14 Powerful Leadership Traits (That All Great Leaders Have)

Being a leader of a company or organization is certainly a difficult and often frustrating position – but it can also be tremendously rewarding.

Whether you’re just starting out as a leader, or have been leading for a while, you’ll be sure to benefit from knowing the essential traits that all great leaders possess.

Effective and successful leaders transcend the title of ‘manager’ or ‘boss’. They’ve found a way to achieve the perfect combination of charisma, enthusiasm and self-assurance (with a healthy dose of luck and timing probably added to the mix).





It may seem like some people are gifted with leadership skills, but the truth is most leadership traits can be learned, adopted, and strengthened with time and practice.

As we delve into the traits of effective leaders, you will learn more about how you can become one of them.
During the Cuban missile crisis, when the world faced a potential nuclear catastrophe. President Kennedy’ s leadership and sound judgement pulled us from the brink of an apocalypse.1 When hearing about such stories it’s easy to assume great leaders like Kennedy has something that most people lack, that great leadership is a quality that some people are born with, and others are not. But that isn’t the case. Everyone has the potential to be a great leader.

Take Elon Musk for example. He was born into a lower middle class family in South Africa, as a child he was bullied. Now he leads a multi billion dollar organisation, and may have just revolutionized space travel.2