What separates a manager from a leader? It’s more than just authority. It’s about the ability to inspire, innovate, and navigate challenges with confidence.
This comprehensive guide delves into the key leadership attributes and competencies that define exceptional leadership and provides valuable resources to bookmark along the way.
Attributes vs. Competencies in Business
While attributes and competencies are essential components of successful leadership, they represent different aspects of a leader’s profile and abilities.
- Attributes are the internal qualities or characteristics—often intrinsic and inherent—that shape a leader’s style, personality, and approach. They include traits like empathy, integrity, and resilience, defining who a leader is at their core. Attributes are generally more difficult to teach and measure.
- Competencies, on the other hand, are learned and measurable knowledge, behaviors, and skills that enable leaders to perform their roles effectively. They are more action-oriented and closely tied to achieving specific outcomes. Competencies can span a variety of areas and be transformational or transactional in nature.
For example, patience is an attribute—an intrinsic quality—whereas strong communication skills are a competency, a skill set that can be learned and developed over time through practice and experience.
Attributes provide the foundation of leadership, shaping a leader’s character and approach, while competencies define the behaviors and skills required for effective leadership within an organization. Competencies are a roadmap for what good leadership looks like and for organizations, answers the question, “What does leadership mean for us?” The distinction between attributes and competencies underscores that leadership is a lifelong journey, requiring continuous learning and growth. Together, they are essential for achieving leadership excellence.
Why Do Attributes and Competencies Matter?
Highly effective leaders are vital to an organization, playing a pivotal role in driving employee engagement and performance. By leveraging personal attributes and applying key competencies, leaders inspire and influence others, enabling them to overcome challenges while optimizing team performance and achieving business results.
When organizations establish a clear leadership standard of excellence it clarifies expectations and empowers today’s leaders to set a powerful example for future leaders in the pipeline. A leadership competency model or framework fosters a positive leadership culture that is aligned with the organization’s talent strategy, ensuring its impact is sustained over time.
5 Highly-Valued Leadership Attributes
What makes a great leader? While many qualities contribute to effective leadership, certain attributes consistently rise to the top. Here are five essential leadership qualities and attributes that can elevate a leader’s impact and effectiveness.
1. Adaptable
Organizations are constantly evolving, shaped by new technologies, shifting market trends, a diverse workforce, and rapidly changing economic conditions. In this dynamic environment, adaptability is a high-value leadership attribute. Adaptable leaders navigate change with agility, adjusting their mindset, approach, and plans as needed to drive organizational success. They demonstrate resilience in the face of setbacks and challenges, turning obstacles into opportunities for growth and innovation.
Learn more about flexibility and adaptability.
2. Self-Aware
A leader’s ability to recognize and understand their own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses, is a vital leadership attribute in today’s business environment. Self-aware leaders have key characteristics such as:
- Learning from mistakes and handling them with poise
- Being open to feedback and responding constructively
- Maintaining composure under pressure
Like many competencies, self-awareness is primarily an attribute but can also be seen as a learnable and measurable skill that is intentionally developed over time through training and experience. Both perspectives are essential for effective leadership.
3. Visionary
Being visionary is another valuable leadership attribute because it enables leaders to see beyond the present and guide their team toward a desired future state. A visionary leader inspires, aligns, and mobilizes people around a shared purpose that can be executed with milestones and metrics. While individuals can have a great vision, good leaders can effectively communicate and execute that vision with milestones and objectives. When leaders are able to operate with the short and long term in mind, they make a difference in their own realm of responsibility, just like other great business leaders who have changed the world for the better.
4. Authentic
Effective leaders are guided by a strong set of core values that serve as the foundation for actions and decisions This unwavering commitment to integrity gives them the foundation needed to influence and guide others. As leaders take a genuine interest in people and maintain steadfast principles, they create an environment where others feel valued and respected. At the same time, a flexible leadership style allows them to adapt their approach to meet the unique needs of individuals and situations, enhancing their ability to inspire and guide effectively. The combination of authenticity and a flexible approach enables leaders to build meaningful connections, foster trust, and create the conditions necessary for both individual and organizational success.
