Salient Leadership Traits

Building leadership qualities starts early at home and within our immediate environment. When we think about leadership characteristics, most of us tend to focus on "hard and soft" skills and lose sight of other intangible qualities that we are exposed to in our daily lives. The lessons gained from experiencing these traits have a huge impact on our personalities and these go on to help develop our leadership style in all walks of life. Below are some of the impactful traits influencing young minds and adults in developing their leadership qualities.

Adventure Loving: Adventurous individuals love challenges and demonstrate grit, resourcefulness, and tenacity to overcome them. There is a discipline gained from overcoming any challenges, and that discipline will help one to be well prepared, and to be able to navigate tough situations and bold endeavors in the future. Surrounding yourself with other adventurous people is a plus.

                     Don't expect rewards without risks and meticulous hard-work.

Accountability: Taking ownership and being accountable goes hand-in-hand. One should take ownership beyond one's personal financial responsibilities and obligations. We should always demonstrate sharing and being accountable for success or failure in equal measure.

                  Being regretful is an important process of learning and moving on.

Problem Solving: How do we handle issues? Do we take it head-on and resolve it constructively, or wait for it to resolve by itself or be resolved by someone else? The process of stepping up and negotiating issues nurtures maturity and has a great impact on how one can resolve crisis situations.

                 Think beyond the short-term gains and weigh long-term consequences.

Being Mindful: Always being aware of your surroundings, the larger purpose, your societal impacts, and others' feelings helps you to derive meaningful outcomes from undertaken initiatives.

            Being mindful is a gift which needs to be constantly nurtured.

Empathy: Demonstrating empathetic concerns by giving time and putting effort into understanding the situation is a cultivated habit. We should always treat people the way we would like to be treated. Being grateful and developing a diversified growth mindset are key traits of an effective leader.

         Display of empathy and gratitude using emojis is not the same as caring and sharing.

While you are developing and familiarizing yourself with the above traits, you will be tested at various levels of persistence, positivity, grit, and elasticity. Your choices, actions, and adaptability will determine your personality type and eventually your leadership style. These traits, combined with excellent "hard (SME) and soft" skills, mold an individual into an effective leader and will set them apart from others in this dynamic world.