14 Fundamental Leadership Qualities That A True Leader Must Possess

In this article, we will look at 14 Fundamental Leadership Qualities. These are the Traits and Skills of a True Leader. Let’s get started.

Leadership is really a very vast subject.

The leadership situations and the combinations that one has got to exhibit his/her leadership skills are quite different and in turn are numerous in number.

Hence, I decided to put my thoughts in this article to explain a few qualities which I feel that anyone should possess in order to become a true leader.

Leadership Qualities

What is Leadership

Leadership can be defined as a certain set of characteristics or behavior or style that one exhibits on a day to day basis, through their thoughts, words, and actions.

A list of good characteristics, behavior, action, and thoughts is an exhaustive one and it may not be possible to see them all in one person.

Hence, according to me, everyone will get into the role of a leader in one or the other situation.

When life offers a challenge, one does not have any other option to get out of it but to exhibit and play a leadership role.

Leadership Characteristics

When someone has the maximum qualities from the leadership characteristic list, and if he/she exhibits them through words and actions consistently allow what may come, it will not only benefit himself but also the people surrounding them.

This person is a ‘Leader’. At times the situation or challenge that nature poses us, demands to be solved collectively by a group of people.

These are the situations where just one person cannot address the situation. In these cases, it involves a group or a team to carry out the separate tasks by each team member and achieve success by demonstrating leadership.

Hence, it is very important for a leader to always back himself with a group of people, whom he thinks are talented, motivated, possess a passion to do things, have a “will do” attitude and can work in a team.

Identifying the right talent, coaching them, mentoring them and training them to get the work done is also a leadership characteristic.

Most Essential Leadership Qualities

Leadership skills and qualities play a predominant role in a leader’s life.

1) Dedication, Commitment and Determination

Dedication, commitment and determination to complete a task successfully and being always ready to face any kind of challenges is a Leadership characteristic.

Example

Well, just a word of note, here I’m not trying to say or prove that I’m a leader by giving my own example.

I remember, I had crashed 3 laptops of my client consecutively while installing a CSR client on their laptops, which had crucial data from the live, due to some unknown mistake and fell into the irritation and intolerable anger of my client.

The client did not allow me to touch their laptops anymore.

But I did not give up at any point. I managed to sit throughout the night and debug the problem and finally helped them to install the client on 15 laptops.

So, here, I feel, facing challenges, dedication, and commitment to complete a task successfully is a leadership quality.

2) Leadership is a Passion

Leadership is a passion. Thinking out of the box, being innovative, and going against the waves is leadership.

Example

Here comes another example out of my own experience. When I took Civil Eng as my major, in mid-80s, there were hardly any girls taking up engineering.

My parents, relatives, friends, and college staff, including the Principal, asked me not to pick up Civil Eng. They all tried to dissuade me by saying that Engineering is not for ladies and ladies cannot manage construction works.

But my dream to become a civil engineer, would never change with any amount of distraction and I was determined to do it and I did it. So, it is the passion that I had to go against anything to achieve it.

I wanted to break the mindset that ladies cannot manage construction works. So, unless an individual has passion and is quite determined to achieve the end goal, we cannot call him a “Leader”.

Post that, when I picked up the civil construction supervision job at New Note Printing Press Project in the early 1990s, I used to manage the supervision of the entire site alone and remember climbing the scaffoldings for the overhead water tank construction to check the reinforcement details at the top.

It was just the passion and determination that persisted in me achieving this.

3) Ability to Take Lead in Unforeseen Situations

At times, situations where we can show our leadership quality are known ahead and we are well planned and prepared to handle it.

But there may be certain instances, where we land up in an emergency situation and one has to take over the control of the situation immediately and handle them efficiently.

Example

Subroto Bagchi in his book, “The Professional”, explains about a boy on a bus who made the decision to pitch in as a true leader.

When a team went for a picnic, their bus was attacked by the villagers, as the bus hit an animal in their village (I think it was sheep).

Everybody was frightened looking at the outraged group of villagers and no one inside the bus could do anything except lock the bus from inside.

