Eight things that help make a successful leader

What makes a good leader? Do some people make better “followers”? Can you develop leadership skills, and how important are they?

1 Know when to take a back seat

First of all, a good leader isn’t constantly trying to dominate and prove what a great leader they are. Imagine if everyone decided they had to lead every project. Indeed, we’ve probably all met a person like this – they are, at best, boring and, at worst, insufferable. A good leader knows when to take a back seat and focus on what they can bring to a team and a project.

2 Respect

Sinéad Brady, career psychologist and author of Total Reset: Quit Living to Work and Start Working to Live, says our gut feeling comes into play here. “Look at leaders and managers and see if they model behaviour that you respect. Is this how you would behave if you were more senior?” If you decide it’s not, it may be a warning sign that you should have an exit strategy from this organisation.

3 Gain the skills

Dr Mary Collins, a chartered psychologist and senior executive development specialist at RCSI, says leadership skills need to be developed. “So while you may be starting as a graduate and, perhaps, doing pretty mundane work, your local GAA team may need a coach,” she says. “This is a role that would allow you to gain important skills and make you a more well-rounded person, with skills inside and outside the workplace.”

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4 Traits

Brady says successful leaders don’t necessarily have key “traits”. “Research around ‘trait’ was done in labs and primarily with men, especially relatively privileged men,” she says. “It has been proven now that there aren’t key traits. This makes sense, as we all know people who have reached the top of their career who are kind, empathetic and supportive bosses; we also know some who are thoroughly impossible, manipulative bullies.”

5 Empathy

That said, empathy and self-awareness cannot be understated. We’re all human, and we all have off-days where we might not be our best selves, but a good leader can step back, reflect and, if warranted, apologise. And nobody likes a boss or colleague who lacks kindness or flexibility: remember, leaders shouldn’t have to drag people with them; instead, they should inspire, and their employees or team should naturally want to follow and deliver.

Dr Linda Yang is the programme director and creator of the intercultural development programme at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. “Successful leaders can appear on the surface to be less empathetic, and more driven by an alpha male culture,” she says. “But research shows that people who do well in the long run have empathy and a willingness to understand other people’s emotions. This is particularly important with diverse teams, where not everyone will share the same views or approaches.”

6 Constant development

A good leader doesn’t just decide they are a good leader, or that they have learned all that they need to know. Instead, they are constantly developing these skills, through a mix of education, workplace experience and, simply, life.

7 Perseverance

“The leaders that I see around me, in both business and higher education, are entrepreneurs who started with an idea and, despite obstacles, did not give up,” says Yang. “They kept going.”

8 Trust

Leadership means letting go of control and trusting others. At RCSI, students on the MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare learn about change management, healthcare innovation and strategic leadership. Students on the course say that part of leadership is empowering your staff and giving them responsibility, whereas the worst leaders don’t trust their colleagues and are prone to micromanagement.