Its difficult to narrow down the 3 top traits of a gifted leader as for most (fortunately) these gifts come naturally, the old saying ‘ You were born to lead’ isn’t far from the truth. However, for those wanting to push and strive for that position in life, the most important is; One, Surround yourself with the right people. This is a key factor in any successful business. Two, look after those people, create a working culture where those people can grow, give them the room, encouragement, constructive criticism and the tools to do so, and then watch them go. And 3, enjoy it, when you don’t, there’s always something else in life that you will.

Open – casts the net widely for input, especially from lesser heard voices and marginalised stakeholders. Avoids groupthink, and not afraid to know what they don’t know yet.
Decisive – assessors all input and views, probes further, asks for clarity and rationale from others where needed, but then makes clear decision and communicates it to everybody, again and again
Reflective – takes time to learn, measures performance but also process, the how as well as what, and how culture is impacting on performance.

1. Listening.
2. Negative Capability, a marvellous idea of the poet John Keats who defined it as: “The ability to remain in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without irritable reaching after fact and reason.”
3. When you know what to do, be proactive.

Organisations need different leaders at different times so be prepared to adapt and change, you never stop learning so embrace this as an opportunity to improve.

Don’t be scared to try something and get it wrong or fail. Some of the best learning comes from projects that haven’t gone to plan. Look for the opportunities as a result.

Surround yourself with people that are different, hold different opinions or life-experiences to you and value the skills, experience and opinions that they bring.

1.The last 18 months more than anything else has reaffirmed the importance of positivity in leadership. A belief in people and their strengths and a solution focused approach have been so important, bringing some certainty as well as positivity at a time when neither have been especially prevalent.
2.Communication, but both giving and receiving, you’re never too important to take time to listen, learn and understand but also to deliver clear, relevant, inspirational communications.
3. Self awareness, taking time to understand how your own behaviours impact others and how both the positive and the negative can be seen as permission to behave in a particular way. Pause to think and make good behavioural choices.

Kindness, kindness and kindness!

Leadership is about attracting people smarter than you, motivating them and pointing them in the right direction. That’s it, nothing more.

Kindness is the one indispensable trait that allows you to achieve this, without it you won’t understand your people, they won’t follow and trust you and ultimately you’ll fail, no matter how talented you are or how good your ideas are.

Businesses thrive when at the intersection between “leadership” and “empathy.” These two traits are often oppositional. Leaders don’t listen because they perceive themselves as exceptional. Empaths avoid leadership because they don’t want the focus and accountability. When you find people who can deliver with confidence while maintaining a collaborative and growth mindset hold onto them tight.

Cgt with Entrepreneur’s relief is one of the very few remaining lowish tax breaks in the uk. Do build something up and sell it

Don’t get paid too much yourself. The more you are paid, the more vulnerable you are

Be nice to everyone. When you are on the way down it is possible that you will be applying for a job from that fresh faced graduate you met earlier

Don’t knock your competition. It looks bad

Don’t let people walk off with your designs and copy them

Fixed price bidding is dangerous

Choose a good wife or husband who will comment intelligently and give a different view, often seeing it from the other guy’s side

No-one ever said on their deathbed or wrote on their tombstone, that they didn’t work hard enough or long enough

Choose a job you can still do when you get older. Some jobs are for the young only

Don’t forget to give time to have children , if possible. Without them you will have no grandchildren

Love your job. If you tend vines with bitterness you will get bitter wine

1. Create a micro-diary of moments. it doesnt matter if it is slack, whatsapp, anything. just keep a note each day of the big and small wins. things move fast and it’s easy to forget. You need them to look back on and remember. Take time to do that each week/ or even month.

2. Listen: to your team, your instincts, your clients, your market, your data, your partners… Then act. you are the leader for a reason. The decisions are on you. take them! but take them as informed as possible.

3. Lead something you absolutely believe in and want to see as the most successful enterprise ever! you are spending your time, energy, losing time with loved ones, at least make these sacrifices for something that makes you genuinely happy and drives you.

Here are my top three traits of a gifted leader:
First, the need to have a clear vision about what you want to achieve and deliver. No one is going to follow if they don’t know where you’re going !
Secondly, the need to be a good communicator because people need to know in their own words what you’re seeking to achieve and how they can get involved.
Thirdly, kindness. Listen and treat people well and you’ll reap the rewards.

We often hear about an individual being gifted. What does that really mean ? Yes some individuals have talent, and we interpret them at times as gifts. However, a true “gifted” leader is an individual that knows how to see problem solving in unique ways, so my first trait would be that one must think outside the box. Second trait would be listen more speak less and manage time wisely and lastly, keep communication simple and to the point so that anyone can understand what you are trying to communicate. Experience has taught me that business leaders of the future must focus on basics and the most important is communication. The onslaught of social media really puts leaders at odds as to how they should manage time, what they should say… I say listen more speak less.

Being able to tell the story of the organisation in a human way (not a corporate strategy or a talking head video) – the messy, emotional, passionate story of how the company got to where it is and where it’s going to go.

Treating people as individual human beings, not human resources or lines on a spreadsheet. Trusting them, valuing them, listening to them, working with them (not them working for you – you are all working together).

Admitting to mistakes. We all make them. We all get things wrong. The ability to take responsibility, apologise, learn and move forward is a key one for anyone in a leadership position.

Leadership is a collection of traits that ensure that employees feel comfortable and confident with the direction they’re heading in, resulting in a boost in morale and productivity.

The top 3 traits I would always look for would be clarity and confidence in the future vision, being totally accountable (and blameless!), and finally being an effective communicator. The latter is often ignored, yet poor communicators typically make terrible leaders because their vision is confused and disjointed.

1) Humility. Always remember where you started and the journey you’ve been on so far.

2) Listen. To staff, to your customers, and to the advisors you have around you. Nobody knows everything, and you are no exception.

3) Be clear on what you want to achieve. Always give it clarity and also remember that it can and will change.

A gifted leader is often an insightful, driven and astute leader.

A gifted leader develops and communicates an initial, insightful vision that s/he can rally the troops round. It needs to be easy to communicate yet powerful enough to bring both the team and customers onboard with.

A gifted leader perseveres through thick and thin. Their drive and determination are required to overcome the many obstacles that naturally arise during the execution of the chosen vision and strategy.

A gifted leader is also aware of changing markets and circumstances, and is prepared to tweak – or even completely reset – the initial vision and strategy in order to keep it relevant. Determination and flexibility are strange bedfellows but necessary traits to balance to achieve success.

A gifted leader must have a keen awareness of the world. This means having the humility to listen to others without judgement and adapt their business to meet the ever changing needs of the market.

I’m not sure if these are traits, as such, however, I would say that the ability to empathise with team members is important – whilst you may have the same mission or goal, every team member is in a unique position and has their own story.

You must have the willingness to roll up your own sleeves – it is important for team members to know that you have done, can do or will do difficult tasks yourself.

Modelling great leaders is important, too, and not just the famous leaders, but ones from your own life – ex-bosses, teachers, parents, sports coaches and any others.

1) Humility
2) Loyalty – to customers, employees and shareholders, in that order
3) A mind open to new ideas – your business will change, so must you

In my opinion I think it is crucial that a leader is versatile and holistic with their approach, ensuring that each individual is heard and feels valued.
I believe that leaders should lead by example, understanding potential challenges that may arise from what they are asking someone else to do and never ask anything that they would not be prepared to do themselves.
Most importantly always celebrate success with your team! even if the wins are small it is important to celebrate

Good leadership is a multifaceted discipline. From my own experience, a good leader is like being a good parent. Your team is your family – growing, developing, testing boundaries.

Firstly, as a leader you are there to provide clear direction, support and standards.

Secondly, leadership is about encouraging your team to do the best they can, celebrating success and supporting failures (also important to personal development).

Thirdly, a good leader listens to their team, must be accessible and open minded to their opinions.