The villagers were very angry and were about to hit everyone on the bus and they came ready with whatever they got in their hands (as weapons).

All of them inside the bus were really scared of the noises and activities of the villagers and no one could dare do anything. How long can they stay on the bus?

Very little time was left out, and before they could break open the door and the glass windows, one person in the bus took the lead, and handled the situation bravely and intelligently in calming down the mob, which helped the entire people in the bus to save from the danger.

Hence, this is a spontaneous leadership action that one could exhibit.

There is always a million-dollar question, as to whether leadership quality is a born characteristic or acquired later through learning?

This is a very difficult question and has not been able to answer either this or that.

Recommended read => How to Lead and Manage Test Team Effectively

4) Being Bold and Leading

“A growing plant is recognized by the quality of seed itself’. This saying means it’s clear that one can see a future Leader during their early days of childhood and their activities.

So, according to me, it is true that by birth one should definitely have the basic qualities which foster the leadership skills later.

Good attitude, ability to learn, take risks, be bold, take ownership, lead people, etc. are some of the most important leadership skills.

When a group of kids is playing we might have observed, one kid in the group leading the entire team and the others simply listening and following his/her instructions. So the leadership quality of that kid gets highlighted here.

Leadership qualities cannot be taught just like a subject in the school. Leadership skills in an individual will blossom during their childhood days and advance as the journey of life progresses.

Self-experience cannot be compared to anything else. Again, just being born with these qualities can never lead an individual to the leadership role, unless he/she nurtures it by solving crucial practical situations successfully.

The lessons learned from life are the ones, which one cannot learn from books, to just prepare and go for an interview for a leadership role.

I refer to these opportunities. Unless these come our way in life, we cannot prove ourselves to be good leaders.

Also, read =>

• Top Leadership Interview Questions
• Top Test Lead Interview Questions here and here

5) Hard Work

If we read the autobiography of any leader, we can clearly see that almost everyone would have struggled a lot to get to that position and nobody was born with a silver spoon.

The more struggles they face, the stronger the leader they are. There is no match for the hard work that they have put in and every bit of effort and hard work they have done has really paid them off back.

6) Finding Opportunities

Opportunities are the ones that really make a strong leader. Opportunities are not given, rather they are identified and utilized by an individual.

A true leader tries to find opportunity in everything they see and hear. They are trying to pave the way further from these findings and benefit from it.

People say opportunities knock on the door, but I would say, that a leader, explores the opportunities, even if it is hidden deep inside the sea or sky. They see a huge opportunity even in the simplest thing, which a common man cannot see, understand and realize.

A true leader not just sees the opportunities himself, he shares these opportunities with others, makes benefit out of these, and leads the road to success.

7) Having Clear Vision

A leader needs to have a clear vision, take the team along with him during rough times, stand for them, motivate them, and bring out the best from them.

Nobody teaches these qualities or no one can read from a book and learn, rehearse and practice them.

Some of these qualities are internal and are strengthened by the experiences of life. This gives confidence to an individual to face further tough situations and also enables them to prepare their followers to face them.

A Good Read => How to Plan and manage QA Projects Effectively

8) Walking the talk

How much even an individual tries to show off false leadership by pretending it fades away with reality and one can clearly make out whether it is real or artificial. So, a leader needs to walk the talk.

First, he/she should be ready to get into the fire, encourage and give strength to the rest to get in, instead of pushing the followers alone into the fire and giving instructions.

So, it is not an easy task to make everyone follow them and accept them as a leader unless they walk the talk. It is always important to show the achievements in action or show how to do by doing and not just by talking or explaining.

When a leader does any work to show people as ‘how to do’, which is not even in the purview of his scope, his followers will feel the heat and get motivated to pull up their sleeves to do more than what they have seen their leader do.

People never respect a person as a Leader, if they see him just talking and showing nothing in action. Hence, a leader should always encourage his followers to achieve more than what he has achieved.

9) Leader is a Mentor

It is quite common for people to copy others, be it the way of dressing, talking, walking and similarly even the leadership style too.

We have seen children always watching and copying their parents, who are leaders for them.

