Every leader leaves an imprint. Not the footprint in wet cement kind that ruins a construction worker’s day, but the kind that shows up in how your people perform, how teams make decisions, and how organizations grow. This imprint is built by your actions, and there are certain traits of highly effective leaders you shouldn’t go without.

And as a quick side note before we start, these kinds of traits aren’t just something you’re born with. This isn’t a Maybelline ad. They’re something that can be formed and sharpened over time with reflection, intentionality, and repetition.

Now, without further ado, let’s look at seven traits of highly effective leaders and how you can build them yourself.

1. Trustworthiness

Before strategy and systems take shape, there needs to be trust. This is the baseline of everything as a leader, and its role is the foundation of every relationship you have. Without it, communication is cautious, collaboration is strained, and culture withers and dies like that plant you haven’t watered for three months.

Go on, go and water it. We’ll wait.

Sorted? Good. Let’s get back to it.

Like we said, one of the most important leadership traits is the ability to build trust. Getting there isn’t always easy, but if you’re consistent, transparent, and willing to admit mistakes, it should start to take root. It’s about shifting from ego to eco and creating an environment where people feel safe to contribute.

From here, real progress can be made.

2. Being Able to Listen

Listening is up there with the very best leadership qualities, but it’s not a case of maintaining eye contact while you think about what’s for dinner. It’s about being genuinely curious and asking deeper questions from those around you, so you can understand the heart of what’s being said.

This kind of listening encourages collaboration and turns conversations into shared ownership. As a result, it’s up there with the gold standard of good leadership qualities, and one that anyone can do with a bit of time and effort.

3. Humility

Good and bad leadership traits often hinge on humility, and leaders who lack it are blind to their own limitations. Leaders who practice it, however, invite new perspectives and uncover blind spots that have been holding them back for years.

This is one of the traits of good leadership that helps you grow and ensures people in your organization feel valued and heard. It keeps you grounded, too, and adaptable to change because you’re so open to feedback.

4. Clarity over Complexity

Simplifying is one of the best leadership qualities out there, and one of the most underrated. Instead of creating unnecessary complexity, great leaders create clarity and find innovative ways to drive efficiency.

This is one of those traits of highly effective leaders that builds confidence across an entire organization. It comes from clear communication that allows you to swap confusion for momentum, which is a key ingredient for success.

5. Multiplication

No, this isn’t a math(s) class. We’re talking about one of the traits of strong leadership that goes beyond task management, and one that really boosts the capacity of your teams. Getting it right means asking how to leave each person you speak to stronger, instead of asking how to get the job done the quickest.

This is one of those good leadership qualities that creates resilience and produces results that last longer for any-sized organization.

6. Integrity

This is a non-negotiable if you want to be a good leader. It’s the backbone of trust and one of the most fundamental leadership traits that underpins every relationship you have. It’s therefore one of the best leadership qualities, as it makes you predictable, consistent, and reliable.

It doesn’t need any further explanation, to be honest! It’s simply a non-negotiable.

7. Reflection as a Routine

Not everyone is born with the ability to be humble, clear, and the best listener in the building.

Fortunately, all of these effective leadership traits can be achieved through reflection and putting in the work to improve. By pausing to take stock of interactions and decisions, you can form better habits, which enable you to adapt and grow continuously.

Without reflection, you’re more likely to repeat mistakes than learn from them, and when you do, you lose out on the clarity that could guide you and your organization forward.

Leadership journaling is a great way to develop all 7 of our highly effective traits of leadership, so ask yourself these kinds of questions when you get a spare ten minutes:

• Which of these traits feels most natural to me?
• Which trait have I overlooked this week?
• Where have I unintentionally broken trust in the past month
• When did I last add to complexity instead of creating clarity?

We also have a lovely batch of complementary leadership journaling prompts to help you reflect more effectively.

Find out More

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So, leave uncertainty behind and gain the clearest view of your own leadership you’ve ever had.