13 Signs You have Good Leader in Your Company or Team

Having leaders in your company can be the reason employees stay longer and feel more engaged and satisfied. To find or uncover leaders, you need to know the signs of a good leader. 

Leaders can be managers or employees in senior roles. Leaders often have a number of qualities that make them standout from their peers. 

Identifying people with leadership skills in your team or across your organization can help you grow faster, improving employee retention, and even your employer branding.

Read on to learn more about the qualities to look for and identify potential leaders.

Why leadership matters in the workplace?

Regardless of your industry or organization type, be it a company, agency, startup, or even government body, having strong leadership ensures you’re clear on direction and on the way to growth. 

Part of being a leader is being a great communicator. This ensures all teams and employees are clear on what’s expected of them so they can perform the roles they were hired for. 

Leaders lead. They don’t simply manage day-to-day activities. They inspire their teams to collaborate, innovate, and find new ways to improve the business.

McKinsey’s definition of leadership expands on this: “Leadership is a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, to execute strategic plans, and to continually renew an organization.” 

Having strong leaders in your company or organization can have profound benefits such as:

1. Higher employee retention, and accordingly lower turnover
2. Motivated employees who want to grow in your organization, both professionally and through personal self-development.
3. Collaborative and inviting company culture 
4. Opportunities to identify and create more leaders
5. Better employee engagement, satisfaction, and confidence
6. Higher customer retention
7. Improved team and company morale

 

Signs you have a leader in your company or team 

So, what are the qualities to look for to uncover potential leaders?

• Strong communication 

Strong and effective communication is by far one of the most important signs of a good leader.

Every employer today wants new team members to have ‘strong communication skills.’ These skills aren’t limited to being able to explain a problem, clarify needs, or share information.

Communication skills include verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual types of communication. And leaders are naturally great communicators. Whether this means sharing their thoughts, helping others out, or listening to others when needed.

Leaders also possess the ability to choose the right words to say at the right time. 

• They’re great listeners 

Besides being great communicators, leaders are also great listeners. They listen to other team members’ problems, suggestions, and ideas. 

This means not speaking over others or diminishing what others have to say about a certain topic or issue.

Often managers lose sight of the importance of listening. They just want to be heard and get the job done. But that’s not the way to be a leader. (It’s a way to get people to quit!)

Meanwhile, leaders are those who not only listen but also weigh their options or gather more information before making a decision. 

• Highly engaged

One way to identify leadership potential is to see how engaged team members are and who they engage with. Leaders often show a high level of engagement in their work. 

This can be by asking questions, making suggestions, and finding ways to improve themselves, their workflow, or the business itself. 

• Have problem-solving abilities 

One of the most important traits or signs of a good leader is their problem-solving skills. 

Problem-solving and critical thinking are among today’s top employability skills. Though they’re not limited to senior professionals or managers, they are essential for leaders. 

• Confident but humble

Confidence a sign of a good leader. But it’s important to differentiate between confidence and oversized ego. Leaders can’t constantly second-guess themselves. Otherwise, no one will trust them or their decisions.

However, with confidence, leaders also have to be humble. They don’t have a ‘I know everything and you don’t’ attitude. 

Employees who are confident in their skills and their ability to succeed, without being condescending may have what it takes to be good leaders.

• They can motivate others to grow and improve 

An important aspect in identifying leadership potential in an employee is their ability to motivate others, whether personally or professionally.

With leadership, it’s not just about motivation, it’s about helping others succeed and improving team productivity.

To do this, leaders need empathy, emotional intelligence, and a desire to help others grow and become confident.

• Continuously learning

Great leaders are those who view life and work as a continuous self-development journey. They’re constantly trying to improve their skills and their work. They’re ambitious and jump at every chance to gain more knowledge and experience – albeit without overwhelming themselves. 

As a manager and leader, consider discussing each team member’s goals and ambitions. You can also do this during your employees’ regular performance appraisals.

You should be able to identify whether an employee says they want to learn new things just to gain your approval and those who actually go above and beyond to develop themselves. 

For example, if your company doesn’t provide training opportunities, you’ll find potential leaders seeking development and learning opportunities online, or through in-person courses, among others. 

• They own their responsibilities and mistakes

How many times have you seen a manager make a bad decision and blame someone else for it? They can even throw the blame on results based on their directives.

That’s bad management. 

A leader, on the other hand, makes decisions and takes responsibility for any fallout from those decisions. 

• Adaptable

Another sign of being a good leader is being able to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Is the company being acquired? Or maybe it’s merging with another company? 

Has the CEO brought in a really big client that requires lots of hand-holding? 

Are there changes in the organization’s structure? Or in the work flow?

These are all changing circumstances within the work environment that require strong adaptability skills to lead team members through the highs and lows of business. 

Leaders adapt easily and are unlikely to resist those changes. As long as those changes negatively affect their team’s productivity or wellbeing. 

• Collaborative

A leader must be a good collaborator. Besides delegating tasks, leaders should show team members how to perform those tasks and guide them in achieving their goals or performing their duties.

Collaboration goes hand-in-hand with strong communication skills, empathy, and confidence. 

• Positive attitude

Positivity is a generally desirable trait for employees. Not just leaders. 

However, leaders should have a positive attitude as team members will come to them for questions and guidance. Their attitude will determine who those team members respond and perform. 

Positivity also affects team and company morale and inspires positivity and collaboration in others. 

• Identify strengths in others

An effective manager can set goals and determine desired outcomes. A good leader takes this a step further by helping team members identify their strengths and how to use those talents to achieve those goals and outcomes.

• They know their limits

Leaders’ plates fill up easily. However, leaders are those who know and understand their limits and when it’s too much for them or their team. 

Even with stellar time management skills, there’s only so much they can do. Leaders can’t be awake 24/7, or 7 days a week. 

Leaders know their capacity and limits. They know when to delegate so they avoid burnout, when not-to-delegate, and when to stand firm and ask for help.

 

Wrapping it up 

You may find many of the above traits in your team members. However, positivity or strong collaboration skills alone don’t make a leader.

Therefore, you should find a combination of the above qualities or traits and experiment with delegating tasks to team members to see how they perform.

For example, if you delegate a task to one of your employees, do they keep second-guessing every move? Do they ask you or others for help? Or do they stress themselves out and lash out at others?

Finding the right combination of the above traits is key to identify leaders in your team and organization. Doing so will can also boost the company’s customer-facing or consumer-facing activities. 

Effective leadership increase employee satisfaction, which, in turn, can boost customer satisfaction and retention. 

 

Further reading 

Introduction to leadership: What Are the 5 Levels of Leadership?

What Is the Difference Between Leadership and Management?

Self-Development for Work: How to Create a Self-Development Plan

How to Create a Positive Candidate Experience? [With Examples]

What Is Recruitment Marketing? 9 Strategies to Attract Talents

How to Give 360-Degree Feedback Employees & Managers [with Examples]

What Are the Top KPIs for an HR Manager?