the importance of character in leadership essay

Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

The Case for Leadership Character

• Research shows that organizations with leaders who achieve high character scores have an average return on assets five times higher than those with low character scores.
• Leadership character extends beyond just ethics and includes traits like compassion, willingness to serve others, and forgiveness.
• Character plays a significant role in decision making and performance, and it’s important for leaders at all levels, not just those in senior roles.

When we think of leaders who possess character, we typically envision ethical behaviors such as telling the truth, standing up for what’s right, and treating others fairly. The notion of “ethics” is often viewed synonymously with “character,” and a recent survey found that 88% of all employees believe that there is a need for “moral leadership” among the most senior levels in their organization. [i]  But there is more to a leader’s character than just ethics, integrity, and morals.

The business benefit of leadership character

Before going further, many may wonder whether there is a business benefit to organizations that have leaders who operate with character. According to research outlined in the book Return on Character: The Real Reason Leaders and Their Companies Win by Fred Kiel, organizations led by CEOs whose employees gave them high marks for character had an average return on assets that was five times higher than that of organizations whose leaders received low character scores. [ii]

What’s interesting is that this study looked at more than simply being “ethical”; instead, it also considered factors such as a CEO’s willingness to serve others, show compassion, and extend forgiveness—all traits that go beyond ethics and morals.

In the years since the research from Return on Character was conducted, the idea that leadership character involves operational excellence as well as working within regulatory guidelines and governing fairly has taken hold. It drives decision making and performance on the job more than originally thought. And because character is reflected in the actions of all leaders—not just those in the senior-most roles—it is an important leadership trait for people in charge of leadership development to consider.

Character and its relation to judgment and decision making

“Leaders can do far more than just make their own behavior more ethical. Because they are responsible for the decisions of others as well as their own, they can dramatically multiply the amount of good they do by encouraging others to be better. As a leader, think about how you can influence your colleagues with the norms you set and the decision-making environment you create.”

—Max H. Bazerman, Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School [iii]

One of the most significant developments shaping our thinking on leadership character is the fact that organizations have pushed decision making further down the organizational structure. Decision making is now a key capability not only for leaders but for employees, and we know that character plays a key part in the process of making decisions. [iv]

A workplace analysis of the last six decades shows the share of jobs requiring employee decision-making has grown from 8% to 34%. [v] This means that daily, a third of a company’s workforce is making important decisions ranging from the cut-and-dried to more complex “judgment calls” with far-reaching implications beyond a person’s immediate sphere of influence. In each of these decisions is the expression of leadership character.

Broadening our definition of leadership character

Leadership character exists in the space between the individual’s values and morals and the key activities facing any leader, including decision making.

Based on extensive research from HBS faculty, Harvard Business Publishing thought leaders and leadership authors, and client learner and advisory groups, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning has identified seven key leadership qualities, sometimes referred to as “super-powers.” They are all important character traits of leaders.

Seven important character traits of leaders

• Self-awareness
• Determination
• Curiosity/open-mindedness

Leaders uphold and demonstrate their character through the daily habits they follow and the decisions they make, as well as the decision-making environment they create for their employees.

To align their values, morals, and decisions, leaders can continually ask themselves:

• Who am I becoming when I am busy doing?
• What character traits do I most strongly identify with? Which ones feel uncomfortable for me to demonstrate? Why might that be?
• Is my decision making aligned with the values of my organization?
• Do I recognize when I am or am not demonstrating strong leadership character?
• Could I have blind spots? If so, am I creating an environment for my team to tell me when I miss the mark?
• How can I provide direction, clarity, and role modeling to my team so they understand how to make daily choices that align with their values and those of the organization?

By checking in on themselves in this way, leaders can more effectively foster a culture of value-based decision making that extends beyond themselves to influence their teams and colleagues.

Can character be developed in leaders?

While managerial skills (such as delegation, conflict resolution, and business acumen) are trainable, many argue that character traits such as courage, curiosity, and self-awareness can’t be taught per se.

However, I believe these character traits can be nurtured and enhanced through feedback, practice, and coaching. Because character and decision making are intertwined and have a direct impact on organizational success, it stands to reason that companies should invest as much time and energy into nurturing character in their leaders as they do in developing managerial skills. Yet employee surveys suggest this isn’t always the case. While close to two-thirds of leaders are perceived as behaving with integrity or determination, our own research indicates that only around half of employees report seeing their own leader display courage or curiosity. [vi]

Even with investment and focus on nurturing these traits, the motivation for leaders to practice and model character is, in large part, dependent on their environment. For example, perhaps a middle manager has shown courage in the past by standing up to senior leadership only to be told (repeatedly): “Stay in your lane”; “I hear that you’re underfunded, but we still need you to deliver”; or “Our shareholders won’t support that.” An organizational culture that discourages leaders from speaking up is a powerful deterrent to the demonstration of that character attribute. Strong character must be systematically supported.

