21 Most Compelling Qualities of a Great Leader

All it takes to be a leader, in name at least, is to hold the dominant position in a group, organization or location. However, this is a very simplified definition for a what a leader should be, let alone what a great leader is. Because the measure of a great leader has much less to do with how you define his role and more about his actual impact on others.

Our data shows that leaders, through supportive management, make a huge difference in the overall experience people have within an organization. In fact, the companies that ranked best on kununu (by their own employees) tend to have significantly better management scores than those that performed worse — in other words, companies that fared well had much better leaders:

• Among highest rated companies on kununu (4 stars or higher), the average rating for “support from management” is 4.52 stars
• Among lowest rated companies on kununu (2 stars or less), the average rating for “support from management” is 1.22 stars

What Great Leaders Have In Common

I could spend forever discussing what does and doesn’t make up a great leader and why that matters for business success, but for now I want to focus on the biggest commonalities among great leaders. More specifically — what qualities must a leader possess to be great?

The first ones that immediately come to my own mind are transparency, empathy, and open-mindedness, mainly because they happen to be a few of the cornerstones of kununu’s own values. These qualities have not only driven our company’s success as a global brand over the past decade, but also our individual leaders’ abilities to continuously inspire us as a team.

To go beyond my own bubble though and get deeper into this topic, I asked a handful of CEOs and business leaders to tell me in their own words and experiences (in about 3 sentences or less) what they consider to be the top quality of a great leader. Below is what they shared with me:

21 compelling qualities of a great leader:

1. Resilience (or Grit)

“There’s so much change afoot in the workplace today and when change occurs, individuals who have resilience generally are also resourceful and agile. They have the ability to take on change and adapt to what’s happening around them and to them as the workplace changes. Individuals who have resilience/grit are able to take good risks and are open to change.”

-Kimberly Rath, Chairman & Co-Founder of Talent Plus, Inc

2. Transparency

“Great leaders have the uncanny ability of not letting rumors spread by being open and transparent and embracing solutions not problems. If an employee is frustrated with customer, they make you put that negative energy into coming up with a solution. If coworkers have a rift, rather than nurturing the gossip the leader makes you get over it and fix the issue.”

-Kevin Sides, CMO of ShipMonk

“Great leaders know that one of the quickest ways to get employee feedback and earn the trust of your employees is by being transparent. I’m a firm believer of open information sharing and as a CEO you must lead by example. It lets your staff find applicable solutions and it builds solid relationships that increase the overall motivation.”

-Hendrik Klindworth, Co-Founder & CEO of InnoGames

“Being transparent is the most important trait of an effective leader. Especially when it comes to working with millennials and the younger workforce, it is important for them to understand the big picture. That is, you shouldn’t just ask (or tell) them to do something without explaining how this task or function integrates within the larger business initiative. When they are able to see the connection, they often feel much more empowered and motivated to do a better job.”

-Matt Edstrom, Head of Marketing of BioClarity

3. Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

“I’m often asked if this is a quality that can be taught and the answer is Yes, and like any new or underdeveloped habit, it takes consistent practice.. The challenge with this leadership trait is the WHAT to practice isn’t as straightforward as with other competencies. I’m a fan of simple and practical, so I created the ABCs of The Better Boss Project(tm) to help leaders show up in a more connected, empathetic, and judgment-free way: ASK curious questions, BE human, CHECK assumptions.”

-Shani Magosky, Founder of The Better Boss Project

4. Passion

“Engagement is the secret sauce to people based businesses. With engagement you gain huge amounts of discretionary work effort/product which goes well above and beyond what is merely required for any given role. Like it or not, the CEO is the Cultural icon of the company and passion for the work, passion for the product, passion for the goals, passion for the successes and passion for the inevitable twist and turns is the key to widespread engagement. And the opposite is even more true — the lack of passion leads to tragic disengagement.”

-Mike Zani, CEO of The Predictive Index

5. Empathy

“Empathy not only allows great leaders to understand their employees and their customers better, but it also is known to enhance prosocial (aka helping) behaviors. Because of this, empathy enables leaders to address issues faster and with more precision, and it makes them more flexible to respond to an ever-changing business environment. “

-Jeff Kear, Founder of Planning Pod

“You need to have the ability to relate to your employees and be able to put yourself in the soul of your people. Without the empathetic trait, it’s very hard to rally your troupes around your vision.”