A good leader like a good parent then is the anchor of the team, respected and completely reliable.

From my perspective the top 3 traits of a gifted leader are:

1. You have to be always 100% confident about the mission and vision of your company and that means in yourself! If you don’t believe 100% in it you will be never achieving your goals!

2. Try to take us much as possible of smart, experienced and knowledgeable people around you! To have sparring partners on highest intellectual level who are challenging you and your ideas and decisions are utmost important for your success. Even if you think you are the smartest guy in the world don’t be selfish and be open for serious and constructive advise

3. I am a strong believer in structure. Even from day one of your entrepreneurial journey you gave to think about the potential structure from the perspective of how the company would look like in 5-10 years. Most start up founders make the mistake to being forced by the euphoric feeling of having a great idea and then rest will develop by time. If you don’t lay out the grounds from the beginning it will be very difficult to correct or align them at a later stage. At least it would be expensive and can even cost a partnership

The three top traits of a gifted leader in my view would be Courage, Vision and Gratitude.
COURAGE to take calculated risks, to remain composed during tough times, to show confidence and to accept full responsibility.
VISION to build a plan around a creative strategy for your business, with milestones and goals to get there and to successfully keep communicating this to your team, customers and suppliers.
GRATITUDE because starting everyday being grateful sets you up to succeed and inspire others. It allows opportunities to open up to you and keeps a vital positive optimism for your business. Then just add some humour and humility!

Integrity – many believe that to get to the top in business you need to be ruthless, whilst this may have some truth, it should never be at the cost of your integrity. If you agree to something make sure you deliver it – in business your word should be your bond.

Communication – a strong communicator will inspire, invigorate and excite stakeholders to achieve more than the combination of those individuals.

Decisiveness – too many times great potential fails due to indecisiveness and the failure of leaders to act. Conversely, average potential can succeed and prosper, because the leader took action.

Listen
Be Open & Trusting
be Bold & Courageous but Vulnerable at the same time

My view on the key top 3 traits of a gifted leader are:

Encourage and develop your team.
Finding time to think
Make time for fun

Dreaming – Vision
Guts Confidence Positive Energy
Hard working

Humility to trust individuals to do the right thing, not abuse autonomy and always be working towards making the company better.
Inspire individuals to be better than they are, moving them beyond their comfort zone to contribute to something that is bigger than themselves.
Challenge individuals to look at how they can do things better, not accepting the status quo and finding opportunities when faced with challenges.

From all my encounters with leaders, in various roles and across a range of sectors, the three traits that stand out most strongly to me as distinguishing the gifted from the merely good are authenticity, generosity and approachability.

Acting with authenticity means that people trust you, and if they trust you, they are more likely to commit to and follow your lead. Showing generosity encourages a learning culture where individual and corporate development can flourish, whilst approachability creates an environment in which ideas will be freely shared and issues can be identified and mitigated before they become a problem.

1) Make time for staff of all levels, even if its just to know their name and say hello 2) Encourage your team to offer their thoughts and ideas, and listen to them 3) Give clear direction and offer support to get there

· The world is constantly evolving, and you need the agility to pivot ahead of the curve.

· Learn as much as you can about your competition in designing your product/service value proposition.

· The devil is always in the details; being only a big picture person does not work.

· Hire the best people for the job; mediocre colleagues will slow down your progress and demoralise your star performers while alienating your clients.

· You live or die by your reputation: one bad Google review is more harmful than 100 positive reviews.

· Social media is not always the best way to promote yourself.

1. Trusting: People will automatically look up to people who offer valuable, trust driven relationships. Without trust, people will be lead by fear.

2. Positive: Leaders need to be able to identify opportunities rather than problems. Every problem does present some kind of opportunity. One of my favourite phrases is: “Behind every success is 100 failures.”

3. A visionary: A leader needs to have an infinite mindset to understand what the bigger goal of any situation. Every business needs to have a bigger purpose than itself. ‘Business’ can’t be completed with a certain amount of profit or products sold.

Vision – By having a clear vision on your product/ services allows you to articulate that vision to your team and rally everyone towards a common goal.

Patience – Having patience can be most difficult thing as a leader, whether that is waiting for you business to take off or to your very first contract. Having patience helps leaders to keep organised and mentally healthy.

Confidence – As a leader you must be confident to try things out and that the decisions you make are the right ones. This will give your team a sense of stability in your judgement and that they trust the work they are set out to achieve

Vision – A leader executes Mission. One does not follow a person, they believe in the cause, and the capacity that the leader is best able to achieve the intended outcome.
Passion – Commanding others to achieve greatness is difficult. Leader embodies cause, they radiate energy to invigorate their team. “One can achieve anything, but much more together.” Passion extends to each member of company, empathy and consideration is essential to morale.
Fortitude – The journey is perilous. To lead is to act courageously, setting the example to follow: inspiring confidence and certainty.

Being authentic
Having self-belief
Being confident in what you do

Coachable – the ability to take feedback. From both inside and outside the organisation,

Resilience – your team needs to see you as the person that can handle anything.

Self-belief – it is hard to inspire others when you don’t believe in yourself, or the business you are leading.

I would be reluctant to qualify the 3 traits required to become a gifted leader because everyone is different in their own approach and their chosen industry. One example of this was Winston Churchill who was regarded as a great leader during the 2nd World war, however he was usurped in the next general election by Attlee in 1945. Quite simply everyone can achieve their goal as a great leader. Basic examples might include ‘approachable’ ‘being a good listener’ and someone who has the support of a good management team as 2 or 3 heads are better than one.
I’ve seen some terrible management decisions throughout my career which have cost the company financially, so its also a question of not making the same mistakes twice.

My 3 top traits are:
– Understand what your employees life goals are and help them achieve them.
– Show vulnerability yourself
– Ask the team to give you feedback too

Never forget where you have come from,. We are all made the same but occasionally think and adapt differently to challenging situations that define, make or break us.
Treat people as you would like to be treated is something I learnt a very long time ago and it doesn’t matter how high you think you have climbed up the ladder, you can always slip and fall.

Never judge a book by its cover and give people the tools to grow.

Lastly,. Never lose sight of your goals and never give up.

First one must put aside the trite idioms of leadership courses and the plethora of books on the topic. What makes a gifted leader is a complex question and is not as easily defined, determined, or deduced from analysis as such courses/books may have you believe. Leaders are rarely born, but created through experience, practice, and (often) simply being able to be human. From my experience gifted leaders exhibit an array of traits forged in the fires of their profession, area of expertise, or their passion.

One may think about, say, Steve Jobs. Brilliant, undoubtedly, a keen eye for design, details, in tune with or able to see what people may actually want or need, before they knew it. Yet those who knew him have said he was a nightmare to work with, difficult, demanding. Similar accusations, positive and negative, may be leveled at Elon Musk. But you cannot deny their success in, as Steve would say, “making a dent in the universe”.

In contrast, one may think about, political leaders (perhaps more historic than the present) and see the calm determination, obstinacy, resilience, a refusal to give up because they have belief in what they are doing.

To my mind, leaders and leadership are many different things, the right person, in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills. If forced to boil that to a top three, I would say:

1. timing – a gifted leader knows when to do and, perhaps more importantly, when not to do.
2. present – in thinking and knowledge, in awareness, in tune with their world, business, market, and people.
3. passionate (or focused or inspirational) – passion, drive, focus, are all ‘contagious’ and inspirational in those around you.

A gifted leader is all these things and more. Much may also be said about the team that surrounds the leader, but I’ve gone on too much already so I’ll leave that for another time.

1. Never be afraid to fail, get up and try again. Failure is the path to perfection.
2. Always lead by example. No one person makes a business, therefore employ the brightest minds, and guide them to fulfil their potential.
3. The old cliché. Work hard, play hard. I believe this can be defined in so many ways, but the Play Hard bit can represent; Relaxation/R&R and should be with family and friends.