When leaders demonstrate character, it drives trust and business results. While character traits can’t be trained outright, they shouldn’t be left to chance. Through feedback, coaching, practice, and modeling, leaders throughout an organization can enhance their authenticity, integrity, courage, and other critical attributes of character that drive a healthy organizational culture.

To equip your leaders with the skills they need to excel in any environment, download our paper Leadership Fitness: The Path to Developing Human-Centered Leaders Who Drive Employee Fulfillment . Contact us today to discuss how we can help you transform your team’s success.

[i] “The State of Moral Leadership in Business”, The HOW Institute for Society, 2022. https://thehowinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/moralleadershipbiz_Digital-Spreads-Dec-2022-1.pdf

[ii] Harvard Business Review, “Measuring Return on Character, April 2015, https://hbr.org/2015/04/measuring-the-return-on-character .

[iii] Bazerman, Max H., “A New Model for Ethical Leadership,” HBR.org, September 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/09/a-new-model-for-ethical-leadership

[iv] Matthew Jordan and David G. Rand, “The Role of Character Strengths in Economic Decision-Making.” Judgment and Decision Making , July 1, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1930297500009256.

[v] Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning, “Who Is Really Making the Decisions in Your Organization—and How?” 2022. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/insight/who-is-really-making-the-decisions-in-your-organization-and-how/.

[vi] Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning, “Leadership Reframed for the Workplace of the Future: 10 Capabilities and 7 Superpowers,” 2022. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/download/leadership-reframed-for-the-workplace-of-the-future/.

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Leadership: Character, Competencies, and Virtues Essay

The importance of character in leadership, four areas of competencies, ten leadership virtues, changes and development.

When talking about leadership, many people first of all name professional competencies and knowledge. However, even without much experience in the field, people can show leadership qualities and motivate other employees to work better. These leadership qualities come from a person’s character. Therefore, this paper will analyze the relationship between personality and leadership and how it affects the work of other people and the company as a whole.

Being a good leader and being a leader are different. For example, a person may be an expert in their field and, in theory, know how to properly manage people but not have the necessary qualities to do it effectively. A person’s character predominantly affects the person’s behavior and interaction with others. Crossan et al. (2012) note that character shapes “what we notice, what we reinforce, who we engage in conversation, what we value, what we choose to act on, how we decide” (para. 7). All of these actions are critical in the work of a leader, and therefore character is of great importance.

Moreover, people often notice that someone has or does not have a lead character. Managing people comes with a certain amount of responsibility and can even be a stress-increasing factor for some. Leaders often face challenges that cannot be solved with theoretical knowledge but require applying specific skills (Kouzes & Posner, 2017). In such conditions, a person often cannot control his character and shows precisely those natural traits. For example, employees may often feel that their management is unfair or lacks the humanity to tailor the workflow to people’s needs. In such conditions, employees can usually be demotivated and have no desire to work effectively to achieve the company’s goals.

However, competencies in different areas are of great importance for leadership. Crossan et al. (2012) speak of four leadership competencies: strategic, business, organizational, and people. First, the leader must know the company’s various business models and processes. In addition, it is necessary to consider competition and consumers’ needs so that the company’s work is practical and profitable. Secondly, the leader must have a strategic It means that it is necessary to critically assess the situation and understand what actions need to be taken so that the work has a result not only now but also in the future.

Thirdly, the leader must be able to understand people and build mutually beneficial relationships with them. Understanding each person’s needs and characteristics helps increase motivation and improve work. Finally, the leader must have organizational competencies, including effective teamwork, responsibility distribution, and rewards. These four competency areas apply not only in business but in almost any human activity. Using them, students can understand in which areas their knowledge and skills need to be improved to build practical work. Moreover, even though some areas have a theoretical basis, like business or organizational competencies, each has an individual component and is formed and developed based on a person’s unique qualities.

In addition to specific character traits and values, a leader must have virtues. Crossan et al. (2012) identify ten leadership virtues, the presence of which determines the success and effectiveness of a leader. I have strong humility, collaboration, courage, accountability, humanity, and transcendence. On the other hand, integrity, justice, and temperance require additional development and strengthening. For example, a person with a sense of justice must remain subjective to assess the situation from all sides and make the right decision. Since judgment implies balance and using other qualities, this virtue can only be fully developed after the other attributes have been established.

