Introduction
It is no secret that proper management is essential to the organization’s success. Outstanding qualities, knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and committed actions distinguish great leaders from mid-level managers (Macmillan, 2023). Good leaders inspire, motivate, and guide their teams to achieve common goals. They build morale, enhance the working environment, and initiate actions (Wale, n.d.). This paper aims to describe several traits and behaviors of influential leaders and explain how they can be identified when hiring talented executives.
Traits and Behaviors of Effective Leaders
Generally, the issue of becoming a leader in an organization is relevant even though studies of leadership phenomenon have existed for a long time. A few essential qualities and behavior patterns are inherent in a true leader to whom others look up. As a rule, effective leaders are sociable, energetic, resilient, emotionally stable, proactive, self-motivated, confident, and responsible for their actions (Wale, n.d.). They know how to communicate and delegate work effectively, encourage strategic thinking, and motivate the team to perform better.
A leader’s ability to understand and interpret the emotions, motivations, and intentions of their colleagues and subordinates is an essential aspect of their developed emotional intelligence, which is a versatile skill crucial for managing both their own and others’ emotions (Mishra, 2021). Leaders are highly motivated and do not need external stimuli. They are proactive, do their job better than others, and have enough energy to motivate others. They do not flaunt their weaknesses, objectively assess reality, and challenges fuel their interest in work.
Moreover, effective directors do not shift responsibility for their mistakes onto their subordinates’ shoulders. Still, they are always involved in the processes themselves and come to the aid of employees if problems arise. They view the business as a system and influence the entire company’s energy. Strong leaders are clean in business, sound specialists, disciplined, fair to colleagues, and should strike a balanced approach in communication (Birt, 2023). Efficiency and productivity define them, with success stemming from adept time management, strong planning skills, deep subject knowledge, task-setting proficiency, and effective oversight of employees’ work. Charismatic executives know how to communicate with colleagues and get results faster than others, with less labor.
Searching for and Detecting Leadership Traits in Hiring Talent
In addition, a company looking for a talented executive with the above qualities and behaviors should be guided in the following ways when hiring. When conducting interviews, scenario-based questions can help assess how candidates apply their leadership skills in real-life situations. This strategy can provide insight into a specialist’s decision-making ability, conflict management, and team motivation.
Interviewers should ask questions about past experiences to elicit people’s reactions to difficult situations and their ability to adapt and problem-solve. Conducting psychometric tests will identify personality characteristics related to leadership, such as confidence, empathy, sociability, and more. Getting feedback from a candidate’s previous colleagues or supervisors can provide insight into a future leader’s potential and capabilities.
Conclusion
Therefore, effective leaders are communicative, empathic, proactive, energetic, talented, responsible, and capable. They are confident in themselves and their abilities, work for high results, and motivate others to perform their tasks better. They do their job clearly, think through every step, and are guided by the principle “score twice before you cut once.” Such leaders are reliable and responsible people who can always be relied on in a problematic moment. In order to identify a candidate’s qualities of a true leader, one should conduct interviews and tests and collect references from previous jobs. In this way, employers can build a complete portrait of applicants and understand how they will act and decide.
References
Birt, J. (2023). 7 skills used by effective team leaders in the workplace. Indeed. Web.
Macmillan, R. (2023). Effective leadership behaviors to empower your team. flair.hr. Web.
Mishra, A. (2021). Do organizations need emotionally intelligent leadership at the workplace? In M. Franco (Ed.), Leadership – new insights. IntechOpen. Web.
Wale, H. (n.d.). Leadership traits. CFI Education Inc. Web.