5. Humble
Humble leaders have unique characteristics that enable them to influence others, build credibility and navigate successes and challenges effectively. They recognize their strengths and opportunities for improvement and are willing to learn from mistakes and setbacks. Humble leaders embrace a mindset of lifelong learning and enable team members to grow and excel. They lead with quiet confidence as to not overshadow others, yet they can act with decisiveness and assertiveness when needed.
5 Highly-Valued Leadership Core Competencies
To maximize their performance, high performing leaders consistently find ways to elevate their leadership competencies. These competencies can cover a wide range of topics and styles. Competencies support leaders in executing on talent and business strategies and supporting team members through the employee life cycle.
Examples of highly valued leadership competencies include:
1. Engages in Open Communication
A key competency of effective leadership is the ability to convey relevant information with composure, clarity, and purpose, ensuring that messages are understood as intended. Using a range of styles and approaches to get an intended message across, leaders demonstrate a commitment to open dialogue and transparency. When messages are unclear, leaders probe for deeper understanding and take steps to validate information.
2. Builds Relationships
This competency is related to a leader’s ability to establish and maintain meaningful and trusting connections with individuals and teams to fully leverage everyone’s contribution. When a leader builds relationships with an emphasis on respect, reciprocity, and trust, they are engaging in horizontal leadership which eliminates the corporate hierarchy and breaks down silos so there is more space for collaboration. Leaders with strength in this competency area use empathy to create a community within the workplace, creating open communication and networking channels.
3. Drives for Results
Results-driven leaders uphold high standards of excellence and take full ownership of their team’s performance and outcomes. They consistently demonstrate the ability to:
- Fully commit to quality and excellence on behalf of the organization and customers
- Leverage expertise with an enterprise mindset
- Focus resources on the highest-value priorities
- Follow through on commitments
- Measures performance towards organizational goals and strategies
- Lead others through change
4. Develops Talent
Future success depends on leaders who prioritize the growth and development of talent today. To build a lasting talent legacy, leaders must be able to address skill gaps and enhance the skills and capacity of their team to meet future demands. By providing constructive coaching, feedback, and mentoring, they are able to inspire and empower people to reach their potential. A supportive leadership style—one that fosters autonomy and professional growth—can be particularly effective in developing talent.
While maintaining an outward focus is essential, leaders must also embrace growth and development to enhance their own leadership capabilities. As they pursue opportunities to enhance their leadership skills, they not only improve themselves but also a culture of continuous learning that can sustain and drive long-term success.
5. Sets Direction
One of the hallmarks of successful work teams is their ability to work together to achieve desired outcomes. This success depends on a leader who can clearly define, communicate, and hold people accountable to a shared purpose, vision, strategy, and goals. When a team’s direction is confusing, vague, or misaligned with the broader organization’s vision, effort is lost and it is difficult for teams to flourish. With clarity, a team can be much greater. Rather than taking on a reactive approach, strong leaders lean on strategy and critical thinking. They take a step back and observe, considering current resources, trends, and roadblocks in making a decision. A well-defined focus allows visionary leaders to direct the energy and attention of team members around key priorities, enabling coordinated, purposeful action that drives results.
Additional Resources on Business Leadership
Leveraging your leadership attributes and equipping yourself with the right leadership practices and competencies, empowers you to accomplish your goals and build a lasting leadership legacy. We encourage you to take advantage of these additional resources to address any skill or knowledge gaps and further strengthen your leadership journey:
- 11 Leadership Tools and Skills: We’ve curated a list of 11 essential leadership tools and strategic skills that every leader should master to confidently navigate any challenges that may arise.
- The 25 Best Leadership Websites: The key to learning how to be a good leader is finding the right mentors. These 25 websites provide opportunities to learn and receive advice from other leaders in the industry.
- 7 Steps to Develop a Leadership Mindset: Leadership is not simply about holding a position of authority, it’s a way of thinking. Learn how leaders can cultivate a leadership mindset through seven steps.
Unleash Your Leadership Potential
CMOE’s programs and services help leaders of all types maximize their strengths and opportunities for improvement. Learn more about our practical and research-based solutions that transform leaders, teams and organizations:
