Being a leader is not about your job title or years of experience. It’s a mentality. It’s also the way you work and carry yourself. A leader is also a coach, a decision maker and a visionary. Show The way leaders behave and treat employees on their teams directly impacts company culture, employee engagement, and a company’s ability to retain and attract talent. Our Talent Trends 2022 The Great X report found that leadership was rated the no. 5 factor that influences candidates’ decisions on where to work – after remuneration, company cultures and values, flexible working arrangements and a greater sense of purpose. It is a trait that employers often undervalue compared to employees. Not everyone is a born leader; like any expertise, leadership skills can be learned and honed. It is essential to know that a leader's effectiveness is also dependent on the amount of influence and support you get from people in your team. You should never assume that people you work with would automatically follow your lead and respect your decisions just because you are in a leadership role. Your immediate supervisor already has your back because they hired you. You need to win over your peers, direct reports and the wider team members. Whether stepping into a leadership position from an individual contributor role or looking to progress in your career, here are 11 leadership qualities, characteristics and traits you can adopt. 1. Acknowledge, appreciate and give creditGreat leaders publicly express appreciation and acknowledge their team for their contributions. When you show appreciation for team members’ contributions and provide positive feedback, you help encourage a positive work environment. To inspire employees to give their best, they need to know that they are on the right track, and that their work will be valued and appreciated. Find ways to celebrate your team’s achievements, even through a simple “well done”. Do it consistently and deliberately. Praises for minor reasons, and frequent praises can come across as insincere and even demotivate others. Related: A culture of employee recognition contributes to retention 2. Active listeningAfter resigning in 1985, the late Steve Jobs said he returned to Apple as a humbled and better leader – and former Apple CEO John Scully credited much of this to his newfound ability to listen. While setting ground rules or implementing new approaches to various work processes is essential, taking a step back and listening to your team is also highly crucial. A good leader must stay attuned to what is going on with their team and company to make informed decisions. To be a great leader is to be a great communicator – and great communicators listen. Good leaders are proactive and intuitive listeners. To be an active listener, you must never interject or interrupt, always maintain eye contact, and use visual cues like nodding to show you genuinely listen. Employees want to feel listened to, not patronised or, even worse, ignored. 3. Communicate effectivelyCommunicating clearly, concisely and tactfully is a crucial leadership skill. Communication involves more than just listening attentively to others and responding appropriately. It also includes sharing valuable information, asking intelligent questions, soliciting input and new ideas, clarifying misunderstandings, and being clear about what you want. The best leaders also communicate to inspire confidence, drive motivation and energise their employees. Related: How to deal with difficult conversations at work 4. Show commitmentNo one likes to work for a non-committed leader or in a non-committed team. Your commitment as a leader can help foster team spirit that will differentiate an outstanding team from a mediocre one. A committed leader is more likely to gain their team’s trust. Importantly, showing commitment keeps team morale high. 5. Embrace failureFailure is part of success, and good leaders don’t shy away from failure – they use it as an opportunity for growth. Whether it’s a personal setback or a challenge within your team, understanding moments of failure is helpful as it encourages your team to improve and innovate. Encourage your team to embrace failure by publicly acknowledging your setbacks and sharing how you grew from every situation. Related: 5 interview questions to ask to tell a great candidate from a good one 6. Invest in your team’s futureA clear career progression plan is essential to employees. Along with planning your direct reports’ career paths in the company, a good leader also creates leadership opportunities for their direct reports. Leaders need to invest in their team by rewarding good work with appreciation, respect and opportunities for growth. Creating entry-level, low-risk leadership opportunities empowers team members and allows them to practise leadership without too much pressure. Challenge them with high expectations, encourage them to be creative, and show innovation. Communicate clear goals and deadlines to your team, and give them the autonomy and authority to decide how the work gets done. These opportunities can be as simple as leading a meeting or team-building activities, which can help build vital confidence in your team. From these activities, they can also get feedback from you about their leadership capabilities. Related: How to boost employee engagement – in the office or at home 7. Lead with empathyEmpathy is a complex skill to quantify. Being empathetic is to be able to see and understand situations from various viewpoints of employees of different seniority in the company, and comprehend the consequences of their decisions on everyone in the company. It also means that the leader can look beyond to inspire, encourage and strategies in ways that will motivate employees at all levels. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the role empathy plays in an organisation. It emphasised the importance of compassionate leadership and showed how building open and sincere relationships between managers and their reports directly impact workplace culture. Compassionate leadership creates a psychologically safe workplace where employees are not afraid to discuss difficult topics.
