusions.

Attitude to work

Only with a responsible attitude towards your work can you achieve good results. This section includes the ability to plan your working time, not put off important matters until the last minute, maintain order and cleanliness in your workplace, etc.

Opportunity for career growth

In order for employees to have an incentive to work and improve their skills, it is necessary to provide them with the opportunity to advance in their careers. Any achievements and services to the company should be encouraged both morally and financially. This stimulates the staff well, awakening in them the spirit of competition and the desire to achieve greater heights than their colleagues. Only in conditions of fierce competition do employees begin to show their best professional qualities.

It is recommended to introduce a system of bonuses and incentives when the required results are achieved. This practice has proven itself and is successfully used in many countries.

Personal behavior

Through his behavior, the manager must set the right atmosphere in the team, evoke respect and the desire to meet the high requirements of the company. A competent manager will not demand from his subordinates what he is not able to do himself.

Ability to create a team

A good leader is one who knows how to unite the team and create a favorable and comfortable working atmosphere. When selecting personnel for individual positions, he is guided not only by the professional skills and abilities of the applicant, but also by his intuition. The director must be able to project any situation in his imagination and predict the employee’s behavior under such circumstances. Based on his considerations and life experience, the company manager can conclude whether this person is suitable for such a position or not.

Knowledge of psychology

Managers of large enterprises with a large turnover of funds (and not only them) need to understand the psychological aspects when hiring employees. Many enterprises have the position of a recruiting manager, whose responsibilities include selecting qualified personnel. But the director must be able to independently assess the suitability of the applicant for the job for which he is applying.

Negotiation skills

Communication skills occupy one of the most important places in the hierarchy of professional qualities of a manager. How profitable the company’s business will become directly depends on the management’s ability to find a common language with clients, subordinates, investors, etc. You should be flexible in communication and be able to find a compromise solution for both parties in any situation.

Honesty and justice

High moral principles are not an obstacle to achieving your goals (as many believe). On the contrary, they inspire the trust and respect of others, and the desire to interact with such a person.

A leader must be a role model, so attention must be paid to developing qualities such as honesty, fairness and compassion.

Individual abilities of people

Individual psychological qualities of a person contribute to the achievement of success and excellence in a certain activity. They are determined by the social and historical practice of the individual, the results of the interactions of biological and mental indicators.

There are different levels of ability:

1. giftedness;
2. talent;
3. genius.

The development of the algorithm of personal qualities and abilities of people is characterized by the ability to learn new things in the mental sphere. Special features are manifested in a specific type of activity (musical, artistic, pedagogical, etc.).

What kind of person is considered successful?

Each group of people, united by purpose or social status, has different ideas about well-being. It depends on the person’s ambitions, his personality. If we are talking about success in business, then the indicators will be: career growth, reaching leadership positions, achieving global goals, making open and scientific breakthroughs.

The criteria for well-being are individual, and in each area they are considered holistically from different points of view: the internal structure of the organization, the principles of a person and the degree of personal development. For example, for an actor, success is recognition, being in demand; for a scientist - recognition and popularity; for software developers - the amount of profit from sales. But this does not mean that the designated representatives of the professions have reached the heights they dreamed of. As a rule, these people are unhappy in the domestic sphere. An aspect such as an unsuccessful personal life does not allow one to be called happy. Each individual has moral principles and foundations, and what is success for one is failure for another. Therefore, it is difficult to consider specific character traits in a general way.

Strong-willed traits of people

Adjusting behavioral factors associated with overcoming internal and external discomfort makes it possible to determine personal qualities: the level of effort and plans for taking actions, concentration in a given direction. Will manifests itself in the following properties:

• willpower - the level of effort to achieve the desired result;
• perseverance – the ability to mobilize to overcome troubles;
• endurance - the ability to limit feelings, thinking and actions.

Courage, self-control, commitment are the personal qualities of strong-willed people. They are classified into simple and complex acts. In a simple case, incentives to action flow into execution automatically. Complex acts are carried out on the basis of motivation, drawing up a plan and taking into account the consequences.