The absence of these virtues can lead to negative consequences for the team’s work. For example, without humility, “leaders cannot be open-minded, and solicit and consider the views of others” (Crossan et al., 2012, para. 39). Given that the world around us, and the market, in particular, is constantly evolving, the lack of desire to learn leads to a decrease in the company’s performance. In addition, people do not want to work with a leader who does not consider their opinion but only imposes his own. Moreover, teamwork is influenced by integrity, collaboration, humanity, and a sense of justice. If a leader possesses these virtues, employees will be more motivated and perform better to achieve a common goal.

The nature of leaders affects not only their work but also the work of employees and the company. Consequently, the presence or absence of certain character traits and virtues can contribute to improving work or, vice versa, sabotage it. Seijts and Grandz (2018) have demonstrated the relative importance of each character trait for successfully implementing change in a company. The crucial role in this process is played by virtues aimed at other people, such as collaboration, humanity, and integrity. In addition, Seijts and Grandz (2018) emphasize drive as another trait of a successful leader. Drive implies that the leader “has a strong desire to succeed, tackles problems with a sense of urgency, and approaches challenges with energy and passion” (Seijts & Grandz, 2018, p. 241). Any changes are impossible without this quality. In addition, judgment as a balance of all qualities and the ability to use them in work is necessary at all stages of the change process. However, all virtues are needed to introduce changes and new approaches to culture. Therefore, the leader must constantly develop and improve to ensure the company’s effective operation.

Crossan, M., Grandz, J., & Seijts, G. (2012). Developing Leadership Character . Ivey Business Journal, Web.

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2017). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations. Jossey-Bass.

Seijts, G.H., & Grandz, J. (2018) Transformational change and leader character . Business Horizons, 61 (2), 239-249. Web.

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• Cultural Humility and Awareness
• Transformational Leadership Theory: Pros and Cons
• How to Lead and Manage in the Twenty-First Century
• St James Settlement's Leadership and Management
• How to Lead and Manage in the 21st Century
• Organizational Leadership and Attitude-Behavior Theory
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Developing leadership character.

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The sum of virtues, values and traits equals good character, which, in addition to competence and commitment, is one of the 3 ingredients that make a leader effective and respected. For many, however, virtues, values and traits remain indefinable, even elusive. These authors not only define them, they also de-construct them, in the process demonstrating how character fuels people in their personal journeys to become better leaders.

In assessing leaders at any level in an organization, we must always ask three questions:

• Do they have the competencies to be a leader?  Do they have the knowledge, the understanding of key concepts, facts, and relationships that they need to do the job effectively?
• Do they have the commitmen t to be a leader?  Yes, they aspire to be a leader, but are they prepared to do the hard work of leadership, engage with others in fulfilling the organizational mission, achieve the vision and deliver on the goals?
• Do they have the character to be a good leader and strive to be an even better one?  Do they have the values, traits and virtues that others – shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and the broader society within which they operate – will use to determine if they are good leaders?

Figure 1:  Leadership Competencies, Character and Commitment

We have documented previously the types of knowledge, skills, understanding and judgment that leaders need, grouping them into four competencies – strategic, business, organizational and people [1] .  Underpinning these competencies is general intellect (see Figure 1).  We have also talked elsewhere about the importance of leaders having the commitment to lead and the problems that are caused when people in leadership roles no longer want to do the hard work of leadership and become disengaged from what is happening in the organization, while they still enjoy the status, privileges and perks of office.  In this article, we want to focus on leadership character, not because it is necessarily more important than competencies and commitment, but because it is the most difficult to define, measure, assess and develop.  Our intent is to define those dimensions of leadership character that are most important in today’s rapidly changing and turbulent business environment, and suggest how character can be developed.

Why Character Matters

In any bookstore you will find dozens of books on leadership style, far fewer on leadership competencies, and fewer still that address leadership character. [2]   For some reason we have lost sight of character.  Perhaps this is because our educational system and organizations are so competency focused; perhaps because we just don’t know what to think about character; perhaps because character seems such an old-fashioned word; perhaps because we are reluctant to discuss examples of poor character with our colleagues in the workplace, or because we believe we cannot assess character objectively.

Yet character is such a central, important element of leadership — particularly for the kind of cross-enterprise leadership that is essential in complex, global business organizations — which it should not and cannot be ignored.  Character fundamentally shapes how we engage the world around us, what we notice, what we reinforce, who we engage in conversation, what we value, what we choose to act on, how we decide…and the list goes on.

Our own research on the failures of leadership points to issues around character as a central theme [3] .  Nowhere was this more obvious than in the financial crisis of 2008 – 2009, in which boldness or instant gratification triumphed over temperance.  People who knew that bad risks were being taken did not have the courage and/or confidence to speak up, and people without integrity sold mortgages to those who could not pay them.  They then bundled these mortgages into securities that were fraudulent and sold to others.  People with large egos, lacking in humility, oblivious to the harm they may have been be doing to others or the societies in which they operated, became very rich at the expense of millions who were the victims of the financial crisis and subsequent recession.  Yet, to this day, these same people seem unable or unwilling to accept any degree of responsibility for their actions.  Leaders of large, global companies knew about these types of practices yet did nothing to stop them.  Still others were unable to create the honest, transparent corporate culture that would enable them to be in touch with what was happening deep down in the organization.  All these behaviors and activities were, essentially, failings of character.