An effective team leader has a variety of traits and characteristics that encourage team members to follow him. Team leaders naturally possess certain qualities, such as compassion and integrity, or learn leadership skills through formal training and experience. The qualities of an effective team leader inspire the trust and respect of the team and stimulate production within the workplace.
Effective team leaders communicate clearly. Quality verbal and written communication skills allow leaders to present expectations to team members in a way workers can understand. Effective communication skills also allow team leaders to listen to the input of others.
Effective team leaders possess exceptional organizational skills. Organizational skills help team leaders plan objectives and strategies, which allow team members to perform optimally. Organized team leaders put systems in place that maintain order and guide team members toward meeting company goals and objectives.
An effective team leader is confident in his abilities, as well as confident in the abilities of his team members. A confident leader is secure in the decisions he makes that affect his team. A self-confident team leader also reassures team members of his authority within the organization.
A quality team leader is respectful of his team members. A respectful leader empowers employees by encouraging them to offer ideas about decisions that affect them. This lets team members know that the leader respects their input and opinions.
A quality team leader treats team members fairly. He is consistent with rewards and recognition, as well as disciplinary action. A fair leader ensures all employees receive the same treatment.
An effective team leader is honest and open with his team members. Leaders who possess integrity gain the trust of team members because he does what he says he will do and treats others the same way he wants to be treated.
Influential leaders help inspire the commitment of team members to meet company goals and objectives. Influential leaders also help manage change in the workplace by gaining the confidence of workers through effective decision making and communication.
Effective team leaders know how to share leadership through delegation. Delegating certain tasks to trustworthy team members allows the leader to focus on improving workplace functions and production.
Effective team leaders are powerful facilitators. As a facilitator, team leaders help workers understand their goals. They also help organize an action plan to ensure team members meet their goals and objectives more efficiently.
Team leaders utilize negotiation skills to achieve results and reach an understanding in the event of a workplace conflict. Team leaders who negotiate effectively streamline the decision-making process, as well as solve problems for the best interest of everyone involved. Skip to content
A team leader is tasked with managing the operational functionality of a group of people. Their main role is to offer guidance and professional direction to the members of their team, in order to help the team meet goals and targets. As a team leader, you must have qualities such as: Excellent communication. Team leaders are expected to have great interpersonal skills. You must be someone who is capable of empathising with people, when necessary, or even taking disciplinary action if the situation requires it. Fundamentally, you need to have a good understanding of people, their differences, and the approach required to deal with people on an individual and group basis. Problem solving. As a team leader, you will be the primary decision maker for the group. This means that the members of your team will lean on you for support, guidance, and help with solving difficult problems. You must be able to think logically and analytically, and able to work with the members of your team, to resolve issues. Motivating. It is extremely important that you are able to motivate the members of your team. As their leader, so to speak, it is down to you to encourage them and persuade them to work within their assigned targets – for the good of the group. It is likely that you’ll be asked to explain motivational techniques or strategies during your interview, so be prepared for this. Now, let’s look at some team leader interview questions and sample answers!
TIP #1 – Split your answer up into two parts (give information about you, and also why you are suited to the role.) TIP # 2 – Look at the job description and match your answer closely to it. TIP #3 – Be a firm but fair Team Leader. Sample Response “I am a hard-working, professional and conscientious person who enjoys the challenge of both leading and managing people, and also seeing projects and tasks through to successful completion. I pride myself on a strong work ethic and an ability to motivate a team in order to get the best out of them. I believe I am suited to the role of team leader, firstly, because I have the skills, qualities and attributes to match the job description, and secondly because I am someone who simply has a keen desire to lead and manage people. I feel more comfortable when I am managing and leading people and get a great sense of job satisfaction from completing projects through to the end for my employer, to a high standard.”
TOP TIP – Use ‘POWER’ words and phrases in your response that focus on your ability to:
Sample Response “There are numerous qualities that a team leader must possess if they are to be successful in the role. These include being a great communicator. If you cannot communicate effectively, and support your team, you will not see projects through to the end. You must also have a thorough understanding of your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and then adapt your plan based on their qualities. A team leader must be resolute in their actions, be confident in their own and their team’s abilities and also be determined to see projects through to the end. Finally, a team leader must be committed to delivering positive results for his or her employer and act as a positive role model for the organization they are working for.”