-Gene Caballero — Co-Founder of GreenPal

“While we often are focused on profitability and growth, and rightfully so, there are times that we need to remember that our teams are people often have things going on outside of work. By having empathy and understanding what else is happening in their lives, we can better lead them through the good and bad times.”

-Antonella Pisani, Founder of Official Coupon Code

6. Empowerment

“A leader should empower their subordinates by delegating tasks appropriately, providing proper guidance and limits, and supporting the decisions of the subordinates. When the subordinate leaders are empowered, their intelligence and talents can be unleashed to help the organization grow. When they are stifled, only the minimum gets accomplished because few are motivated to help an organization that is overbearing.”

-Eric Bowlin, Founder of IdealREI

7. Open-minded

“The ability to not be closed off to new ideas or challenges to established norms is what sets apart an open-minded leader. A person who can look at the best lessons of the past and current while being open to the ideas of the future has the best opportunity to create success in themselves, their business and employees. Being able to change with the times, flexible when needed and decisive when required is a rare thing today.”

-Kyle Golding, CEO & Chief Strategic Idealist of The Golding Group

“Great leaders are inquisitive and use strong, open-ended questions to learn about their staff, identify opportunities and threats to their business, and challenge their top employees to take risks, think critically, and increase engagement. Of course it probably also goes without saying that asking a great question isn’t enough… great leaders also know how to listen and leverage the answers they receive to make good decisions.”

-Jamie Newman, Founder of Your Best Manager and Host of “Your Best Manager” podcast

8. Patience

“Patience is a defining characteristic of great leaders and successful business founders. Patiently wait for the right opportunity and don’t swing at every pitch. More so, understanding that success doesn’t happen overnight, and obsessing over the process- not the result- will cultivate a culture of patience and ensure long-term success.”

-Bryan Koontz, CEO of Guidefitter

9. Diplomacy

“One of the most important jobs a leader has is ensuring that everybody is absolutely on the same page, and that the team works together towards a common goal despite any cultural or political differences.”

-Jan Bednar, CEO of ShipMonk

10. Initiative for action

“No task is beneath you (even menial tasks). Just because you are a high up executive does not mean that you are above cleaning the extra dishes in the sink, or clearing off the table after lunch. Take the initiative to do small tasks around the office — lead by example.”

-Zvi Band, Co-Founder and CEO of Contactually

11. Humility

“Or in other words, a willingness to admit mistakes and make amends. When their decisions turn out poorly, successful leaders are willing to admit it. Immediately. They don’t simply double down and hope that the situation will eventually improve. Then they *volunteer* to lead the effort to do whatever is required to make the necessary corrections. All parties involved will remember and respect that type of integrity.”

-Timothy Wiedman, former Associate Prof. of Management & Human Resources at Doane University

“No one likes a know-it-all, and this is even true of the boss. The ability to delegate, let go and accept help from others can propel any business.”

-Michal Chesal, Co-Founder & President of Baby K’tan

“A great leader has to be able to say, I’m sorry. If you want your organization to be constantly innovating and improving, your team members must be reflective and self-aware. You need them to know when they’ve made mistakes and correct them so they can get better. This is only a realistic expectation if the leader of the organization is willing to do the same thing. A good leader will say, I made a mistake, I’m sorry, and here’s what I’m doing to get better. If the leader can do this, it will set the right tone for the rest of the organization.”

-Jacob Dayan, Partner & Co-Founder of Community Tax

12. Influence

“The ability to lead through influence, rather than authority, is the most important quality of a great leader. Influence requires strong coaching, emotional intelligence, effective communication, negotiation and consensus building skills. Leaders who employ these skills to influence teams and stakeholders produce greater employee and customer engagement, increased collaboration and innovation, and ultimately drive greater excellence for the organizations they lead compared to those who attempt to use their position and authority to demand it.”

-Tammy Berberick, CEO of Crestcom International, Inc.

13. Purpose

“They have to have in their mind a clear reason the company exists beyond profit and be able to articulate that clearly and consistently to all audiences — internal and external. Doing so will motivate staff, attract customers and create differentiation and separation from competitors. And it will drive both the external brand and internal culture to create a healthier and more valuable enterprise.”

-JP Laqueur, Brand Foundations

14. Vision

“Great leaders are able to help their team members understand the big picture so they can connect their success back to the success of the business. The vision should be big enough to inspire and broad enough to be inclusive. Doing so allows everyone in the organization to understand the importance of the role they play in bringing that vision to reality.”