Hence, a leader needs to be very careful at every moment. Being a leader, he is the focal point and hence must keep in mind that someone is watching him and trying to copy him.

He should always avoid doing things that are unethical.

The Leader who can set the course and direction for the subordinates, should be inspiring and motivating others.

I had my boss, who used to come to work sharp on dot time and go around the tables. It is not just coming to the office, but for all the other meetings and every activity. His time sensitivity was something inspiring to everyone. He never missed even a single day.

If he is not seen when the clock strikes, that means either he is not there in the office or is busy with some external events. So, time sensitivity and time management are also important aspects for a Leader.

Once, during the appraisal period, the management team was chasing managers to submit the performance appraisals of their team members to meet their schedules.

They sent out a list of those who have not submitted.

So, it used to be common that managers would go to individuals and chase them up, hey! You have not submitted your appraisal yet and do it fast!!!!

But uniquely, this is how my Boss addressed it. He sent me an email politely saying, “I know you have already completed this. Please check if you have missed it by any chance’. Take a look at the qualities here.

The first thing is positivity, the next thing is confidence in the person, and the third thing is getting the work done in a polite way.

These are all small things, which every individual keeps observing with their leaders and matters a lot to them and helps in motivating them.

So, leaders should respect their team members, have faith in them, and encourage them to do their work voluntarily and not by force.

Thus leaders are always mentors and leadership includes all these activities of a leader.

10) Taking Ownership

Leadership does not mean owning a big organization or leading a team of 200 to 2000 people. We are simply taking ownership. It takes any task to close from the beginning till the end, without losing focus.

There was a case, where an old woman, with a son, four daughters and son-in-law died. No one would come forward to perform her final rights and rituals on her death.

Ultimately, the last daughter who also took care of her mother during her old age did it. So, here it is known as “Ownership in Leadership”.

A “do” attitude is not common in everyone, everyone keeps watching when the other is doing but would never like to do themselves or help them. Own the problem or task and complete it is Leadership.

11) Setting an Example

Do I have to explain what a Leader would look like? I would say, A leader looks like a God.

Because we believe that God possesses all the good qualities and he solves each and every problem. So, people also expect their leader to solve each and every problem.

A Leader needs to have patience, self-confidence, dignity, self-respect, respect for others, honesty and transparency.

So, the leader should always perform and set himself as an example to everyone always by having good thoughts in mind.

He should express himself through good words, and showing goodness in his deeds or actions which would benefit many. That is true leadership. This is what is also called leading by example.

12) Quick Decision Making

Taking quick and effective decisions during a crisis situation without panicking is a good quality of leadership.

Here, the time available during an emergency to think about what is right and what is not right is quite less.

There will be too little to consult anyone for opinions, advice and to make suggestions and even help.

One has to make a strong decision based on which the success or failure of the situation depends upon. It is a kind of make-or-break situation. One cannot even estimate the amount of damage, in case his/her decision or action fails.

So, taking the right decisions at such a crucial period is a good leadership quality.

Some people cannot think and act swiftly in emergency situations. Only good leaders can make the right decisions and they will prove themselves successful in almost all such situations.

13) Influencing People

Influencing people is another great characteristic of a leader.

These days it is a very tough job to convince and influence people. With the development of technology, they have a plethora of options in front of them.

A true leader without making any attempt, or without even keeping in mind that he is speaking/acting to influence others will influence even the toughest people, and make them follow him.

Their thoughts, the way they present them, and how they execute their tasks themselves will influence the people.

So, this characteristic of a person becomes an important one in the list of Leadership traits. Earlier people used to have one person as their role model or influencer.

These days, we can see people having multiple coaches, mentors, and guides in the various traits of leadership to motivate them.

In the olden days, it used to be the case where top position, job title or salary, or even the age of a person used to be the criteria for one to become a leader.

Nowadays none of this alone makes or calls one to be a leader. People weigh their characteristics strictly and they would never compromise in any case.

Quick Read => How to Keep Motivation Alive in Software Testers?

14) Leadership is Being Fair and Unbiased

Sometimes, reaching the top by suppressing or pushing down others is the choice that few of them take in life to show themselves as leaders.