Defining Character

There is no consensus on a definition of character.  In fact there seems to be as many definitions as there are scholars whose research and writing focus on character. [4]   In our discussion of character, we focus on personality traits, values and virtues.

Traits are defined as habitual patterns of thought, behavior and emotion that are considered to be relatively stable in individuals across situations and over time.  Traits are not fixed.  For example, introverts may be able to learn how to behave in a less introverted way, while extroverts may learn how to control and moderate their extroverted behaviors when situations require it.

There are, literally, hundreds of personality traits from A (ambition) to Z (zealousness) that have been described in the psychology literature.  However, through statistical techniques such as factor analysis, five broad domains, or dimensions, of personality have emerged, and are now widely used in various forms in employee selection and assessment. [5]   The “Big-Five” traits are:

• Conscientiousness
• Openness to experience
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness, and
• Neuroticism

These five traits feature prominently in tests or inventories and they have come to be known as the FFM, or the five-factor model, a robust model of personality.  Although the Big Five dominate the personality literature, there are various other traits that warrant consideration and measurement, such as self-confidence, ambition, perfectionism, dominance, rigidity, persistence and impulsivity.

Some personality traits can be inherited.  For example, studies have shown that identical twins that have the same genes show more traits that are similar than non-identical twins.  Traits, of course, also evolve through life experiences and deliberate developmental exercises such as coaching.

Values are beliefs that people have about what is important or worthwhile to them.  Values influence behavior because people seek more of what they value.  If they can get more net value by behaving in certain ways, they will.  Values therefore can be seen as the guideposts for behavior.  Some people value their autonomy very highly, some value social interaction, some value the opportunity to be creative, some value work-life balance, and so on.  Values may change with life stages and according to the extent to which a particular value has already been realized.  For example, a new graduate strapped by student loans may value a high starting salary.  That same person 30 years later may well pass up a high-paying job for one that paid less, but allowed him to live close to his grandchildren or somewhere with greater access to recreational activities.

An individual’s values are in large part derived from the social environment in which he or she lives. [6]   In Western democracies, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are some of the things we value.  Other societies value order, harmony, non-violence and equality.  If we are brought up with strong religious traditions, some of us develop values based on the teachings of those religions.  Similarly, our value frameworks may be influenced by our home life, fraternal societies we join, experiences obtaining an education, the companies we work for, our friends, and many other social influences.

An important sub-set of values consists of those with ethical or social dimensions, such as honesty, integrity, compassion, fairness, charity and social responsibility.  Such moral values may be strongly or weakly held and influence behavior accordingly.

Values may be espoused though they may not necessarily be manifested.  For example, it’s not unusual for people to experience value conflicts in certain situations.  When loyalty conflicts with honesty, when fairness conflicts with pragmatism, or when social responsibility conflicts with obligation to shareholders, people become conflicted.  And when their actions are inconsistent with their values, they either experience guilt, anger and embarrassment.  People try to minimize such cognitive dissonance by rationalizing or even denying their behavior, discounting the consequences of it or simply blaming others.

From the time of the ancient Greeks, philosophers have defined certain clusters of traits, values and behaviors as “good,” and referred to them as virtues.  Virtues are like behavioral habits – something that is exhibited fairly consistently.  For example, Aristotle wrote that: “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Aristotle identified and defined twelve virtues: Courage, Temperance, Generosity, Magnificence, Magnanimity, Right ambition, Good temper, Friendliness, Truthfulness, Wit, and Justice.  The twelfth virtue is Practical Wisdom, which is necessary to live the “good life” and thus achieve happiness or well being.

Consider the virtue of Courage.  Traits such as openness to experience, self-confidence and persistence contribute to individuals acting in distinctive ways – for example, putting themselves on the line and acting in a courageous fashion.  Having values such as integrity, treating individuals with respect and achievement predisposes individuals to demonstrate courageous behavior.  Furthermore, a person with integrity tends to act in a different way than a person who lacks integrity, even if both individuals find themselves in the same situation.  Then there is a set of actual behaviors that individuals engage in – on a fairly consistent basis (meaning across situations and over time) – and that friends, colleagues and observers characterize or describe as courageous.  These behaviors may have become societal expectations.