-Steven Benson, Founder & CEO of Badger Maps

15. Trust

“A CEO can’t do it all — in order for the company to be successful, a CEO must delegate. With that delegation must come a trust that the employee, at whatever level, will achieve success. A great leader has the ability to trust in the potential of his or her employees and the ability to achieve success through others.”

-Evan Harris, CEO & Co-Founder of SD Equity Partners

16. Integrity

“An great leader is someone who does the right thing, even when it’s unpopular or extremely tough to do so. You have to find something to care deeply about in your business and in each individual that touches your business. Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do.”

-Steve Farber, President of Extreme Leadership, Inc., Author and one of Inc’s Top 50 Leadership Management Experts.

“Integrity matters in three ways: leaders with great integrity foster critical trust amongst colleagues and direct deports, and demonstrate a commitment to moral and ethical behaviors. Leaders who do NOT value integrity will not gain the trust and buy-in of their teams and colleagues, which will negatively impact engagement and performance. And leading with integrity doesn’t mean never making mistakes, but recognizing and owning them, which leads to continual self-development, and demonstrates humility to others “

-Jenna M. Rosenberg, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources at Vision Federal Credit Union

17. Problem Solving

“One leadership quality of a great leader is the ability to solve problems. Leaders face challenges all of the time so they must be able to assess the challenge, find possible solutions (and consequences associated with those solutions), and select the best possible solution.”

-Ashley Hill, CEO of College Prep Ready

18. Perspective

“What separates great leaders from the rest of the crowd is their ability to see the bigger picture instead of becoming lost in the details. The best leaders understand how each member of their team works to contribute to the overall goals of their business, and ensures that everybody understands which tasks they’re responsible for. By keeping the end objective in sight, they can push their company towards their long-term goals, rather than becoming stuck at the short-term goals.”

-Metin Pekin, CEO of Xpo Online

19. Listening

“For great leaders, the secret to success is attentive listening to the people your work with. Great leaders listen and respond to employee suggestions for continuous improvement and use those ideas to grow the business. They also openly listen and respond to messages coming from other metrics like employee turnover, as well as do proactive listening through organizational surveys and a liberal open door policy.“

-Brad Nierenberg, President & Founder of RedPeg Marketing

“Effective leaders take the time to listen deeply to every person related to the business, group or organization. Often overlooked, creating and modeling a culture of listening in one’s company is the key to connecting with customers and employees, making each person feel valued as a person as well as a member of the team. I’ve seen listening grow businesses, make money, and build relationships and it’s the key ingredient to being an effective leader.”

-Marilyn Shannon, Founder of Women’s Empower Networking, LLC.

“A leader needs to listen to what customers want and also to feedback from staff and clients. Sometimes, we do not hear what we would like to hear, but actively listening to comments will allow an effective leader to make changes, which in turn earns respect.”

-Michelle Zaharin, Co-Owner of Regents Review, LLC

20. Ownership / Accountability

“Leaders who take ownership and are accountable for their work can quickly implement any successes, as well as learn from any failures. Beyond making or saving a company hundreds of thousands, these leaders also typically develop their employees to do the same.”

-Micah Pratt, Director of Medicare Health Plans

21. Motivation

“Great leaders are motivators. This leadership quality can be spotted as early on as the job interview, where indicators of these qualities include asking great questions and showing a positive, can-do attitude. They demonstrate a willingness to roll up their sleeves and get things done and understand the importance of working with others as well as working hard on their own. They genuinely want to be engaged and involved in a business’s growth and have a great attitude and approach to helping the business grow and expand in the long run.”

-Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation

“The ability to praise is one of the most underrated leadership qualities out there. Recognition and appreciation serve to not only motivate and boost employee morale but also make employees continue to strive to impress you. It creates a mutual respect; I work for them just as much as they work for me.”

-Lena Requist, President of ONTRAPORT

Do you agree with these leadership qualities? Is there one that we missed but you think is worth mentioning? Let us know @kununu_US!

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Linda Le Phan is the Content Marketing Manager at kununu US, a company review platform built on transparency. When she isn’t focused on creating great content around the modern workplace, company culture, and workplace happiness, she is probably going out to get an iced coffee (even in Boston winter), raiding the snack drawer, or jamming to kununu’s Spotify playlist.