7 Traits of Influential Leaders: How To Instantly Become a Great Leader And Change Your Life

True mastery of leadership takes a lifetime. The ability to guide, inspire or influence people is not something that just happens over night, but there are key traits and commonalities displayed amongst the greatest leaders of all time, which you can emulate and embody today.

There is no ‘one-size fits-all’ approach that a person can take when it comes to leadership — every situation, circumstance, person and team is different. It’s important to always remember this, as no matter how good you think you are at leading others, there is always something more to learn. Likewise, no matter how poor you think you are at leading others or how much you still have to learn, you will, without question, still have positive aspects to your leadership.

Leadership is a constantly evolving skill, and one that requires you to train daily. To be a great leader, you should strive to implement the core principles discussed below, daily. You should also commit to lifelong learning in order to be influential and get the most out of people around you.

At its core, leadership requires you to foster relationships with your team, your clients, and key stakeholders. Without having respectful and positive relationships, you simply cannot influence, guide, teach nor be firm when needed in order to achieve a desired result. Relationships are the cumulation of day-in and day-out efforts, and the moment you think you’ve become the perfect leader and have nothing more to learn, is the moment you’ve failed.

This is a no-nonsense guide on to how to instantly improve your leadership capabilities, today. My goal in preparing this report for you is to make each person who reads this a better leader, and to challenge some of the false beliefs that you may hold about leadership. This guide may confront some readers’ beliefs or outdated ways of thinking — if you encounter something that triggers you, I encourage you to read on through to the end. 15 minutes of reading could possibly change the trajectory of your leadership capabilities or career, and have you achieving things that you never would have thought possible by better engaging with your staff. Successful leadership has the ability to change your life and the lives of those around you, so if you learn just one concept from this guide that you hadn’t previously considered, then I have done my job in helping shape the world of work in a more meaningful way.

1. A Great Leader Knows how to Influence Others

Great leaders understand that influencing others is the best way to connect with people, and it’s this subtle art of influencing which ultimately leads them to your desired objectives, rather than ‘telling’ them what to do. Influential leadership is a holistic approach to leading people, and many of the tactics will be discussed throughout this guide.

In order to be influential, you must first be seen as relatable, personable and respected. Being calm and strong are pretty important too. Think of the most influential people in your own lives — what common characteristics did they display? I would bet that you respected those people highly, you connected with them, and that you liked them. They may not have always told you something that you wanted to hear, or they may have challenged you in a way that you didn’t want to be challenged, but I bet you always knew that it came from a place of genuine care for you, and a passion to make you better.

To start becoming an influential leader, take an active interest in the lives of your staff so that they feel supported and know that you genuinely have their best interests at heart. Ask them about their personal lives, get to know about their hobbies, goals and dreams, and learn about their family (all within reason of course). To influence people, you need to show them that you care, and that you don’t just see them as ‘a number’ or ‘a cog in the machine’.

As a leader, your primary objective is to establish a team environment whereby your staff work selflessly for one another, are committed to working hard everyday to achieve common objectives, and are open to receiving your feedback to improve. None of this is possible without being able to influence others through fostering relationships.

A powerful way of influencing others is to lead them to an answer that makes them feel like they came up with the solutions themselves. This is empowering for the person you are influencing because it gives them some ownership in the decisions that they are making, rather than you telling them what to do. When you guide an employee to a solution but ultimately leave the decision to them, you are demonstrating your trust in them, which will often result in the person feeling more connected to the project. This results in them working harder to deliver it to the best of their ability as they feel a type of ownership over the work they are doing — they feel responsible for the decision and they want to get it right. When you suggest an action to somebody rather than demanding it, they more often tend to listen to that advice as well. This tactic not only grows your staff members’ confidence, but it also helps to build trust between management and team members, which contributes to be able to further influence and demand tasks when the situation requires it.

Being able to influence people takes time, and you need to communicate in a manner which builds trust. But this investment in time and patience will build the framework for everything you do in a leadership position moving forward.

2. A Great Leader Takes Responsibility

It’s important to remind ourselves that none of us are perfect. Your team members and colleagues will all make mistakes along the way, and yes, you as a leader will as well.