The ten virtues of a cross-enterprise leader

We propose that cross-enterprise leaders who focus on the long-term performance of their organizations must demonstrate ten virtues (as shown in Figure 2) [7] .

• Humility is essential to learning and becoming a better leader
• Integrity is essential to building trust and encouraging others to collaborate
• Collaboration enables teamwork
• Justice yields decisions that are accepted as legitimate and reasonable by others
• Courage helps leaders make difficult decisions and challenge the decisions or actions of others
• Temperance ensures that leaders take reasonable risks
• Accountability ensures that leaders own and commit to the decisions they make and encourages the same in others
• Humanity builds empathy and understanding of others
• Transcendence equips the leader with a sense of optimism and purpose
• Judgment allows leaders to balance and integrate these virtues in ways that serve the needs of multiple stakeholders in and outside their organizations.

Figure 2: Ten Leadership Virtues

But if you consider what may happen when leaders lack these virtues, the effects become more obvious (see Table 1 below).

• Without Judgment leaders make flawed decisions, especially when they must act quickly in ambiguous situations, namely when faced with the many paradoxes that confront all leaders from time to time.
• Without Humanity leaders are unable to relate to others, see situations from their followers’ perspectives or take into account the impact of their decisions on others.  Without humanity leaders will not act in socially responsible ways – they will alienate people.
• Without a Sense of Justice leaders are unable to understand the issues of social inequality and the challenges associated with fairness.  Such leaders act in unfair ways and reap negative consequences in the form of poor employee relations or reactions by customers, governments and regulators.  People will rebel and find ways to undermine the leader.
• Without Courage leaders will not stand up to poor decisions made by others and will lack the perseverance and tenacity required to work through difficult issues.  They will also back down in the face of adversity and choose the easy route.  But in doing so they only postpone the inevitable.
• Without Collaboration leaders will fail to achieve those worthwhile goals that require more than individual effort and skills.  They don’t use the diversity of others’ knowledge, experience, perceptions, judgments and skills to make better decisions and to execute them better.  Friction among different stakeholders results and relations deteriorate.
• Without Accountability leaders don’t commit to, or own, the decisions they make, and cannot get others to do so.  They blame others for poor outcomes and in doing so create a culture of fear and disengagement.  People stop caring, with potentially disastrous consequences.
• Without Humility leaders cannot be open-minded, and solicit and consider the views of others.  They can’t learn from others, they can’t reflect critically on their failures and become better leaders as a result of those reflections.  They become caricatures of themselves.  Isolation results.
• Without Integrity leaders cannot build good relationships with followers, with their organizational superiors, with allies or partners.  Every promise has to be guaranteed and the resulting mistrust slows down decisions and actions.
• Without Temperance leaders take uncalculated risks, rush to judgment, fail to gather relevant facts, have no sense of proportion, and make frequent and damaging changes or even reverse important decisions.  Their credibility suffers.
• Without Transcendence leaders’ goals become narrow and they fail to elevate discussions to higher-order goals.  They don’t see the bigger picture and hence their decisions may reflect opportunism only.  They don’t think outside the box or encourage others to do so.

Aristotle was clear in stating that virtues become vices in their excess or deficiency. [8] Courage in its excess is recklessness while in its deficiency it is cowardice.  Collaboration in excess, ungoverned by judgment as to when it will result in benefits, leads to numerous unproductive meetings and organizational inefficiency.  But without it, teamwork is difficult or impossible.  Too much humility may lead followers to question the leader’s toughness, resulting in a lack of confidence.  But without it, leaders make ill-advised decisions and are unable to learn.  Transcendence in excess can result in leaders becoming vacuous visionaries, unable to focus on the here and now and the more mundane decisions that need to be made.  But without transcendence, leaders focus on narrow, short-term goals.

Table 1:   Good and Bad Outcomes of Presence or Absence of Virtues

Temperance or Justice in excess may lead to extreme risk aversion and paralysis in decision-making; without them, reckless or grossly unfair decisions are made.  Even extreme Accountability may subvert required actions when the penalties for failure are unreasonable or extreme; but without it, empowerment and delegation are not possible.  Humanity in excess may lead to the neglect of shareholders’ interests; but in its absence, employee loyalty and commitment will suffer.  Judgment under conditions of uncertainty or ambiguity is the essential requirement of organizational leadership; but excessive judgment may lead to indecisiveness or dithering.  Even an excess of integrity can lead to self-righteousness and total inflexibility; but organizations could not function without rules and regulations that set boundaries.  The challenge for leaders, therefore, is to deepen or strengthen a virtue through reflection, and hence avoid turning a virtue such as Courage into the vice of excess (Recklessness) or a lack of it (Cowardice).

