Attributes of a Leader

By Akinade Israel

Attributes of a leader can either be positive or negative depending on the way followers view it. Today, we will be talking about attributes of a good leader. These attributes can help any leader to end his or her tenure with showers of gifts.
Who is a leader? According to an online English dictionary, a leader is someone who leads or directs or one having authority to direct.
According to A. O. Israel, a leader is anyone who is selected directly or indirectly to lead a group with absolute power to make decisions and face any kind of challenges with his or her followers.
Firstly, a good leader must be patience: any leader that wants to achieve greatly in his/her tenure must exercise a lot of patience. Patience is a great skill that needs to be learn with lots of passion. Patience basically means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
“Linda is a good lady with lots of agility. She was in charge of a business parastatal; her boss Bellin, who is her partner goes on a trip anytime she’s not available.
There was a day Linda was unavailable and Bellin was to take charge of all activities in the office. Bellin handled the business perfectly well which generated into a huge profit before the arrival of her boss. She transferred half of the company investment into a new deal without her boss’ consent. When Linda returned from her trip, she charged Bellin to court for fraudulent activities and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment without being patience enough to know how she spent the money. After some months, the money Bellin invested yielded six times more and the company demanded Bellin to claim the money from their office. Linda could not get the money and she could not face Bellin while in prison because she felt impatience and ashamed of herself “.
Secondly, a good leader must know how to communicate : ” good communication can win the heart of a king”. Communication is the act of dialogue ( check the spelling) and sharing or exchanging information to one another.
“Solomon left for his boss’ office to seek permission to buy pie at the eatery. On getting there, he says “good afternoon sir”,Someone came to the office this morning requesting to see you, but sir, I want to get a pie.
The boss replied, Solomon, uhmmmm! I know you won’t come to tell me about who asked after me this morning, if not that you want to seek permission for something. Anyway, make sure you get mine”.
Thirdly, a good leader must have vision : Good business leaders create vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” – Jack Welch. Great leaders have vision… They can see into the future. They have a clear and exciting idea of where they are going and what they are trying to accomplish and are excellent at strategic planning. This quality separates them from managers. Having a clear vision turns the individual into a special type of person.