Taking responsibility doesn’t just mean acknowledging a problem within your team, it actually goes far deeper than this. A great leader is selfless and the first person to put up their hand when something goes wrong. They are the first person to take the blame for a problem or mistake, as they recognize that the mistake occurred on their watch.

Even if you weren’t the one responsible for the error, you are the one responsible for the training, development and oversight of your staff’s output, so if they get something wrong along the way, it’s because you haven’t identified a potential problem (or lack of knowledge in someone’s training) quickly enough. You haven’t been able to address it before the mistake occurred.

In addition to taking responsibility for mistakes, a great leader also freely gives credit to those around him/her for the success of the team. By acknowledging others at every opportunity possible, you increase the buy-in from your team, which will ultimately result in them working harder for you in the future, thus improving results even more so.

Even if the part you played in a project was significant, a great leader will always recognize that they weren’t the only person who did all the work, nor were they the sole reason for the projects’ success. To claim the praise and recognition for all the work is a sure-fire way to be viewed as a selfish, egotistical leader. This fatal mistake will result in your employees losing trust in you as a leader, and you can rest assured they will not go the extra mile to see you or the team have success in the future.

When you take responsibility for your team’s problems, you are creating a ‘safety buffer’ for your subordinates, protecting them from the levels of management above you (or any disgruntled stakeholders). This will create a culture where your staff members will know that they can make decisions and do what they think needs to be done to complete a project, without having to worry about the possible repercussions because you will always have their back. Try protecting your staff members rather than ‘throwing them under the bus’, and you’ll see their loyalty increase dramatically!

Whilst this outlook on leadership might be a shock to some, remember that great leaders understand they are to blame when things go wrong, and they also understand that others are to be recognized and celebrated when things go right. You will very seldom see great leaders taking credit for a teams’ hard work, even if most of it was their own.

3.A Great Leader Looks After Their Team

In the trait about Taking Responsibility, we discussed the importance of creating a safe zone for your employees. One of the most crucial things a great leader can do is to make their team feel valued, supported, and cared for, through the good times and the bad. Your team is your most valuable asset, so make sure you look after them.

This trait has a number of sub-topics, so I will summarise them below:

Find the balance between a firm versus gentle approach, and know when to apply each tactic

In order to be a great leader, you must understand how each person in your team operates, and the approach that best resonates with them. You will also have different situations that you will need to manage, some more urgent/serious than others, so you must quickly assess whether a particular circumstance requires you to be assertive, or whether you should take a more gentle, sensitive approach to that set of circumstances. To do this, consider the situation, the desired goal/objective you are trying to achieve, the seriousness/importance of the issue, and the person’s natural style which will allow for you to engage with them most effectively. For example, someone who is sensitive and nervous would not respond well to assertive, direct messages, and you may need to soften the way you communicate with that person. However the next person may be a “no nonsense” type of person, who may just want “to hear it how it is” — dancing around a topic for this person would be counterproductive. To engage most effectively with others, you must be able to assess a situation, and choose the right approach based on the above factors.

Remember, being a leader is not always about being nice or engaging with someone how they want you to all the time — sometimes leaders have to have tough conversations with the purpose of helping your staff. Let’s discuss that in the next point.

Hold regular catch-up meeting with your team

Great leaders understand the importance of knowing what their staff members are up to as often as possible. Do not make the mistake of confusing this with micro-management. Regular catch-ups with your staff allows for you to stay abreast of the work they are undertaking, how they are delivering it, how they are coping, and any issues that they may be having. During these catch-ups, the intention is to provide a safe space where the employee feels comfortable to share any wins or challenges they have faced, and for you to identify areas for improvement. It may also simply be an opportunity to provide assurance or reinforcement that they are doing a good job. But you cannot identify or fix issues, if you do not know how an employee is going.

Sometimes, this conversation may require you to firmly address a performance issue, or deliver a message in a more authoritarian approach than you normally would. This can be scary when you’re not used to it (however if you are used to managing your staff in an authoritarian manner, then this is another issue which I cover in my other content). Remember though, your purpose for doing this is to help them become better — great leaders don’t sit back and watch someone struggle until it’s too late to fix a problem, they jump right in and try to get it resolved as soon as they become aware of it, however uncomfortable the conversations may be. Great leaders understand the importance of being able to hold their heads high and say “I’ve done everything I could” to turn this situation around.

