10 Traits Of Powerful Leaders

In business, there are specific traits of powerful leaders, including vision, direction, and the ability to inspire others to follow on their journey.

It’s far from an easy role, and requires patience, integrity, and plenty of hard work, but it can REALLY pay off, in business and in life.

So how does one become such a leader?

Start by cultivating these 10 traits, and see how they inspire others to follow your lead.

1. Bravery.
   Who will follow your lead if you don’t demonstrate that you’re courageous enough to lead the way? A great leader must have enough bravery to see the difficulty and risk on the road ahead, and to forge a path anyway.

Of course, this isn’t to say that a great leader can’t be without caution. There’s comfort with risk and there’s recklessness. A great leader sees the risk and does all that he or she can to mitigate it, but nonetheless has the bravery to forge on ahead.

1. Self motivation.
   An inherent part of leadership is having the ability to lead the way. They won’t necessarily have someone holding their hand along the way, so it’s one of the most important traits of powerful leaders that they have a strong sense of self motivation so that they can make things happen.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to work from the ground up. But it does mean that they have to have the wherewithal to seek out appropriate resources to help them accomplish their goals.

1. Purpose.
   Regardless of their style, career, or setting, every great and powerful leader has this in common: they have a sense of purpose. After all, to lead, they must be headed in a particular direction. People follow great presidents because of where they promise to lead the country. People follow great business leaders because they have a strong vision and the motivation to carry it out.

Whether you’re a successful investor or the owner of a dry cleaning business, get a sense of purpose if you want to be a great leader. Have specific goals, and figure out clear ways that you can attain them. Overall, this should not scare you. Your methods and goals can change and evolve over time; they may need to so that you can stay committed. But you must have a sense of purpose from the start even if that purpose changes or evolves over time.

1. Constantly seeking.
   Leaders are seekers. They are constantly seeking new paths, ideas, and solutions. Moreover, they get this way by constantly and continually learning as there is no magic formula or exact science for becoming successful or wealthy or even happy, you must test and test and test, then refine, refine, refine over time.

There’s a reason why great leaders and businesspeople are addicted to learning, and it’s not just to increase their vocabulary or appear impressive. The more you know, the more ideas you have and the more flexible you are in various environments and predicaments.

1. Transparency.
   Nobody trusts a leader who holds everything close to the vest. It can be a difficult step to take, but to be an effective and powerful leader, a certain level of transparency is necessary. For one, it builds trust. Unless you happen to be a charismatic cult leader (and please don’t be), you generally can’t expect people to blindly follow you without knowing your goings-on. You need to be honest about how you are going about attaining your goals and dreams without shutting other people out.

2. Humility.
   If you look up the definition of “humility.” you’ll find things like “freedom from pride or arrogance” or “the quality or state of being humble”. It might sound from the outset that this is a suggestion to be meek. But truthfully, it’s quite the opposite.

Humility doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take pride in your accomplishments. Quite the contrary: shout them from the rooftops! However, what it does mean is that as you gain power, money, or influence, you shouldn’t use it to abuse or alienate others, nor should you take it as an indication that you are better than anybody else.

As a leader, humility means, basically, not forgetting who you are. Remember what you’ve had to do to get where you are, and be humbled by it. Use your power for good, and don’t forget all of the people and things that have helped you along the way.

1. Awareness.
   Powerful leaders must be extremely aware. This is on a few levels, so let’s explore.

First off, a leader must be aware of the goings-on of their surroundings. In business, this means knowing what is going on in current events and in the business news.

However, it also goes internally, too. Great leaders must have a strong sense of self awareness. This is what allows them to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing their good and bad points allows them to work on the negative and highlight the positive. It also allows them to have specific personal goals and to continually work on bettering themselves.

1. Enthusiasm.
   Have you ever noticed how much more pleasurable it is to be around successful people who love what they do, as opposed to nasty people who just happen to be rich?

When you have enthusiasm and true, deep passion for what you do, it shows through. It gives you an authenticity that people gravitate toward, and your enthusiasm will be contagious. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t love or have passion for what you do, why are you doing it. And further, why should people follow your lead?

1. Accountability.
   Mistakes and poor judgments happen to everyone. Even leaders and visionaries like Elon Musk aren’t immune from making mistakes.

Overall, it’s not a lack of making mistakes that makes a great and powerful leader. It’s how they react after making a mistake.

For example, have you ever noticed what happens when a so-called leader tries to deflect blame on another person, thing, or circumstance? People see him or her as weak, lacking in credibility, and they quickly turn on that person. However, when someone in power is brave enough to admit that they made a mistake and to do all that they can to move forward differently, people can appreciate that.

1. Generosity.
   Great leaders are generous. Perhaps the most obvious is that they can give back with money.

However, it can also be with their time. It’s a hallmark of a powerful leader that they are available to be a mentor or guide to those who aren’t as far along in their career. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “you get what you give”, this is it in action.

These ten traits are extremely common among powerful leaders. If you want to cultivate leadership in your own career, see how cultivating these traits of powerful leaders can help you on your way.