10 Must-Have Employee Leadership Traits

“Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?!” – Gimli, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Sometimes initiating a business venture can feel very much like walking into a battle that you’ve already lost. It may seem like the odds are never in your favor. And despite your spectacular ideas and your own great leadership traits, you just can’t seem to lift your business off of the ground. All it takes to make a leap into a higher competitive bracket may be hiring a few great leaders to run different parts of your new enterprise. After all, you can’t possibly accomplish and be great at everything all on your own. The best entrepreneurs know that sooner or later, delegation is the key to growth.

As you attempt to recruit the best of the best, look for and enhance these 10 leadership traits that are certain to brew success:

1. Communication – Some leadership traits are easy but not simple; this is one of those. Not every intelligent employee can cooperate and enhance a team dynamic. Get to know your employees and help them develop a comfort level around you and the guidelines you’ve set for the company. Comfortability will inspire more open verbalization of ideas as well as challenges.
2. Honesty – Your employees and their leadership traits are a reflection of you. Being open and honest will encourage the same from team members. Customers and clients will recognize this quality and be more likely to trust your product or service.
3. Sense of Humor – Handling the day to day stresses of a business is unbearable without embodying humor among other leadership traits. Humor turns a bad day into a manageable stepping stone to a better day. Hire employees that will laugh at their mistakes instead of crying and then move on to the next project. More will get accomplished and everyone will be in much better spirits.
4. Commitment – Those you hire into leadership roles need to share your commitment to your business. It might not be their dream but they can still maintain an upbeat dedication to its growth and overall outcome.
5. Confidence – Worried about the future of your brand or the status of an outgoing proposal? So are your employees, but that worry should never trump confidence in your business’s projected goals and all that you have to offer. Don’t mistakenly hire for the leadership traits of doubting and naysaying in the belief that they will keep you “grounded.”

6. Intuition – Decisions are not always based in logic and facts. Two equally great options or equally tricky outcomes may require a bit of intuition. If you’ve built your business to this point, you’ve developed a knack for trusting your instincts. Not everyone does. Hire those that make intuitively intelligent judgement calls.

7. Ability to Delegate – If you are hiring leaders to help run your company, you are delegating. They, too, must learn to delegate so that responsibilities are shared amongst all employees in the best possible and most efficient arrangement.
8. Positive Attitude – One of the best leadership traits to hire for is a positive attitude. Will the person raise energy levels and provide motivation to the employees that they lead? Occasionally providing incentives like donuts is a fun option, but being positive should be an everyday attitude rather than a rare treat.
9. Creativity – A company evolves on the constant turnover of great ideas. Those ideas will eventually come from more than just you. Include the potential for creativity among sought after leadership traits.
10. Ability to Inspire – Can you see a clear vision of business growth and success? Make sure you hire employees carry the ability to inspire among other leadership traits or that vision will not always be present in the office. In addition, set up a way for your hired leaders to acknowledge and commend the efforts of the rest of the team.

“Avengers assemble!” Okay, so you may not be hiring the kind of employees that have superpowers, but your growing business deserves the best leaders you can find. That means that your team members will each possess these ten leadership traits.

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