Always lead by example, never ask anyone to do a task that you are not prepared to do yourself.

Empower all those around you, to the point where you should be invisible

Black swans will visit all of our doors one day and when they do, dust yourself down, learn and get up again fighting

As you get older and wiser, you must remember your wisdom is associated with older days and older ways, make sure you update and modernize your wisdom periodically.

Adopting technology is a necessity and a must to keep your business ahead; don’t view it as a chore, inconvenience, headache or a cost.

if you ignore the above two then you will be an old person set in your ways and less relevant and consequently ignored more and more.

Bravery – sure this can take the form of ‘just do it’ but for me it is also about being brave enough to say ‘no’. Brave enough to stop, reflect and change your mind. Brave enough to park the stuff you cannot fix. Brave enough to protect and put first those around you, so that they can feel secure in their role and in their work.

Humility – never stop learning, never stop listening, never stop asking. Never think you are better and accept you will never be perfect. Build trust with authenticity – never be scared to admit you were wrong. Sometimes it’s as important to acknowledge an error, as it is to rectify it.

Perseverance – I hate to fail, I have done it, a lot, and it sucks. Sometimes it hurts your pride, sometimes it hurts your lifestyle – sometimes it hurts others. It’s not about believing you will succeed, instead it’s about believing in the mission enough never to give up on it. When it goes wrong (and it will) dust yourself off, look up, catch your breath – then keep moving.

Here are some of my favourite quotes on leadership:

* Leadership is about taking people to places they could never reach on their own.
* Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about taking care of the people in your charge.
* Leadership is not about the crown you wear, but the person you are.
* Leaders are like tea bags, you never know how strong they are until they’re in hot water.

1. The will to win – If you don’t have that drive and desire to win, when things get difficult you will just quit.
2. Patience – You will not be an overnight billionaire, it’s not how it works. take time, perfect your craft and the results will come.
3. Leading by example – This is the only way you will get people on your side. Show them that you will do what needs to be done to succeed and they will follow.

Asked to share my top three traits of a gifted leader, all in just 100 words, yikes!

Be Bold; Aim high and don’t be afraid to fail, learn from mistakes and share the learning. Keep moving towards your goal.

Be Humble; Know that you cannot do this alone, recognise your people and never grab the glory. Your frontline operatives may know the answer to a challenge before you even know the challenge exists.

Be You; Be authentic, show your true colours and never compromise to fit other people’s expectations of you. Know you, be you, do you…and do it well!

1) Surround yourself with people who care about the business, and what it does, as much as you do. If your people aren’t passionate about what they do they won’t care about how good a job they’re doing. You need a high performance culture if you want your business to succeed. Look at any successful team, there’s a common goal, an understanding of what everyone is contributing. They succeed and fail together.

2) Treat your people how you’d want to be treated yourself. Having people coming to work with you and for the business, is one of the most humbling experiences of running your own company. Their faith is not just in what the business does but it’s also in you and the Leadership team. Repay their faith with a great place to work, exciting career prospects, investment in their future. Don’t expect loyalty, earn it.

3) Know when to give yourself a pat on the back and also when to give yourself a kick. Both are equally important but try not to be too hard on yourself. Lots of things you’ll try will not go as planned, keep putting yourself out there and remember to take some credit when things do go well. Try to enjoy the ride and remember to take some breaks.

Be accessible to everyone – suppliers, customers but above all staff, after all what they have to say is extremely important, maybe not always to you but definitely to them. Giving them “air time” is great and leads to, in most cases, thoughtful and constructive discussion. – That’s where a lot of great ideas come from. the other is to always be courteous and have good manners – not just in business but in general. It’s a lot easier to do business with people who are this way inclined. They can still drive a hard bargain but the process will be more enjoyable!

Can articulate a vision so that everyone who follows can understand and see their part in it.

Is relentlessly consistent and authentic and people know they’re safe with this leader. This leader can be trusted.

Sets other people up for success. Supporting them to be the best version of themselves.

Delegation is absolutely key to successful leadership. Your skills and time are best used to oversee, to steer and to nurture, not to get caught up in the minutiae of every role, function or process. A jack of all trades is master of none; so concentrate on the job in hard, which is to lead. Great leadership also comes from cultivating a positive workplace environment. A happy team is a committed team, contented colleagues work to the best of their ability and have pride in the difference they make every day. Finally, a great leader never loses sight of where they came from. Be thankful for your success but don’t take it for granted, stay focussed on your goals.

1. Vision! All business leaders have a vision of where they would like to see their company. The same can be said for their employees. Getting the buy in of the people who will make your vision come true and giving them opportunities to be a part of it will only improve your chances of success.
2. Use your ears and mouth in the ratio that they were provided. That is, listen twice as much as you talk. Sounds basic, but solutions can come quickly if you truly listen to all invested parties.
3. Be Social. Getting everyone involved in social activities, importantly create a social atmosphere where people come because they want to, rather than have to. The facts are this costs money. The business does need to foot the bill at times, but the increase in efficiency and reduction in staff turnover more that mitigates this!

My 3 top traits -be accountable, kind and genuine. Any Leader of a successful business will invariably be focussed & driven. However, every successful leader also needs a successful team and to attract and keep a positive, happy and productive team, you need to be accountable, kind and genuine. This will create a team who want to work, learn from and support you and the business. I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes I own them with pride. People buy from people, if you’re not kind why will anyone want to deal with you. Being genuine, speaks for itself.

In my newly published book, The Fourth Bottom Line, I go through 50 characteristics of good leaders, so difficult to choose three, but here goes:

1) Self-awareness. If more leaders were more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and had greater awareness of how they came across to others, we would all be better for it!

2) Interdependent. The Covid pandemic has made us all realise just how interconnected we all are. Leaders who know their interdependence with humanity and the planet will be the leaders of the future.

3) Servant-like. Great leaders serve their people and know that as a privilege. The days of command-and-control leadership are gone.

Be as mentally flexible as a self-levitating Yogi.
Give ideas room to breathe and space to grow.
Never form an opinion without verifiable evidence.

First and most importantly, “BELIEF”, you may say you believe in your idea, in your business, but how strong is it? You need to be fully committed, without full devotion and belief others will see cracks. Show confidence in yourself and your ideas.
Secondly, “EDUCATE”, by this I mean educate both yourself and others. If you want to be a great leader, not just a good one, you need to understand that you may not always be the smartest person in the room, but you can try to be. Continue to learn and educate yourself throughout your life. Educating others and imparting your wisdom is an important part of leadership. If you want to grow then help others grow around you and they will do the same in return.
Finally, build the right “TEAM”, a leader is only as good as the team they lead. It’s important to surround yourself with people who share the same passion, energy, and most importantly vision.

1. A good gifted leader never say never! The world has changed so much in the past two years for both the good and bad. Who is to say what is good or bad anymore, as it flips either way daily. 2. A gifted leader believes people have something to learn every single day. My Father once said to me “If you think you know everything, dig a hole, jump in and wait for death as you have nothing more learn or to live for.” I agree fully with this thought. 3. A gifted Leader has good hearing. To many of us spend our life talking at people without listening to what others have to say, it’s an art to listen, try it sometime and see what you’re missing!
3. A gifted leader lives and loves life and other in it. Live your life like its your last precious day and you will find that you see things differently..

For me, a key aspect of gifted leadership is embodied in a definition I heard many years ago:
“Wisdom – the appropriate application of Knowledge!”
To be a great leader you have to find a way of being engaged and involved in the business, communicate clearly, manage conflict BUT don’t try to instruct every team member on how to do their job!

Mental Strength and Resilience:
I can safely say it’s never a straight road running a business and so much can go wrong and does. Having the Mental Strength to come through challenging times and show true grit, dig dip, stay calm and focused during stressful times is so important and skill you cannot buy or teach. It will either break you or make you!

Communicate and Listen:
You must have excellent Communication skills a trait I learnt working in my fathers shops, having the confidence to express yourself, build a relationship and connection with your clients is vital to the success of your business.