Psychologists, sociologists, organizational theorists and others who study behavior in organizations have been interested in traits, values and virtues associated with good leadership.  Virtuous leaders are influenced by their traits and values but they balance and integrate them in ways that are appropriate to the situations in which they operate.  For example, while leaders may be transparent by nature, they are able to keep a confidence or secret when it is appropriate to do so.  While they may be courageous, they will understand which battles to fight and which to avoid.

Character Development

Individuals can develop their own character strengths, leaders can help followers develop their character, and organizations can and should enable character development to take place.

How Character Develops

Some dimensions of character, specifically some traits, are inherited.  Virtues, values and many other traits are developed during early childhood, and modified as a result of education, family influences, early role models, work and social experiences, and other life events.

The early philosophers viewed character as something that is formed, subconsciously, through repetitive behavior that is either rewarded or by finding what works through experience.  The habit of character is formed along with a myriad of other habits which both enable and constrain us, and that can be both productive and counterproductive.  The interesting thing about habits is that we are often unaware of them.  There’s a famous saying that illustrates this point rather well – “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny” (author unknown) .

As Robert Kegan, a developmental psychologist, said, we need “to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange.” [9]   At the core of this capacity is character; hence, character shapes thoughts, words, actions, and so on.  Yet, habits may prevent the development of character.  For example, a strong ego that has been built to defend one’s identity makes it difficult to develop humility and thus be open to learning experiences.  So, when people believe that character is developed at an early age, they are in part correct, since there comes a time when habits are difficult to break.  It is not surprising then that it often takes profound life events to liberate us from the cages we have constructed for ourselves.

These “crucible” events have a significant influence on the traits and values that are part of character.  Some of these events force people to confront the impact of their trait-and value-driven behaviors, and their self-concept of virtuosity.  Being fired, having your work praised or criticized, being passed over for a promotion or being promoted when you didn’t think you were ready for it, finding yourself disadvantaged through a boss’s unfair assessment, or being accused of harassment, plagiarism or other forms of unethical behavior are all examples of events that can shape character.

Less dramatic but no less important are those events that reinforce good character.  The acknowledgement, praise, recognition or reward that come to people for doing the right thing or acting in the right way are critical to character development, especially when offered during an individual’s formative years.  Selection for a valued assignment or a promotion further reinforces such behaviors and hence, the development of character.

Even normal everyday occurrences offer the opportunity for character development, since it is not something separate from one’s job or life, but rather a part of them.  Reflection about why you might be impatient, excessive, stubborn or careless provides the raw material for examining and developing character.

Senior Leadership and Organizational Commitment to Character Development

There is much that senior leaders in organizations can do to develop leadership character in others.

Simply talking about character, making it a legitimate and valued topic of conversation, stimulates discussion and facilitates individual reflection.  When organizations develop leadership profiles and address leadership character in those profiles, they emphasize the importance of leadership and promote discussion of it, especially in the context of developmental coaching.  Conversely, when leadership profiles only address competencies and commitment, they implicitly, if unintentionally, suggest that character is not important.

Even explicit values statements in organizations often turn out to be nothing more than posters or plaques on the wall.  Unless they are formulated in the context of the work that people are doing, and in a meaningful way, they tend to be ignored.  Anything that senior management attends to is considered important; anything ignored is marginalized.  For the most part, people do not learn values and virtues by osmosis.  Values need to be addressed explicitly in the organization’s coaching and mentoring, reinforced through training and development, and actively used in recruitment, selection and succession management.

Personal Commitment to Character Building

Warren Bennis addressed the role of individual responsibility in becoming a better leader when he said:  “The leader never lies to himself, especially about himself, knows his flaws as well as his assets, and deals with them directly.  You are your own raw material.  When you know what you consist of and what you want to make of it, then you can invent yourself.” [10]   This is relevant to leadership character as much as it is to competencies and commitment.  It requires a degree of self-awareness, a preparedness to examine habitual behaviors and consider whether there may not be better ways of leading than the ones that have worked, more or less, for you in the past.  We limit our development as leaders by not having the discipline and courage to assess ourselves honestly.

Why Character Really Matters!

When it comes to leadership, competencies determine what a person can do. Commitment determines what they want to do, and character determines what they will do.

Character is foundational for effective decision-making.  Clearly, mistakes are made because of a leader’s shortcomings in his or her competencies.  More often, the root cause is a failing of character.  For example, not recognizing or not willing to admit that you don’t have the requisite competencies to succeed in the leadership role is rooted in character.  Not willing to listen to those who can do well because of the perception that it would undermine your leadership is a problem rooted in character.  Challenging decisions being made by others but which you feel are wrong requires character.  Dealing with discriminatory behaviors by others requires character.  Creating a culture of constructive dissent so that others may challenge your decisions without fear of consequences requires character.