Regular catch-ups also help your employees to feel valued, and shows them that you care enough about their development to hold consistent and frequent meetings with them — time that you have carved out of your busy schedule just for them. They will appreciate this more than you may realise.

Reward and recognize your employees

It’s essential for a great leader to celebrate the success of their team, and know when to highlight the small wins alongside the big ones. Sometimes, it’s the small ones that mean the most to a person. Great leaders understand that everyone is motivated differently, and there is no ‘one-size fits-all’ approach to recognition either (which as you may be starting to realise, applies to most elements of leadership…). People can be motivated intrinsically, extrinsically, with tangible items, or intangible rewards. And it’s your job as a leader to work that out for each person!

For some, it might be financial incentives, like bonuses, vouchers, movie tickets etc. For others, it might be receiving great customer feedback, the feeling of doing a great job or helping someone. It may even be a kind comment by you, their leader, which you share across the wider team or organization. It may be a combination of many of these rewards, so learn what drives each of your employees, be creative and reward them to keep morale and motivation high when they achieve set objectives.

Empower your team

If you are a leader who thinks you must be in charge of everything in your team, then I can tell you you’re doing it wrong, my friend. The best leaders in the world understand the importance of empowering those around them, by giving others responsibility, opportunity and trust.

Identify those with certain skills/abilities, and allow them to branch out into those areas that they’re best at or most interested in. For example, if a staff member of yours is a talented with a certain software that your business uses and they enjoy teaching others, get that person to train others on how to use the software most effectively!

Not only will this increase buy-in from the staff member who now feels more valued and trusted, but this also makes your job as a leader easier as you no longer have to do everything yourself! You can now attend to any of the other thousand tasks you have as a leader on a given day, now that you don’t have to train future staff members on that software too.

Ask people for their opinions, get them involved, collaborate and share ideas. Then you can allocate tasks accordingly. And now you’ve just found the magic of successful delegation, baby!

As you can see, this is a huge topic in which I can’t cover everything. My full e-book, ‘How to Unlock Your Team’s True Potential’ goes into far greater depth on how to best engage with your team in order to influence and lead people most effectively.

4. A Great Leader has Control over their Emotions

As a leader, you will have tough days. You will get frustrated and you will experience anger or pain. You’re a human being and these emotions are completely natural. But what separates a great leader from a poor one, is his/her ability to manage their emotions appropriately.

As a leader you are the barometer for your team — they will follow your lead more than you may realise. When you exude positivity, you will notice a more positive environment within your team. When you display negative traits, you are subconsciously allowing your staff members to behave in the same way. However you behave, your staff members will see this as the acceptable or expected way to behave — so the choice is yours.

It’s also important to stay calm when things are going poorly. Part of your job as a leader is to instil confidence in others, show them that no matter what the situation is, you will be able to overcome it, and you’ll be able to overcome it together. You must show them that resilience and togetherness is the way forward, not panic or stress.

Managing your emotions will build greater trust between you and your team, as you begin to fill them with confidence that you are in control and have their backs — you’re showing them that you will get through challenges together. You have the power to reduce someone’s anxiety, or contribute to it.

Whilst this trait goes without saying, it’s one that many leaders need to consciously work hard on every single day — myself included! In times of stress, remind yourself that you’re no good to anyone else if you’re losing your cool. Step away from your desk, take a break or talk to a trusted friend. Find someone who you can vent to, but I encourage you to avoid venting to your staff — it’s not a good look and can unravel all of the hard work that you’ve done to date to set clear expectations on acceptable behaviour, and to drive the culture you’ve been creating (hopefully one of togetherness, resilience and success).

5. A Great Leader Leads by Example

In order for a leader to lead by example, you must first be clear with your expectations, set the ground-rules for your team, and know your ‘non-negotiables’. You cannot lead by example if you haven’t yet clearly defined what that example should be.

This also means remaining consistent, and doing what you say you will do. Don’t be afraid to seek feedback from your staff — what can you be doing better as a leader, what is working well for the team, what needs to be improved etc.?

