What makes a good leader has been a long discussed topic and a quick Google search will undoubtedly pull up countless lists of the attributes of a good leader.  At ARC Group we fundamentally believe, first and foremost a good leader is not born, leadership is about collaboration and is more than “just being the boss” and leaders don’t stop leading.  

This means that key leadership qualities can be developed and refined overtime, better yet this means anyone can be a leader.  Leadership is not about the position you hold in an organization, it’s about having the courage to want to make a difference.  The added bonus to evolving as a leader is as you improve your skills, your team will naturally grow along with you. 

Good Leaders Are Made, Not Born

This may seem obvious to some yet equally hard to believe for others.  Put another way, leadership is a skill that builds upon your innate qualities that can be developed. Good leaders are molded through experience, as a leader your journey rests on the pillars of continued learning and adaptation. With this mindset you can strengthen any of the key characteristics of a good leader, such as integrity, effective communication, delegation and self-awareness. 

If you’re open to growth and you prioritize making time toward continually receiving feedback from your team this will fuel your further leadership development and self-improvement, in turn, your employees will see the importance of this approach and will adopt this mindset themselves.  As we know, great leaders inspire and create future leaders, just think about what doors this could open for your business growth. 

Collaboration Builds Strong Leaders 

Leaders are willing to be brave enough to take the first step in the face of a challenge, uncertainty or adversity and shoulder the weight of the problem for the team. A leader will be the first one to say “I’m not sure about the end result, but I’m willing to try and see it through, whether it succeeds or fails,” the unsaid part of this is, are you with me?

One of the strongest images that often depicts leadership is a ladder.  It’s meant to illustrate that leadership is about taking steps towards the next rung  and getting to the top.  Like most of us who’ve climbed a ladder in real life, we know that the most critical part of your success can be trusting and relying on the person holding the ladder, keeping it stable, looking out for you while you take the next step up the ladder.  Here the ladder analogy reminds us that taking risks, moving to the next rung on the ladder is an essential part of leadership and it’s possible with strong collaboration. Leadership is a social process that is less about the title of one strong or charismatic individual, and actually more about a group of people working collectively to achieve results together. If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader, but fail to grasp this key point, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well-liked and respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals. 

Good Leadership Can’t Stop

The basic truth here is that  leadership is the journey.  As a leader, you must commit to working at refining your approach to inspiring and motivating your team regularly.  Just like the ebb and flow of your business strategy and marketing plans need to be informed by the market, your leadership style will need constant refreshing so that you can be agile, influential and courageous in the face of new opportunities and challenges.  A strong leader will keep themselves inspired by learning from mentors, studying those around them and leaning into different leadership traits depending on their circumstances in order to succeed. 

Your own aspirations as a leader need to be limitless and you will see this visionary mindset will naturally lend itself to framing out a culture for your company that welcomes fresh ideas and is open to new ways of doing things.

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

Leaders are often attracted to starting their own business, naturally part of the appeal of running a business is that you can set a vision and then bring along your team in alignment with your plan.  A major key that successful leaders know is you want to empower your team to lead from wherever they are in the organization.  This type of leadership culture creates a growth mindset for the whole team.  Can’t stop, won’t stop is a mentality that will fuel you and inspire the team of leaders working alongside you!