The question is not really why character matters, but why it does not get the attention and respect it warrants.  For character to find the spotlight it deserves, leaders need to illuminate it.  We can see some light shed in organizational statements of values and leadership competencies, but the practice is not widespread.  We believe organizations should move beyond statements of organizational values to anchor leadership development in profiles that define what makes a leader good, in addition to defining what good leaders do and how they can lead better.

Character is not something that you have or don’t have.  All of us have character, but the key is the depth of development of each facet of character that enables us to lead in a holistic way.  Character is not a light switch that can be turned on and off.  There are degrees, and every situation presents a different experience and opportunity to learn and deepen character.  In particular, and for better or for worse, character comes to the fore when managing a crisis.  No one is perfect when it comes to character, and given that its development is a lifelong journey, we will rise to the occasion in some situations and disappoint ourselves and those around us in others.

Numerous examples come to mind where good people do inappropriate things!  They get derailed because they stop listening; they become overconfident in their decision-making skills; they become blind to important contextual variables; their emotions hijack their self-control, and so forth.  Even good people are fallible.  But since we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior it is easy to become jaded about character.  How could someone preach one thing and do another?   The point is that in this lifelong journey, we need to appreciate what it takes to develop the habits around character, and to enable the conversations within ourselves and with others that strengthen rather than undermine character.

Competencies count, character matters and commitment to the leadership role is critical to the leader’s success.  Our experience is that a renewed focus on character sparks the best in people and fuels them in their personal journeys to become better leaders.  We see the process of learning to lead as a journey that enables people to bring the best of themselves to support and enable others, ensure that the organizations they work with perform at the highest level, and in doing so, contribute to the society in which they operate.

[1] For further information on these leadership competencies see “The cross-enterprise leader” by Mary Crossan, Jeffrey Gandz and Gerard Seijts, Ivey Business Journal, July/August 2008.

[2] Titles of books on leadership and character include Questions of character: Illuminating the heart of leadership through literature; The character of leadership: Nine qualities that define great leaders; and Inspiring leadership: Character and ethics matter.

[3] For more information see “Leadership on trial: A manifesto for leadership development” by Jeffrey Gandz, Mary Crossan, Gerard Seijts and Carol Stephenson with Daina Mazutis, 2010. http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/research/leadership/research/books-and-reports.htm.

[4] This conclusion was reached by Jay Conger and George P. Hollenbeck in a special issue of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research (2010, 62, 4, 311-316) on defining and measuring character in leadership.

[5] Examples of such tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Test, the 16 Personality Factors, the Personal Style Indicator and many others.

[6] Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York, NY: Free Press.  Schwartz, S. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25: 1–66.

[7] Our thinking draws heavily on work by Peterson and Seligman “Character strengths and virtues” (2004) who identified six virtues (Wisdom, Transcendence, Humanity, Temperance, Transcendence and Courage) after extensive consideration of traits and behaviors empirically identified among leaders.  We have added four others that we feel reflect virtues considered to be important in cross-enterprise leaders (Collaboration, Confidence, Humility and Accountability) and modified Wisdom to the more commonly used Judgment.

[8] This follows the argument of Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, Book 3, Chapter 1.   While he was describing a limited number of virtues, we believe that his reasoning applies to our extended set.

[9] From the speech by Matthew Taylor on 21 st century enlightenment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo

[10] Bennis, Warren (1989). On becoming a leader.  New York, NY: Random House Business Books.

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• Published July 3, 2024
• 9 Minute Read

12 Essential Qualities of Effective Leadership

Leaders shape our teams, organizations, communities, and world.

We need good leaders to help guide us and make the essential decisions, big and small, that keep things moving forward.

Our society is usually quick to identify a bad leader, but how can you identify a good one? What would most people say are the qualities of a good leader?

What Good Leadership Looks Like

Based upon our decades of research and experience working with leaders at thousands of organizations around the world, we’ve found that the best leaders consistently possess certain fundamental qualities and skills. Here are 12 essential leadership traits.

• Self-Awareness
• Communication
• Learning Agility
• Collaboration

1. Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the understanding of yourself, including personality traits, behaviors, anxieties, and emotions. While this is a more inwardly focused trait, self-awareness and humility are paramount qualities of leadership. The better you understand yourself and recognize your own strengths and weaknesses, the more effective you can be as a leader. Do you know how other people view you and understand how you show up at work and at home? Take the time to learn about the 4 aspects of self-awareness and how to strengthen each component.

Respect, when demonstrated consistently, is one of the most important things a leader can do. It helps ease tensions and conflict, fosters trust, and improves your effectiveness. Creating a culture of respect  is about more than just the absence of disrespect. Respectfulness can be shown in many different ways, but it often starts with showing you truly value others’ perspectives and making an effort to build belonging in the workplace — both critical components of supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion.