For example, if one of the team rules/expectations is to be punctual at all times, then you simply cannot afford to arrive late. This will ruin all credibility that you have as a leader, and demonstrates to the team that you do not stand for what you say you stand for. If you don’t even believe in it, then why should they? Never ask someone else to do something that you would not be prepared to do yourself (or have not already done).

Great leaders who lead by example also understand the importance of being authentic, being genuine, and are not afraid to make mistakes. In fact they encourage mistakes, as that demonstrates a willingness to try something new and think innovatively.

As a leader you will need to make many quick decisions, and you must ‘own’ those decisions with confidence — not because you profess to have all the answers, but because you’re willing to make a mistake and own that mistake if your decision proves to be wrong. If proven to be wrong, owning the decision doesn’t mean blindly continuing down the wrong path, it simply means taking responsibility for that decision, acknowledging that it was the incorrect one, then quickly rectifying it with the new data that you have. This demonstrates to your people that it’s ok to make mistakes too (assuming of course that the reasons behind the decision were well thought-out and not misguided).

The worst thing you can do as a leader is to force your team to make the hard decisions that you should be making. Own them, learn from them if you get them wrong, and move onto the next important decision.

6. A Great Leader sees the Bigger Picture

Truly great leaders are visionaries. They are people who can see the bigger picture and have goals and dreams for their team. They have created a culture for their team, and crafted out ways to engage with people in a way that delivers results. For this reason, they don’t get so caught up in the little details that they end up micromanaging their staff — that’s what the specialists are for. Great leaders ensure that they don’t miss the forest for the trees!

Seeing the bigger picture is not just about having a vision or objective for your team. It’s also about understanding the bigger picture of each of your employees, and where work fits into their lives in relation to every other aspect of their being.

As a great leader, you are also responsible for the health and happiness for those that you are in charge of. As long as they’re in your care, they are your responsibility. That means that you need to protect them, make them feel safe, and encourage complete wellness in their lives. Are you noticing that your employees are stressed or overworked? Then make sure you promote a healthy work-life balance — encourage them to take time out to do something they enjoy. Are your employees struggling with a certain aspect of their personal life? Then offer suggestions or support. Don’t overstep the boundary, but it’s important to make them aware that they are supported by you as a leader as well, and that you encourage flexibility to work around problems as they arise. Show them that you care about them, and not just their work performance.

Remember, work makes up only one part of a person’s life. Relationships, hobbies, health, wellness, sleep, financial situations and a whole range of factors can affect how a person feels and behaves at work. Whilst it’s not your job to control each of these aspects, it is your job to remember this when approaching any sensitive topics or encouraging outlets for the person. Remind your employees of where work fits in on the importance scale of their lives. Remind them that family, health and well-being should always come first. This is the epitome of seeing the bigger picture, and if you don’t believe in these things, then you may need to reassess your mindset in order to be the best leader you can be. People work harder for you when they feel that you actually care about them, and not just their work performance or output.

7. A Great Leader has Great Passion

Without doubt, one of the most important traits that every great leader demonstrates is passion. You simply cannot be a great leader unless you have a huge passion for what it is that you do, or the message that you are presenting. Great leaders have a keen desire for helping others, and do so with gusto, enthusiasm and charisma. Can you still be a good leader without passion? Absolutely. But you won’t be great… Why? Let’s discuss…

I want you to think about Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech for a moment. If you haven’t heard of it, then I encourage you to go check it out. So what is it that made this speech so impactful, and how did Martin Luther King’s message resonate with millions of people around the world?

Whilst he was advocating for an extremely important human right for people to be judged “not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character” (and for the record, no human being should ever be judged for anything other than his or her character), the reason this speech was so powerful and connected with the world was because of how it was delivered — it was delivered with great passion and heart. This passion oozed through the message, which resonated with each of the people whom Martin Luther King was addressing.

Whilst you may not be addressing the world like Martin Luther King, the way you address your team and show up every single day matters. The energy and enthusiasm you bring to your team matters. Do not underestimate the power of passion in becoming a better leader — demonstrate it and instil it in your people, and watch your results sky-rocket.

Conclusion

Developing leadership takes time. It’s the culmination of small, daily efforts to better connect with your people and control yourself in the process. Learning how to be a strong leader is one of the toughest things you will ever do — but without doubt, it’s also one of the most rewarding.