TIP #1 – All successful leaders know their team members strengths & weaknesses. TIP # 2 – Communication is vital to motivating your team. TIP #3 – Always be CLEAR when communicating with your team. If a team knows what’s expected of them, and you encourage & praise them, they will do anything for you! This is the one of the most common team leader interview questions and answers. Sample Response “There are two key elements I would use to motivate my team. These are communication and clarity. I would motivate my team by communicating with them in three ways. Firstly, by talking to each team member to find out what they are good at and what their strengths are. Secondly, I would communicate the organization’s goals regularly to ensure each team member was clear on the plan of action we had in place. And thirdly, I would be a supportive team leader who would encourage the team regularly during the task being undertaken and also praise them when appropriate. With regards to clarity, I feel a team is far more likely to succeed, and be self-motivated if they understand clearly what the plan is. I would always brief the team as to what is expected from them. If a team understands what is required, and they are praised when they work well, they will stay motivated.”
TIP #1 – To be an effective leader, you have to set the standards expected of your team. TIP # 2 – Being firm but fair is a great way to lead. TIP #3 – Showing empathy as a leader, when required, is vital. You should expect to demonstrate this during the process of your team leader interview questions and answers. Sample Response “I believe I am hard-working, professional and determined leader who takes great pride in their work. I am a leader who is able to get the most out of their team by implementing supportive and motivational strategies in parallel. Whilst I am very much a firm leader, who expects nothing but high standards from his team, I also have empathy and can react to a team members’ change in performance, if it occurs. As a team leader, I feel it is important to understand your team and what motivates them individually. Whenever leading a new team, I would always carry out initial staff appraisals to get to know my team and to also lay down the expectations I have of each team member. To summarize, I am leader who is firm, fair and highly-focused on my employers goals and their overall mission.”
TIP #1 – Always look to resolve problems and disputes quickly. TIP # 2 – Show the panel you have the confidence and expertise to resolve disputes. TIP #3 – When resolving issues between team members, always get those involved to genuinely agree to the resolution. Sample Response “First of all, I think it is important to get to the bottom of a dispute quickly. If you let a dispute or disagreement fester, or try and allow it to rectify itself naturally, you run the risk of it becoming a serious problem whereby it can affect the rest of the team. If there is a dispute or disagreement, I will first of all gather some facts to find out what the problem actually is. I will speak to each person involved individually to get clarity on the situation. Then, I will decide what my plan of action is to resolve the situation amicably and quickly. This would normally involve sitting down with both parties to discuss the situation in a calm manner with a view to resolving the issue. I would then, at the end of the meeting, get both team members to agree on the resolution and put it behind them for the benefit of the team.”
TIP #1 – Give a SPECIFIC example when answering this question. TIP # 2 – Try and include an external pressure that makes the project more difficult. TIP #3 – Show that you were able to motivate your team to complete the project successfully. Sample Response “There have been many occasions where I have led a team to success. However, perhaps the most recent and most notable was whereby my team had to complete a task for my company under difficult and challenging circumstances. Our company IT system went down unexpectedly and it quickly became apparent that it needed to be replaced, and quickly. Each day the system was down, the organization was losing significant sums of money. I created a plan of action before sitting down with my team to explain the brief and I wanted each person to do. It was particularly difficult because the work we were required to carry out had to be completed over a weekend. I needed to motivate my team to come in over the weekend when they were not expected to work. After I briefed the team successfully, they all understood the importance of the task and agreed to come in over the weekend period. Over the weekend we worked tirelessly to replace the entire IT system as quickly and accurately as possible. Once the system had been replaced, we then spent time checking everything was working correctly to make sure the business could operate as normal. We also put measures in place to make sure the system failure would not happen again. Once Monday morning came around, the task was complete and the business was able to function again without hindrance. I feel this was a successful project because I was able to motivate the team successfully, whilst also providing clarity on the work I wanted to be carried out and by what time-frame.”
TIP #1 – Give an example where you have actually failed. TIP #2 – Tell the panel what you learnt from the experience. TIP #3 – Tell the interview panel how you have matured as a leader from the experience. Sample Response “Yes, I have. In the early days of being a leader I remember leading a team by using an entirely autocratic approach. I was basically dictating what I expected of the team and what I wanted them to do. This was a mistake, simply because I failed to get to know my team and also what motivated them as individuals. I soon realized that my approach to leadership would fail, and so I decided to change quickly. I believe that initial experience of leading people stood me in good stead and has made me the leader I am today. I continually analyze my performance to look for ways I can improve. I feel this is an important quality of an effective leader, and being reflective of one’s own performance is a key ingredient of being successful.” For further Leadership Interview Questions or resources to develop your Team Leader Skills check out our Free Online Interview Training Course.
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As a team leader, which of the following people would likely be the best choice for your team?
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