Shawnee Love   •  
March 29, 2012

I was recently asked what qualities good business leaders need to have to be effective today. My answer, in true HR fashion, was “It Depends“.

It depends because the most important qualities depend on the company, industry, culture, and what the leader or manager is responsible for.  A company that wants to maintain the status quo doesn’t need a visionary at the helm and you definitely don’t want finance leaders to be too creative. Just ask Enron.

That all being said, my top picks for qualities that I look for in current or future leaders include:

• Creativity & innovation
• Drive
• Global/ Big picture perspective
• Business acumen
• Intelligence
• Flexibility& adaptability
• Resourcefulness
• Sense of humour
• Self awareness
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong character & moral compass
• Heart (as in care & compassion and persistence & resilience)

Now the question is, can you develop these skills or are they innate? Eternal optimist that I am, I believe that you can develop these qualities if you have the desire and the opportunity to do so.

Consider professional athletes. Some are extremely talented and some simply took basic talent, and worked at it harder than anyone else to get there. Of course, the best are the ones who have talent and work at it, but these gems are rare finds. Rather than wait for a rare find, organizations can and should polish their own.

What qualities are being polished at your company?