The 6 ESSENTIAL Qualities of Great Leaders

Leadership is a word often attributed to those in management positions, but what

does it really mean to be a leader, let alone a great leader?

“A good leader inspires other with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them
with confidence in themselves”. Unknown.

When good leadership is in place, it can be felt throughout the entire organisation.
Corporate culture is not forced and is not only words written on a piece of paper. It
is developed through actions and becomes part of the essence of what every
employee strives for collectively.

Employees cannot flourish under poor leadership, and when they are faced with
having to follow poor leaders, companies often lose their best and most talented
people.

Being a true leader does not come from a title, it is a position you must earn from
the people you lead.

The result of good leadership is high morale, good employee retention, and
sustainable long-term success.

In 2011, the Australian School of Business (University of NSW) embarked on a study

investigating organisations in the services sector. It examined the Intangible Assets
of companies. Namely; innovation, employee experience, fairness, leadership,
customer orientation, productivity and profitability. The results showed that HPW’s
(High Performing Workplaces) regularly outscored LPW (Low Performing
Workplaces) across all areas of the study.

A HPW scored 12% higher total workplace productivity in comparison to a LPW.

That means for every $1 spent on investment, a HPW generated 12¢ more. This in
turn led to a profit margin that was almost three times higher than that of a LPW. A
HPW is better at achieving their stated financial target by 34%.

A sample of the Leadership Management approaches which ranked very highly in the
HPW were areas such as giving employees opportunities to lead work assignments
and activities, welcoming criticism and feedback as learning opportunities, giving
increased recognition and acknowledgement to employees, having clear values and
“practice what they preach”.
Qualities that personify a great leader are:

Integrity – a true leader never compromises their core values. These values are in
turn adopted by employees and the company as a whole.

Willingness to listen – leaders will seek first to understand, then to be understood.

This empowers employees with a voice and the understanding they can
communicate openly without fear of reprisal.

Accountability – a great leader takes full responsibility for the failures as well as the
successes of their team. Failures are used as a learning tool for the future and
success is shared between all who contributed.

Courage – to have the conviction to follow your instincts and to be able carry your
staff with you through turbulent times.

Tenacity – great leaders do not give up. They will find another path and partnered
with patience, find their way forward.

Humility – a truly great leader will see themselves as a servant. They have the ability
to recognise the contribution of others, their openness to change their mind and the
ability to acknowledge mistakes.

Geoff Curran - Managing Director

Geoff Curran has a Bachelor of Economics from the

University of Western Australia and over 20 years’
experience as a specialist recruitment practitioner. During
that time he has worked with organisations to secure talent
at middle and senior levels.

Geoff established Curran + Associates in 1998. His approach to executive

recruitment and search is founded on several basic principles: knowledge gained
through specialisation, being relevant to both clients and candidates, delivering
outcomes quickly and efficiently.

Contact Geoff today:

gjc@curranrecruit.com.au
+61 2 8234 8900
Level 6, Market Street, Sydney, 2000