All of the above can only be achieved if you Listen to your clients, give them a voice. Its amazing what you will learn and what can be achieved purely by listening.

Be yourself:
Don’t try to be someone you are not, you will be found out very quickly. No one is perfect at their job and its ok to say you don’t know, we all make mistakes but make sure you learn very quickly from them.

Kind Regards
Vip

Leading a team or brand/business forwards is challenging and there’s no rule book that has all the answers.

However, my experiences to date, have taught me that to be a gifted leader, you need to lead by example with honesty and integrity. You have to be dynamic with your decision making and allow others to take control; micro-management is something that most leaders battle with and is one of the biggest barriers to growth. Invest in a great team and trust them to help drive the business forward.

Make decisions swiftly. You can never have all the information you may want to mitigate all the risks involved, but that’s why you are relied upon by stakeholders to make the best decision with the information you have at the time. If the decision turns out to be questionable, you can act swiftly and remedy the situation. Remember, if you learn from your failures you’re successful.

Your intellectual property is your product. No matter how attractive a proposition may appear, if anyone is asking for proposals, e.g. creative input, strategic insights, etc., without offering payment in return, then they don’t value your product. It’s that simple. Make sure to get paid for what you and your company produce.

Lead by example and get your hands dirty. Know the business you’re in the best you can and get involved when you can. This will generate tremendous goodwill and respect from your colleagues and the stakeholders of the company you lead and will ultimately build confidence in your leadership.

Lead by example – inspire people with your actions not just your words… don’t just tell people what to do but show them how and why.
Focus – Stay focused on the task at hand until complete. real leaders do not get distracted or do half a job.
Trust – for people to follow there must be trust… to influence others, they must have trust in you.

1. Value your people – understand that you’re there to serve them and help them progress, not the reverse.

2. Surround yourself with people who are better than you – but appreciate the role you have in ‘joining the dots’

3. Set (and protect…) the culture – happy people = great work = great results.

Thanks
Brett

1. Integrity

Simply put, integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Integrity is vital for the employee and origination. It is especially important for those in a leadership role, as they will need to lead by example for others to follow suit.

2. Communication

You’ll need to communicate in a variety of different ways, from delivering information to teaching your team members. Active listening is also a key part of communication.

3. Ability to delegate

As the saying goes, there is no ‘I’ in team, and an effective leader knows how to delegate tasks to the right team members in accordance to their individual strengths and abilities.

Be optimistic no matter what the circumstances
Value your people. They are the organisation
Treat everyone you meet with respect and dignity

To know when to talk and when to listen. You never get any knowledge from talking. So many times I have been in so called conversations where the other party is simply waiting for me to stop talking, so they can start, all the time they have not heard a single word I have been saying. I find it often suits me to have almost one-way conversations, where I allow the other party to fill the silences.

Very, very few people can handle the truth. It is important to remember this, because sometimes it is in the wider interest to deliver only the version of the truth they can accept.

1. Attentive listener. The truly gifted leader is able to actively listen to what their team is saying, even if what is being said is hard to take, they will welcome feedback and will strive to listen to exactly what is being said to them. A gifted leader works on their listening abilities every day and with every encounter to try to improve.

2. Empathy for other people. If you can truly put yourself in another’s person’s shoes you can help support their growth and give them an environment in which they can thrive. It overcomes the fundamental attribution error and allows the gifted leader to understand the impact and triggers that might be affecting their team’s performance. Without empathy, no trust and no bond can be built.

3. Courage to help people find their place. This is very important in order to provide truthful and accurate feedback to help someone grow as a professional and a person. This trait helps a leader have difficult and necessary conversations with people out of consideration for the individual, the team and the organisation.

Hope this helps!

I am not an expert in this field but below are my three cents:
• Gifted leader knows how to execute and make things happen. They can get jobs done, turning an idea into reality.
• They have the ability to build a team and then hold the team together during difficult testing times.
• Gifted leaders are good listeners. Active listening detects problems and helps with their early resolution. But listening is also caring and caring, provides a healthy work environment.

Put simply, they are resilience, perseverance and belief.

Whether or not you are starting a new enterprise or simply are trying to grow an existing one, obstacles will emerge at different points. How you tackle these will often determine whether or not you are successful.

An in-built resilience will enable you to be ready for all challenges that lie ahead, and alongside a desire underpinned by perseverance, you will be able to drive forward and deliver success. Passion is what makes you stand out and helps you reach for the stars. With it, you stand out from the crowd and bring those with you along on your journey to success,

1) Vision – Be clear on what you want to achieve, what is most important to you.
2) Identity – Be secure in who you are. Often routed in your values. Take some time to consider these. Without this you can be blown around by the wishes of others.
3) Purpose – Apply vision and identity into action. Don’t just think, but do something. Even if you do the wrong thing, you’ll know not to do that same thing next time. It’s still learning.
Apply these top yourself and to those you lead.

Ability to let the team shape your vision into operational reality.

Always be asking the question “how does the customer see this?”

Communicate the strategy into nuggets of wisdom that are actionable.

1. Surround yourself with gifted people and then empower them to use their gifts and skills for the benefit of your organisation

2. Keep learning – “every day is a school day” don’t rest on old knowledge but learn new skills and gain new insights

3. Share conversations with people at all levels in your organisation, you’ll be surprised at what you can pick up, and always remember we were blessed with two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak

1. Have humility – be willing to hire people smarter and better than you, and then make sure you listen to them.

2. Create clarity – define the one or two wildly important goals for the business and make sure everybody is working towards them.

3. Give space – trust that if you take care of your team, they will take care of the customers and ultimately the business.

In my experience, the top 3 traits of a gifted leader are, (i) the ability to not only talk-the-talk but, more importantly, to walk-the-walk; leading by example, (ii) to have a calmness of mind and inspirational outlook that draws others forwards even when the going gets tough, and (iii) to be humble, recognising and praising others rather than seeking glory oneself.

I would put the top 3 in the following order: for obvious reasons the first one is Integrity. Then, the Ability to delegate responsibilities to people who know the subject better than you. Finally, Courage enables leaders to step up when necessary and put things in the right direction.

Being prepared to listen.
Being prepared to change track.
Having a sense of humour.

A gifted leader should be able to inspire, motivate and bring out the best within their team. Inspiration is very important, if a team is not inspired by what they hear, feel or see your team will effectively not engage in bringing about successful results for themselves or the company. In terms of motivation, a gifted leader should be unconventional in the methods they use to motivate their team, and finally, a good leader should be keen on bringing the best out of their team. Every team member has a vision of themselves based on their past experiences. Your job as a gifted leader is to look for the XFactor within them to encourage their creativity and passion,

“I am now CEO of a successful regeneration charity, but I started work as a Customer Service Secretary and worked in Administration for the first ten years of my life, working up through the ranks over 20 years.

My best advice is: take opportunities offered even if you don’t feel quite ready. When you falter, don’t see it as failure, see it as learning. Take advice from mentors. Treat others as you wish to be treated. “

Empathy – I think gifted leaders will typically have a high EQ, which arguably over the course of time is a more important characteristic than IQ in today’s business environment. People and great talent make good companies. They also are a product of good leadership and gifted leaders with empathy and the ability to relate to employees at all levels and put hierarchy and egos aside will drive the best cultures.

“Walk the Talk” – Be prepared to tread the path shoulder to shoulder with the team or have walked it before. A good leader often leads by example and it is healthy and humbling to get into the weeds now and again. Respect is earned through demonstrating experience, knowledge and the ability to be able to impart that in a way that is inspiring.

Listen – As the saying goes, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listening is often over-looked and over-rated, especially in a world that demands instant responses. Know the moment to speak and engage and when it is more fruitful for others to do so. The loudest voice in the room isn’t necessarily the wisest and it is too easy to create a “Hippo” culture (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) as a leader. Don’t.

