Leadership means the ability to influence the
behaviour of others hence a leader should have certain traits to be able to
exert his influence on the group around him. Leadership qualities can be
divided into two classes.
1. Personal traits
2. Managerial traits
Personal Traits
A successful leader should have the
following personal qualities.
Dynamic Personality
A
leader should possess a charismatic, charming, cheerful and bubbling
personality. He should have vitality. He should be strong, have good health,
and have a cool temperament and an optimistic outlook. His behaviour should be
decent and he should be able to communicate clearly.
Intellectual Capacity
A leader should be able to think
scientifically and logically. He should be able to analyse a situation. He
should be able to interpret both data and human behaviour clearly and
concisely. He should have an insight into business problems.
Initiative
A successful leader must be able to
visualize and take a correct sequence of actions. He should have a good sense
of timing. He should be able to apply intrinsic ideas. He should be able to
develop new ideas and formulate new methods of doing things. He should have
great creative ability and initiative. He should be able to inspire teach and
guide people. Only then will he get the voluntary co-operation of the employees
around him.
Foresight
A successful leader should be
imaginative. He should be able to visualize potential trends and on the basis
of these develop polices and programs logically.
Emotional
Stability
A leader should have a balanced
temperament. He should be emotionally stable. He should be able to overcome his
own personal disappointments. He should also be able to correct his won
inconsistencies.
Flexibility
A leader should be flexible and have
an open mind. But the final decision should be his and should be based on
various inputs, which should reach a balance in the final decision. He must
always try to accommodate as many points of view as possible.
Sense of
Responsibility
A leader must always be responsible
for his actions. He should bear the burden of his decisions. He should not try
to escape by putting them on somebody else. He should always remember,
- That he derives his authority from his followers
and
- Authority and responsibility are inter linked.
Character
A leader should be a man of great
character. He should always remember that he is a symbol for his followers
hence he must carefully consider the effects of his actions on grounds of
morality and efficiency.
Managerial
Traits
A successful leader should possess
the following managerial trait.
Technical
Knowledge
A leader should know the
technical details necessary in his field. He should know them minutely and be
able to apply them in hands on situation. Only then will his followers respect
him. A leader who instructs but cannot do will never be respected.
Organizing ability
The main aim of every leader is
to organize what others are doing. To be able to do this he should be able to
divide the organisation into segments and use his technical knowledge and
knowledge of his followers’ capacity to divide work, allocate responsibility, direct
the action, set goals and produce results. He should be able to bring together
the money, materials, men and machines.
Ability to deal
with people
A
leader should be able to deal with the behaviour of his followers under normal
conditions and in emotionally stressed conditions. He has to inspire and
motivate people in both the situations
Ability to
judge and decide promptly
A leader should use all the
abilities mentioned above to judge both people and situations. He should also
be able to act decisively promptly and effectively so that the organization
benefits from his decision with the minimum amount of effort for his followers.
