What Makes A Great Leader? | Eclipse Life Coaching, Auckland NZ

A competent leader can make all the difference to a team’s efficiency and productivity. Here’s what makes a great leader…

Updated January 2025

Good leadership skills are highly valued in today’s workplace. An effective leader can greatly enhance the desired outcomes of an organisation through tapping into the power of teams. But what attributes do you need to make that difference? What makes a great leader?

Have A Compelling Vision

A sense of direction and the ability to focus on achieving goals should be the keystone of any business.

Great leaders are able to instil in their staff a clear vision of the organisation’s aspirations.

What specifically are we striving to achieve?

What is the main purpose of our existence?

Make sure everyone knows what they are there for and make sure they buy into it. When there is a common purpose, people tend to see the connections between roles, tasks and departments, and how they each contribute and complement each other.

This in turn leads to better co-operation and collaboration, increasing innovation and efficiency.

Be Impartial

Great leaders treat everyone fairly, but not necessarily equally.

Some employees may need more coaching than others, some more empathy and understanding, while some may just need to be encouraged to explore their potential and build on their skills.

Your handling of personnel issues needs to be based on performance, not personality.

You may like some people more than others, and get along better with some more than others, but as soon as you start to play favourites, your team can quickly turn into a fractious and dysfunctional family.

Everyone is different, and it pays to treat your staff as human beings, not work units. A fundamental key to great leadership is understanding your people.

This is where regular, scheduled check-ins can be a powerful strategy for building trust.

Employees should know the culture, rules and expectations of the organisation, and have confidence that the leader will take them seriously.

Any perception of favoritism is a death knell to a healthy workplace culture.

Make Good Decisions

Great leaders make decisions quickly and firmly, but not with undue haste.

This can be a fine balancing act, and you won’t get it right 100% of the time. But often it’s better to make a decision and be wrong, than not to make a decision at all!

Employees don’t want a dithering leader, they want certainty and clarity.

If your decision turns out to be the wrong one, freely acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on. Great leaders take responsibility for their mistakes.

Practise Empathy

Many leaders have difficulty taking into consideration the feelings and personal motivations of their staff.

This is probably because a lot of natural leaders tend to have type ‘A’ personalities and are not inherently sympathetic to others’ emotions.

However, happy workers are productive workers, and empathy in the workplace is really just a matter of listening to understand, and looking for possible solutions together.

If empathy is not your strong point, practise being genuinely curious and ask a lot of questions. You’ll find you’ll become naturally more empathetic.

Communicate Well

Poor communication within an organisation can lead to an atmosphere of distrust and confusion.

Great leaders make their communications as clear and simple as possible. Ask for feedback and engage in discussion. Provide regular updates. Be open to new ideas and solutions.

Be as transparent and as honest as you can. If some information is confidential for good reason, explain why that is the case. There should be no hidden agendas.

Set The Example

Great leaders practise what they preach. No-one respects a manager who won’t do themselves what they expect their staff to do.

Your people look to you for cues on how to behave. You are a role model and a mentor, so make sure you act like one.

Working with a coach can help you level up your leadership game and get you feeling confident and excited about serving your people.