1) When you say you’ll do something, do it: Integrity is such an important trait for any successful leader. I try my best not to make promises that I can’t keep and always follow through on those that I do. If I say I am going to do something, it is because I believe I can and will do it.

2) Transparency: As a leader, you often end up having to make big decisions that people might not, on the surface, understand. A good leader will try to explain the decisions that they make and help others to understand and accept them. The more people understand the decisions you are taking, the more secure they will feel and the harder they will work.

3) Lead by example: You build a loyal team when you lead by example. Never ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t be prepared to do yourself. Leading from the front creates a positive environment and enables a leader to talk with authority and display greater empathy for the challenges faced by his/her team.

1. Ability to listen
2. Views the team like a jigsaw puzzle – each person an integral part to the bigger picture
3. Developing a compelling vision that everyone can see that they contributed to

Keep it real – let’s be honest we can all spotter a faker a mile away, we naturally engage to people who are real and genuine, being smooth, perfect and putting over a persona of perfection isn’t necessary, making mistakes, having bad days and an un-ironed top on occasion doesn’t change who you are, it helps people get to know you, gives a message that we understand the challenge and pressures people are under and that we don’t expect perfection.

Ask – The ability to ask why, break the mould, question process, get others challenging their views and challenging your view……. just because we have been doing something this was since 1901 does not mean we should be doing it in 2021, of course we need to be proud of our history and the journey, but equally we should be proud of the ability to change.

Lip service – just don’t! Don’t promote ‘people friendly’ and treat your team poorly, don’t say you promote equality, and then hold one training session a year to tick a box, any many more examples I’m sure you can add- with all areas, Understand it, Resource it, Support it, Report it and care.

1. Always keep your foot on the pedal. If you ease up, there will be ramifications down the line with your team around you.

2. Surround yourself with an amazing team, and then trust them to do their job. I always like to push people’s boundaries as that is when they really understand their own potential and achieve.

3. Shut out the noise. Everyone will try to offer you advice, be prepared to listen but move on if you decide it is a distraction as it will waste your valuable time.

At this time I am concentrating on a few key things:
1. Talk to each individual in the company – about things other than work and be prepared to just ramble – it is good for you and good for your people to see the human side. It might sound obvious, but with less opportunities for informal (corridor and coffee machine) banter there is a huge risk that your only communication is a transactional one. Being authentic is not just a buzz phrase.
2. Join as many calls with customers as possible at every level – you are always responsible for growing and retaining business – not just sales. It motivates the sales people and impresses the customer contacts – every point of difference matters right now and those formal senior meetings aren’t happening like they usually do
3. Have on-line “all hands” meetings with everyone in the company at least once per month. Set up screens on the factory floor, in multiple offices and of course home dial ins – all safely distanced. I have found by asking each location to tell a story about how they are coping, or share some issue or positive bit of news, that people want to speak up and it becomes a total sharing experience, not a top down management communication. And the teams love to see everyone.

The aim that I have always tried to achieve is to run a company that I would want to work within and therefore strive to make it a place that people enjoy working and enjoy coming to work.

1. Communicate a clear vision that everybody can quickly understand and relate to and appreciate their own role
2. Listen to and learn from the team and empower them to move the business forward in line with the vision that you have set out
3. Passion – you have to love what you do and be passionate about it because if you aren’t how can anybody else be!

1. Be ambitious – without pursuing dreams, life is mundane. Having big dreams, embracing reality and having the determination will bring you a successful life. Decide what you want and have the courage to run after it.

2. Fail well – nothing in life is easy and obstacles in all aspects of life are inevitable. When you crash, learn, get better and crash less. Learn from you mistakes. Be brutally honest with yourself about why you failed. Seek criticism from those you trust and respect. “Critics are our friends, they show us our weaknesses.” Benjamin Franklin.

3. Balance – “work hard, play hard.” Escapism be it family time, sport, a night out, etc. key to having a clear mind and enhances productivity.

Goes without saying that you need a good work ethic, to act with integrity and transparency to gain trust from others and build long and meaningful relationships.

Having a vision of a better future has to be central to any leader who wants others to join in their journey, but you also need resilience, lots of it. That will manifest itself in the years of hard work, high levels of stress due to the implications of failure, and constant doubt from those who wish to slow you down or don’t see, or like, the vision.

Finally, a level of self awareness to understand that all adventures need a major slice of good luck if you are to succeed and whilst a great vision and huge amounts of staying power from the leader should increase the odds, the level of success you and your team achieve will have been impacted by things outside of your direct control – so if things don’t work out, pick yourself up and try again. If they do work out, be humble enough to recognise it was never inevitable, let others take the glory and be grateful that luck will have been on your side.

Capability: Know what you are talking about or let someone who does do the talking…No using ten words where one will do and no waffle.

Determination and Clarity: People often give up too easily and are negative without reason…Can’t do that…Why not? ….Err, silence! Don’t beat your head against the brick wall it is easier to go around or over it but don’t give up until you know for sure it’s not working. Then make a decision, don’t delay, don’t over think, be decisive. Be clear and precise in what are the goals and objectives, don’t be afraid to give instruction…Do it like this! And don’t ever accept upward delegation!

Sincerity: Only do what you believe in, don’t do it if you don’t believe. Tell it how it is and give encouragement and praise where praise is due. Work in the same way you expect your employees/colleagues to work. First to start the day and last to finish works wonders 🙂

1) Create a vision with others that they can engage in
2) Establish a great team – empower them to push further and listen to them
3) Be ambitious about the results that you desire

Having observed many styles of leadership in my 43 years of work so far, I aspire to the following:
1. Know and communicate what the organisation you lead stands for and where it is going.
2. Manage people as well as lead them – don’t assume you know all the answers and both ask questions and give credit for good ideas.
3. Try to be the one your staff want to succeed rather than the one they are frightened of.

(1) Be Humble-‘Humility’- a number of research studies have demonstrated that humble leaders listen more effectively, inspire great teamwork and focus everyone (including themselves) on mission, vision and values more effectively than leaders who appear arrogant and over-confident.

(2)Live to Serve- ‘servant leadership’- share power and influence with those around you and put the needs of your people first. Help them develop and perform as highly as possible. Instead of the staff in an organisation like a trust working to serve the CEO, the CEO exists to serve the people.

(3) Be Authentic- ‘authenticity’- is about building legitimacy through honest relationships with your team where everyone’s input is valued decisions are built on a sharing a clear moral purpose.

1.) It starts with a clear, powerful vision that they use to lead, applying motivation and encouragement. Using this gifted leaders can navigate the ups and downs of business with confidence and more importantly, empathy.
2.) They don’t need to be the smartest person in the room; they have the courage to know their shortcomings and reach out to others to fill the gaps and the humility to give credit where credit is due.
3.) Key is their ability to understand how to have fun as well as work harder than anyone. Leading by example, but finding the time to build authentic relationships with people with that funny bone intact so that they aren’t continually operating on stress level 10 but rather with a healthy perspective.

1 Listen – Listen to those around you, they can elevate your understanding of any situation. listening will engage your colleagues and make them feel that they are a valued member of the team.
2 Learn – Learn from those you employ, why employ intellectual staff to micromanage and restrict their potential.
3 Teach – Teach those around you, the experience you have gained in your industry that has lead you to your position of leadership should be passed on. The more your employees grow the business will follow.

For me, leadership is a responsibility, not an entitlement. You have a responsibility to your employees to ensure that they thrive and grow.

To be frank I don’t know if I am qualified to say. However there are a few things I have learnt over the 30 years I have been starting and running businesses:

1. Be honest and open with colleagues customers and suppliers. Its easier than weaving a tangled web. By that I mean with colleagues make them part of the business I have always had employee/shareholders. With customers make sure they know how you do business, in our case we will do the best job we can , you the customer need to be honest with us and pay on time. With suppliers make sure you tell us the bad news in plenty of time so we can adapt.