They try to defend themselves by pushing down the other person. This is an unfair attempt at becoming a leader and in the end, I’m sure they are not going to succeed.

Some keep boosting themselves, by highlighting every small thing as a big achievement that they have done, especially in the organizations and in front of their boss.

This is done in order to please them and get good performance feedback to go to the next level.

I’ve also seen people going around with the Boss for a coffee, smoke, or even for drinks in order to seek his attention. But Boss as a true leader will definitely ignore all of these if he/she is an unbiased leader.

Thus a true Leader never supports such actions of their team members and will always take an unbiased decision.

What Makes a Good Leader

We have learned a lot about Leaders and Leadership so far.

Moving on, let me further list the characteristics that make up a Leader or the ones that influence True Leadership. The list is quite exhaustive and there is no end to it.

A Leader,

• Needs to be patient at all times.
• Needs to have self-confidence.
• Should always remain calm, especially during a crisis.
• Should be courageous, honest, and should not be scared of any individual. (Courage is the topmost trait of leadership.)
• Needs to have good communication skills.
• Should be truthful and honest.
• Needs to dress well and always look good.
• Needs to behave with integrity.
• Should never be biased in making decisions.
• Needs to be a people person.
• Should always be open to feedback.
• Must be a good listener.
• Should not be boosting himself and should let his work/achievements speak for himself.
• Should be quite logical in his thoughts.
• Needs to take good control of crucial situations.
• Should recognize people.
• Needs to focus on quality.
• Should always focus on creating values.
• Needs to be a change maker.
• Should support in developing a good culture in the organization.
• Needs to Respect everyone, including nature and animals.
• Should never be partial to people.
• Should make honest decisions with the logic behind it.
• Should always Lead by example.
• Should be ready to wet their hands if the situation calls for.
• Should maintain openness and transparency.
• Needs to build trust, focus on his goals, respect time schedules, be strict on lapses/in disciple activities and always support new ideas.
• Must build confidence and reputation with people.
• Should be very careful while selecting his team members.
• Must support teamwork and motivate the team to contribute towards success.
• Must empower their team members and give them space to think and be innovative.
• Must allow his team members to attempt and implement their own ideas.
• Should provide a learning opportunity to his team members instead of making them do the routine work.
• Needs to ensure that the team members enjoy their work.
• Needs to build rapport with the team and align himself with his next-level people.
• Must build an emotional bonding with the junior staff.
• Must always encourage his team members.
• Should discuss the problems and issues collectively with the team. Take their opinion and get their buy-ins on the decisions.
• Should give freedom to his team members to discuss and debate.
• Should allow people to make mistakes and correct them with patience and ensure that they do not repeat the same mistake again and make them learn from their mistake.
• Should not make anyone a single person a hero, rather, must give importance to everyone.
• Should never discuss the mistakes or weaknesses of a person publicly.
• Should not punish people for committing errors, rather should show them the right things.
• Needs to ensure that his team members are highly motivated, passionate about the work, and have the right attitude.
• You should trust people but never let the mistakes seep through.
• Should create openness among the team members.
• Should help to remove the fear of Boss from the minds of the team members and subordinates in the team.
• Needs to be friendly with everyone and maintain an open door policy.
• Should always focus on developing the next-level people.
• Must never transfer stress, anxiety, or pressure to his team members and should be calm in conveying the expectation.

Conclusion

Thus, ultimately, true leadership is not a simple Facebook-like or Twitter follow. Rather, leadership is dedication, moving ahead together and sharing the tears.

It is all these charismatic Leadership characters that make a person, a “True Leader” and that in turn makes the people follow them.

Further reading => Things I learned in My Journey as a QA Manager

About the author: STH team member Gayathri Subrahmanyam is a Software Testing expert with over 2 decades of experience in both the IT and Non-IT industries. She is a coach, mentor, and counsellor. “Leadership is the core quality of an individual, on which the success or failure of a task depends upon. Her personal philosophy is that ‘I can always learn, I can always improve’.

Have you been an outstanding Leader? Do you have anything to share with us on Leadership? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below! We would love to hear from you.