The top traits of a strong leader

Strong leaders need experience and knowledge to effectively manage a team and make sure a charity is achieving its goals. But soft skills – as well as technical skills – are also important. This article focusses on the soft skills all strong charity CEOs need.

 

Resources for Employers defines soft skills as “general traits not specific to any job” that help people to “excel in the workplace”. Soft skills include communication and teamwork. They are skills that can be transferred to other workplaces.

 

The Center for Creative Leadership says that all charities need effective leadership to work towards their mission. A strong leader will make sure resources are used efficiently and that staff work towards a common goal.

 

Here are five traits that strong charity leaders have:

 

 

Be adaptable

 

From COVID-19 to the cost-of-living crisis, the charity sector has faced a number of challenges in recent years. It’s important that charity leaders can adapt and respond to the constantly changing environment.

 

During the pandemic, for example, many charities moved their services online to make sure vulnerable people who relied on them still had support. Charities also worked remotely to keep staff safe and continued bringing money in when most fundraising avenues stopped.

 

Cause Leadership says that it’s important for leaders to be able to adapt to changing circumstances as it will help charities to flex their operations and be more agile.

 

 

Make effective decisions

 

Strong charity leaders need to be able to make decisions that are properly thought out. This is because charities have tight budgets and resources need to be used effectively. You don’t want to backtrack on a decision and waste valuable funds.

 

All decisions need to take into account the opinions of others (see the trait below about listening to feedback) and facts and data.

 

 

Show empathy towards others

 

Empathy is “the ability to feel and understand other people’s emotions and perspectives,” according to psychologist Professor Robin Banjeree. It is important for leaders to have empathy as it helps them to work well with other people.

 

Indeed says compassionate leadership makes staff feel understood and cared for. It creates a workplace where people are valued and builds trust and loyalty. This, in turn, increases employee morale and retention in the workplace, and boosts productivity.

 

A key part of empathy is actively listening, as this helps a person to really understand what someone else is going through. For example, recognising when someone needs help with completing a project or dealing with conflict with another colleague.

 

It’s also about recognising when people have things going on in their personal lives. For instance, understanding that a colleague may need to take time off to look after a dependant. Giving people flexibility in the workplace is shown to make staff feel more motivated and enthusiastic about their work.

 

As well as being good listeners, empathetic leaders also show a genuine interest in someone, encourage their staff and promote collaboration.

 

 

Listen and act on feedback

 

As well as giving feedback to their team, leaders need to be able to receive and act on feedback from colleagues. Listening to staff will make them feel valued and show them that their opinions matter.

 

Putting strong internal communications in place will support this process. For example, sending out surveys to staff to get their thoughts on different aspects of the charity. It’s important for CEOs to take on board what people say in surveys because if people don’t feel listened to, they may not want to share their views in the future.

 

HR Magazine says that listening to staff will help to inform the important decisions that leaders have to make (see trait above about making effective decisions).

 

If possible, leaders should introduce an open-door policy. Head of HR Steve Collinson at Zurich UK, who is quoted in HR Magazine, says that it’s not about physically opening doors. “It’s about creating a culture to make everyone comfortable enough to approach senior management with their ideas and opinions.”

 

 

Own up to mistakes

 

Everyone makes mistakes, including leaders. But a sign of a strong leader lies in how they handle their mistakes.

 

Leaders must be able to admit their mistakes and be accountable for them. This will show vulnerability, which will help colleagues to relate to them as individuals and trust and respect them.

 

It will make a leader feel more human. Staff will feel reassured that a leader has experienced and overcome similar problems to them.

 

It’s also important for CEOS to learn from their mistakes and teach others about what they’ve learned.