2. Run the business as if it will be your lifes work, never think about a sale or dressing it up for a sale, If it is a good business then good things will happen.

3. Don’t beat yourself or your team up about losing business., If you are as good as you think you are then that customer will find that the grass is not as green on the other side and they will be back. The trick is to ensure you are still in business to welcome them back.

1. Leave your ego at the door. You are a leader because you thought outside of the box; did something unique. There’s no need to have a ‘don’t you know who I am attitude’ – it makes you look insecure and lame.

2. Ask questions, listen and act (where appropriate). Whether it’s your team or your customers, ask their thoughts and opinions. You learn so much from this exercise. Listening and acting on this info, sometimes taking risks and not being afraid to make changes, shows true entrepreneurialism.

3. Be passionate about what you do and more importantly – have FUN doing it. Life and business should be fun, interesting, thought-provoking and awesome. A leader who embodies these traits, creates a powerful company and team!

Without doubt, the most important role a leader can play is to set the ‘environment for success’ where people are empowered to deliver. And, by that I mean:

1) developing the right values & behaviours to support
2) good processes, procedures and decision making/ways of working to get the work done (employee enablement) in the most effective and efficient way.

Probably THE most important aspect (and often most overlooked because its hard) of any business is organisational behaviour. In other words how the work gets done is just important (if not more so) than the work itself. Setting the right behavioural tone in terms of those behaviours that are to be encouraged, valued and accepted is crucial to creating an environment free of politics, personal agendas and bias (especially as the organisation grows in size, complexity and critical mass) – the enemy of collaboration and sustainable results.

Good processes and intel(which is largely ubiquitous today) can only take you so far. Strive to build trusting relationships. Recruit the best people for each role; attitudinally not just in terms of skills sets and experience. Good people will become strong advocates. This way the environment becomes self-sustaining. Value diversity but don’t compromise on your values.

Finally, a leader should:

3) Care deeply about everyone in the business.

They should have a driven, inquisitive mindset and an insatiable appetite to get to the truth of things in the search for better results. Walking the floor of the organisation to understand the ‘mood’ not just the board room.

Constantly encouraging people to challenge and question all aspects of the business in the pursuit of change and continuous improvement.

Be fair and consistent and lead with a genuine, sincere and humble approach. Never with status or Ego.

To be a leader, people must want to follow and that means you have to create a connection.

Sacrifice- As a leader, you will need to learn to make a number of sacrifices for the team with a smile.

Lead by Example – This is essential especially within the Volunteering/ charity sector as the only way you can retain the passionate volunteers and follow your lead.

Faith – Faith is one of the most important elements (for me) as a leader. Having faith within myself and the people around me is the key to success which is often undervalued. without faith, there can be no team spirit, loyalty, or sacrifice.

“Be authentic” If you’re new to the leadership game you can often feel you have to walk in a particular pair of shoes, but if it turns out you can’t manage skyscraper stilettos and you’re more of a Birkenstock kind of person, you’re going to get uncomfortable very quickly and the people around you will pick up on it.
“The harder you work the luckier you get” Don’t overthink things, more often than not it’s just an application that’s required not some fancy solution.
“Eat your frog” Procrastination is the devil, inspire your staff by leading by example, don’t put off eating your frog, gobble the nasty tasks down first in the day so the day only gets better.

Leadership is about confidence, the ability to collaborate effectively and a sense of empathy to seek the views of others. Leaders don’t operate in isolation. And leaders thrive in environments that respect ideas and opinions above job titles.

Management and leadership are too often conflated. Some of the best leaders I have worked with were not managers. Instead, their qualities were in bringing people with them; to explain their idea and be generous in letting others contribute and run with it. Leaders inspire people and listen and share so that everyone involved can take personal ownership of success.

If you want to lead, forget titles and salaries and positions. Trust your instincts and focus on inspiring the people around you to join your vision to make it succeed.

Take time regularly to gain and keep perspective

Burn out is one of the biggest hindrances to productivity, and can leave you being good to no-one. Schedule regular and proper time to step away, refresh, re-focus, and come back with a clear mind: it will help you to keep working on top form, and be the inspiration to your team that they want and need.

Continually develop your EQ

To lead brilliantly you must make sure you’re able to ‘control your monkey’, and respond to challenging situations with a logical mind-set rather than a potentially hot-headed, emotional one that could keep you from arriving at the best solution possible. But at the same time…

….Bring your heart!

The very best of leaders can remain cool, calm and logical while also bringing heart and intuition to their role. See people as people – not just problems in need of fixing – and be as real and as authentic as you can in all you do.

Well, there is a common misconception that individuals are just naturally gifted with leadership skills. The truth is that leadership traits, like other skills, can be acquired with time and practice.
In my opinion, the top 3 traits of a gifted leader are:
1. Effective Communicators
2. Long-term Thinkers / Visionary
3. Confident and Self Motivated

Customer and their changing expectations on experience – primarily a seamless journey is becoming key. Top 3 mantras to understand what your customer wants are:
1. Follow your customers
2. Stay close to your core value proposition
3. Adopt technology to stay nimble and relevant

Make difficult decisions and do not procrastinate!
Be straight with people, but be kind while you are doing it…
Always approach situations with understanding from all sides, never assume or judge.

Leadership must be a reciprocal relationship with staff, clients and indeed your own relationship with the organisation. once something gets unbalanced, problems can arise, leadership is about rebalancing to drive the organisation forward in the most effective way.

Create your own luck. Luck is what happens when you turn intuition into action. That might sound cheesy — but it’s true. Trust your instinct, it led you here and it will lead you there. Follow the general direction of what you love and are inspired by. Unwind the problem and follow the thread — intuition will lead you there. Detail and evidence are important, but they won’t get you there alone.

There’s 8 billion people in the world and millions of those will be leaders, in one way or another, whether they’re leading a family, household, small business, corporate or country. Just like in life, each individual will have different traits, and each leadership role will require a different mix of those. for me, things that I focus on are:

1. Enthusiasm – it’s infectious and without loving what you do, you’re unlikely to succeed. Start up a business doing something you love and the success will come.

2. Integrity – your team are likely to be your biggest critics and you’ve got to show them, and sometimes teach them integrity in everything you do, being true to your word, making the harsh decisions when they need to be made and explaining why you had to. This also covers being fair and reasonable to your customers and suppliers.

3. Graciousness – accept that your ideas aren’t always the best ones, that you need to have people on your team that are better than you, that you need to show gratitude to your team, for even the smallest things.

They’re mine, everyone will have their own and it’s important that you’re genuine to yourself in order to find the right style of leadership that works for you… and then you’ll be successful.

1. Understanding what you want to achieve. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as you will often be faced with lots of opportunities, all with great outcomes, but without a clear picture of where you want to go, you can often be pulled off course.

2. Don’t just expect your people to be the best than can be, help them. Sometimes that means telling the truth. As great leaders, we shouldn’t hide the truth, we should focus on how to share it to make a positive impact.

3. Know that leadership is hard, doesn’t always come naturally and is the culmination of many little things that combine into being a leader. Except its about making progress and not perfection.

Others before self, curiosity and visibly failing without fear. The last one is my favorite and my biggest personal challenge, being brave enough to publicly fail, especially in front of my team. Failure is critical to learning and finding the right path and solution to a problem, to not fail is to not try and others need to see you fail so they are not afraid to try. As a tech leader I know too well how important innovation is to the success of my company and team, fear of failure can be biggest thing to stifle innovation. As a Leader you have to show that failure is one more step towards a better outcome.

1) Don’t be afraid to cause upset, people don’t like change but as a leader sometimes you just have to force it
2) Listen and Learn, Information changes listen to learn and if required research to make sure you understand what is happening
3) Friendly but not best mates, Action against friends is hard, remember you are leading people and you may have to discipline them

Reduce overwhlem in yourself and your team. Start by outlining your tasks for the year, then break them down into quarters, months, weeks and days. At the end of each day, have each team member write down what they achieved today, and what they are planning to achieve tomorrow.
Celebrate the wins – focus on positivity, encouragement and fun. A happy team makes happy customers.

– Have a passion for your position. One of the most important elements of successful entrepreneurship is loving what you do. This means not just a love for doing business, but also a passion for your specific field. I am personally very passionate about climate change. This is why I created the “MyTree” app. available in the app store.

– Be alert and active. I am constantly looking for opportunities to enhance my business and act decisively whenever I find one. What it means is remaining productive at all times, so that all you do contributes to your goals.

– Plan for perfection. Successful entrepreneurs regularly define their business goals and come up with detailed plans to achieve them.
This allows them to focus their actions toward a consistent, positive outcome for the company.
A penchant for planning means you will always have a clear sense of what to do next, and can better assess individual decisions based on how they fit into your broader strategy.

1. Hire people who are better than you in terms of skills and expertise, aligned with you in terms of values, and diverse to you in terms of experience, personality and demographics. Empower them and hold them accountable. Know when to get out of the way so your team can flourish.
2. Prioritise well. Know when to walk away or say no, and when to do it gently or strongly. Know when to take no for an answer, and when to push harder.
3. Keep learning, proactively, from inside and outside your organisation and your field; invest in yourself to invest in your business.

When shaping the next generation of leaders, at Waste at least, we always refer back to our cultural principles:
Be brave – Do what’s right, not what’s easy.
Make it better – Continously improve yourself and inspire everyone around you to do the same.
Own your shit – When things go well, everyone takes credit. When things go wrong, take responsibility and learn from it.
Be kind – Don’t be an ass! 🙂 Without humility and kindness, you won’t attract the right people you want around you.

A clear goal or sense of direction aligned with an ability to communicate it and make it feel like a fun and achievable journey. Most important though is celebrating the contribution of others and empowering them to feel in control of your shared goals.

Having a strong forward vision: as someone whose business specialises in delivering high impact brand campaigns, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of having a clear vision of what I want to achieve. Not just visualise a finished project, but also what success looks like for my business. In order to achieve that, I need to be able to communicate my vision effectively to my team.

Make a difference: Having the ability to make a difference is a gift bestowed upon a leader, especially as a female in such a high position. Being a part of the cultural changes towards diversity, equality, and inclusion for all, is your opportunity to make a real change – for better and for always. In the same sense as making a difference, having the attitude and company culture to do so is also vital. Leading with passion is infectious, which means that if you want your team to share the same passion you have for what you do, you need an environment in which creativity and engagement can thrive. That doesn’t just happen by itself – it needs to come from the top, which is why leaders have a crucial role in defining the culture of a company.

Be brave, take risks: Being brave and taking risks is a key trait of an excellent leader. Taking a step into the unknown, and taking risks to earn rewards, is the secret behind all good leaders, and your staff will respect somebody who isn’t afraid to take a risk and is brave in their decision making.

Humility – no one wants to work for or with a ****
Integrity – trust is the foundation of any healthy & strong relationship or partnership
Confidence – Someone’s got to lead the charge into the muck & bullets, someone has to risk it all….
Why not you?

1- trust your intuition – make observations, call on past experiences, consider consequences but sometimes just do your gut feeling is telling you to do and make you sleep at night.

2- keep on learning – I believe there is always something new to learn everyday and from any situation an opportunity to become wiser. Constantly challenge yourself, and you will be amazed with the results.

And most important Lead by EXAMPLE, people will just follow you.

Inspire > Educate > Adapt. If the last year has taught me anything, it’s that good leadership is essential in difficult times. As a leader, if I can’t do any of these three, our business would not be surviving as it is.

Inspire // During good times and bad, a workforce looks to it’s leader for inspiration. Unless the person leading the team can inspire, how can anyone else feel inspired themselves? Staff need someone who will lift them and make them believe anything is possible.

Educate // Unless a team knows and understands an end goal, every task will seem monotonous, A good leader should be willing and able to share their knowledge to help build0up members of their team to become better at what they do and more confident.

Adapt // A good leader should be able to adapt to any situation and able to look at the big picture. The ability to analyze and adapt to changes are essential but also to have a willingness to do so.

Honesty. Clarity. Loyalty.
Honesty with your team and with clients including being honest enough to admit when you’re wrong or when someone else has a better idea.
Clarity around your expectations from team members as well as the vision and mission for the company.
Loyalty to support both team members and clients when needed and to build trust internally an externally. Let people know that you have their backs and will support them through their own challenges and mistakes they make.

Thank you for asking me! We started a business to do something really, really well with a mantra of “do it once and do it right”. We are grateful and fortunate that success has been a happy result of this.
My advice would be:
Show you genuinely care, in every aspect of your daily life, to colleagues, customers, and third parties alike
Identify your weaker areas and employ people far better than you to plug the gaps, and keep telling them how good they are
Follow your instincts, never compromise your values and think big!

1. CONFIDENCE – Whatever you choose to do, always be confident and give it everything you’ve got. If you’re only going to make a half-hearted effort, it’s probably better not to bother at all.

2. HONESTY – Always be honest with the people you’re leading. This will help you to earn their trust and respect (two things that no effective leader can operate without).

3. COLLABORATION – Listen to your team and take their suggestions on board. Remember, there’s a difference between a leader and a boss: a leader works WITH others, while a boss merely tells others what to do.

I am the inventor of the ShowerPowerBooster, it has a 20 year patent and I own 100% of the patent.
As a leader I have established around me a team of people who follow my business ethos which includes Customer Service, and an Excellent Product. On so many occasions I have been faced with suppliers wanting to swap quality for a lower price but maintaining quality is the top reason we sell by word of mouth such a brilliant product.

For an inventor it is essential your product can give results better than competitive products and solutions. If it is not better the invention will never make you a profit. It is essential for get a patent or others will simply copy you. Keep control of the patent so you can dictate the price, quality, and if you insist it is made in Britain it will be. Lead people who share your ethics and vision.

Firstly, you don’t need to be a CEO, Manger or even Supervisor to be a gifted leader. Anyone can lead by stealth, so never underestimate the power of your influence on your surroundings.
Secondly, if you are responsible for leading a team, give them a safe space to be themselves. We all feel better when we can be the same person at home and at work and the energy we save switching personas can be channelled into adding value to your role.
Finally, it’s a bit of a cliché, but I believe a gifted leader always leads by example. Be the change you want to see and set the standard.

Three qualities I recognise in a gifted leader:

1) LISTENING: the worst leaders I have met so far tend to talk a lot and not listen as much as they should (to their employees, to the customers and so on). Listen actively, and most of the answers will come to you as a result.

2) HAVING A VISION: your team needs to see where you are heading to. Let them picture what success looks like, see the long term aims and let them feel active part of the journey.

3) DELEGATING: build a team you can trust, give them vision and direction…and let them work their magic! No leader is expert in every single aspect of the work. A good leader lets professionals do their own job.

Top of my list would be Time Management – or perhaps more accurately – Do What You Say You Will Do, When You Say You Will Do It. That way people who deal with you will have complete confidence and faith in you.
Trust Your People – You have employed them for their skills and expertise to do a job that you have agreed. Trust them to get on with it.
Lastly – Get Out of the Way! Linked to Trust. Don’t stand in your team’s way. Help and support them, but dont micro-manage them. Help them fly and everyone benefits.

If I was to choose my top three traits of a truly gifted leader, they would be:
Number One: Authenticity – always be yourself and allow others to be themselves too
Number Two: Open Mindedness – don’t confuse being a leader with always knowing the answer, be human and consider the viewpoints and experience of others
and Number Three: Curiosity – nothing stays the same so take time to look at what is happening in the world around you and consider how you can bring new ideas and ways of working into your business

I have been so fortunate to work with some incredibly gifted leaders who have inspired me to lead in a way that feels so natural, and not necessarily like everyone else does it!
1- Honesty. Always be honest, to your clients, colleagues, team and yourself!
2- Be kind. We all need more kindness in our lives, and this should start with the way you lead. Treat others not how you wish to be treated but better!
3- Use the word NO when needed, do not be afraid of it. Say no to customers who are rude to your team, say no to bullies and say no when something doesn’t feel right.

You need to be persistent without being a pest, you must understand whom you are trying to deal with or who you are dealing with, understand their business and offer a solution that they did not know they needed and finally be consistent in what you do, remember for most businesses they have a choice, make their choice you.

I’ve been fortunate enough to learn lessons in leadership from inspiringly gifted individuals, through to those who I’d only follow out of curiosity… Such as they are, my three Top Traits of Gifted Leaders are:

• Vulnerability – Everyone holds leaders up on pedestals of various heights, and often don’t see or consider how human these individuals are. Having vulnerability, proudly displayed and demonstrated where appropriate, can really help people aim higher, take leaps of faith and aspire to the heights of the Gifted Leader.
• Humour (a good sense of!) – I challenge anybody to define or describe any situation, ever, that could not be made better with injection of suitable humour. It brings people together, builds bonds, encourages communication and is a great technique for helping people to step back, widen their horizons and develop a sense of proportionality to the context.
• Risk taking – 99% of the mistakes that you will make are reversible. Go out, make bold choices and take risks… Be calculated, but brave.

Initially, this answer might be something to do with skill sets around management and planning. Whilst those are definitely needed skills and ones that I have had to develop over the years, (still working on that), these are nowhere to be seen in my top 3 traits. These are the gifts I observe in others and see as seedlings growing diligently in me

Being a gifted leader involves having the figurative 1000-yard stare into the future and the tenacity to hold on until we arrive, bringing everyone with them. A leader is one who leads the way, no one else in front, and taking us all into the unknown. The vision trait is often innate yet many have it laying dormant and under developed. Dreaming the way, tracking back to where we are now and developing the steps to help the two meet comes with practice.

Whilst being at the front of the journey you are somewhat alone, it doesn’t mean it’s all on you or indeed the leader makes all the decisions. Another top trait of great leadership is using your talent heavy team, your melting pot of personalities wisely and listening to their contributions. My team has a plethora of skills that I simply don’t have refined enough to call skilful. They do what I view as pretty much impossible. They also reflect back the immediate issues that I need to see when I’m too focussed on the horizon. This is the really workings of a team, everyone is heard, contributes and supports. I see good leaders acknowledging that daily.

Finally, trait three is resilience which waxes and wanes across the years of leading. For example, traversing the pandemic with your healthy head held high and your team believing in your way forward is no mean feat. Retaining resilience is hard work and requires the sort of self-care that gets forgotten; basics like enough sleep, healthy food and regular movement plus the times when you need to lean on a peer. Put your own oxygen mask on first and you will survive, resilience retained in the face of merciless mountains to climb.

TOP 3 TRAITS OF A GIFTED LEADER

1. Lead by example; show the way by being a role model. If you set the tone, your colleagues will follow it.

2. Show humility – good Leaders share the limelight and are comfortable crediting others. Support your colleagues. They’ll appreciate it and your clients will, too.

3. Demonstrate consistency by communicating all the time – make sure you’re heard, check for understanding and know the huge importance of listening.

**Bonus Trait – Set your expectations and stick to them. Knowing what you won’t tolerate means there’s no confusion and a fair, consistent approach.**

Having the vision, developing a team and supporting their growth. As director, I see my role primarily as having the vision to drive the business forwards towards growth. I think the key to a great business is the develop a reliable, competent team and let them get on with what they do best. I have a fantastic group of managers who are more than capable of running the business with little direct involvement from myself. Therefore, I see my chief responsibility as guiding and supporting the management team in their various roles.

Embrace conflict, not for the sake of it, but because when we reach the other side our thinking will have advanced and we will have a shared understanding. If we don’t embrace conflict, we can never better ourselves or our ideas.

Judge the content not the person, to create an environment and culture where criticism can be given and taken. Ensures healthy and robust debate on the best way forward.

Enable people to take accountability and responsibility so their jobs have meaning. Without meaning there is no point in striving to maximise value creation.

Great question!

My top 3 would have to be perseverance, courage and adaptability.

Perseverance – business is tough and full of rejection, 99% of the time your confidence is on the ropes and people tell you that you or your brand is not good enough, but this is life. You have to take it on the chin, be polite and move on because you only need that 1% to believe in the vision.

Courage – a great leader has to be a great decision maker, when I first took the helm at Hommage the one thing I noticed more than anything else was that I wasn’t reporting directly to anyone, everyone was reporting to me and looking to me for direction and action. This can sometimes be a bit daunting but my trick to break it down is through rational thought analysis – what does the customer want? what makes my staff tick? is the risk worth the reward? As long as you can rationalise it in your head you believe in it and you can go all in, if you don’t you will lack the courage to commit.

Adaptability – the most important trait in life – “rolling with the punches”. The world changes, the market and consumer demands are constantly shifting, different people have different motivations to get up and go and if you get stuck in old one-dimensional ways of thinking it’s highly likely you won’t adapt to the demands required.

Hope this helps!

A simple question that could be easily answered with the usual adjectives i.e. integrity, authenticity, honesty, vision etc. However, the reality is the traits change and evolve over time and also very much depends on what requires to be lead. Let me explain:

For a startup business, I’d say:

Vision – What are you aiming for
Work ethic / commitment – You’d better be ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked before
Adaptable – You’d better be ready for things to come out you that you didnt predict or that you’ve never experienced before

Ultimately the world spins very quickly these days so your mindset, strategy and execution needs to be able to move with it.

In general terms, I view the 3 traits below as being critical to becoming an effective leader:

Vision – As a leader, you simply must be able to articulate where you want to take the business, your team etc. Linked to this is being able to shape an appropriate strategy. The word appropriate is also key here as it needs to be appropriate based on the skills, experience and resources you have at your disposal
Execution – Once there is clarity on what is being aimed for, you need a way to understand if the right things are being worked on. This could be a combination of technology, processes and certainly the ability to communicate so you have the information you need on hand, always (otherwise how can you possibly make good decisions)
Integrity – Being a leader of a business is hard and often a thankless task. You must be able to treat your team with respect and be consistent regardless of what is at stake. It’s also a journey, so enjoy it as it’s easy to focus too much on the destination and you miss the journey. The journey is where the growth happens to you as a leader and that of your team so try not to miss it

Distilling leadership into 3 words is tricky but the above are the key ones for me. And wrapping it all up into being a successful leader is all about having a vision, suitable strategy, the right culture and ability to execute, the bonkers part is that it all needs to be fairly fluid!

1. They Know When to Run
Always extremely hard workers naturally and leading by example. Lifting the level of all around them. When the team see their leader working it is hard not to follow.

2. They Know When to Pause
They don’t rush into all situations but rather will consider their thoughts, the current climate in their team and act in the best interests of all stakeholders.

3. They Know When to Rest
Gifted leaders keep things in perspective and don’t seem to live in a state of constant stress and anxiety. They understand life should be enjoyable and fulfilling.

1. The first important trait is to ensure that you make the right decisions. There is an element of natural intelligence to this, but mostly it’s doing the research and thinking through the options and their potential outcomes. You need to give yourself a margin of error so that even if it doesn’t go exactly to plan, you haven’t left you and your people open to disaster.
2. Once you have made the right decision, have the courage to act on it.
3. Patience. Some things take time to come to fruition.

1. Visionary (Hope & Direction) – Imagining the invisible then creating a vision that engages others, motivates commitment & drives results all whilst developing yourself.
2. Trusted – I don’t believe you can successfully lead without having the trust of all stakeholders. Reliability, credibility and connection are everything.
3. Cognitive Readiness – Being prepared for change and expecting the unexpected is pretty essential too!