3. Compassion

Compassion is more than simply showing empathy or even listening and seeking to understand. Compassion requires leaders to act on what they learn. After someone shares a concern or speaks up about something, they won’t feel truly heard if their leader doesn’t then take some type of meaningful action on the information, our researchers have found. This is the core of compassionate leadership , and it helps to build trust, increase collaboration, and decrease turnover across organizations.

Vision is your aspiration for the future. Motivating others and garnering commitment toward that vision are essential parts of leadership. Purpose-driven leaders ensure they connect their team’s daily tasks and the values of individual team members to the overall direction of the organization. This can help employees find meaning in their work — which increases engagement, inspires trust, and drives priorities forward. You’ll want to communicate the vision in ways that help others understand it, remember it, and go on to share it themselves.

5. Communication

Communication shows up in many ways, from transmitting information and storytelling to soliciting input and using active listening techniques . Effective leadership and effective communication are intertwined . The best leaders are skilled communicators who can communicate in a variety of ways, both orally and in writing, and with a wide range of people from different backgrounds, roles, levels, geographies, and more. The quality and effectiveness of communication among leaders at your organization will directly affect the success of your business strategy, too.

6. Learning Agility

Learning agility is the ability to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. If you’re a “quick study” or are able to excel in unfamiliar circumstances, you might already be learning agile. But anybody can foster and increase learning agility through intentional practice and effort. After all, great leaders are really great learners.

7. Collaboration

Collaboration is a characteristic shown when leaders work effectively with a variety of colleagues of different social identities , locations, roles, and experiences. As the world has become more complex and interconnected, good leaders find themselves spanning boundaries and learning to work across various types of divides and organizational silos. When leaders value and embrace collaboration, whether within their teams or cross-functionally, several benefits arise — including increased innovation, higher-performing teams, and a more engaged and empowered workforce.

8. Influence

Influence, or being able to persuade people through thoughtful use of appropriate influencing tactics , is an important trait of inspiring, effective leaders. For some people, “influence” may sound unseemly. But as a leader, you must be able to influence others to get the work done — you cannot do it all alone. Influence is quite different from manipulation, and it needs to be done authentically and transparently. It requires high levels of emotional intelligence and trust.

9. Integrity

Integrity is being consistent, honest, moral, and trustworthy, and it’s an essential leadership trait for the individual and the organization. It’s especially important for top-level executives who are charting the organization’s course and making countless other significant decisions. Our research has found that leader integrity is a potential blind spot for organizations , so make sure you reinforce the importance of honesty and integrity to managers at all levels.

10. Courage

Courage enables both team members and leaders to take bold actions that move things in the right direction. It can be hard to speak up at work, whether you want to voice a new idea, provide feedback to a direct report, or flag a concern for someone above you. That’s part of the reason courage is a key leadership trait — it takes courage to do what’s right! Leaders who promote high levels of psychological safety in the workplace enable their people to speak up freely and share candid concerns without fear of repercussions. This fosters a  coaching culture that supports courage and truth-telling .

11. Gratitude

Gratitude is the uplifting emotion experienced after receiving something of value. Being thankful can lead to higher self-esteem, reduced depression and anxiety, and better sleep. Sincere gratitude can even make you a better leader. Yet few people regularly say “thank you” in work settings, even though most people say they’d be willing to work harder for an appreciative boss. The best leaders know how to show frequent gratitude in the workplace .

12. Resilience

Resilience is more than the ability to bounce back from obstacles and setbacks — it’s the ability to respond adaptively to challenges. Practicing resilient leadership means you’ll project a positive outlook that will help others maintain the emotional strength they need to commit to a shared vision, and the courage to move forward and overcome setbacks. A good leader focuses on resilience, both taking care of themselves and also prioritizing leading employee wellbeing , too — thereby enabling better performance for themselves and their teams.

Download a PDF action guide and summary of these characteristics of a good leader, so you always have a visual reminder available of these 12 qualities of good leadership.

3 Core Truths About Characteristics of Good Leadership

At the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, we’ve been researching the traits of a good leader and the role of leadership for nearly 6 decades. Here are 3 of our core tenets about good leaders and effective leadership.

Good leaders are made, not born.

First, we believe that leaders are made, not born. Put another way, leadership is a skill that can be developed . Good leaders are molded through experience, continued study, intentional effort, and adaptation. So you can strengthen any of these 12 characteristics of a good leader, if you’re open to growth, use your experiences to fuel development , and put in the time and effort toward self-improvement.

Similarly, organizations can help their people hone these top leadership qualities by providing ample opportunities for training, offering support for learning from challenges, and providing access to coaching and mentoring programs .

Leadership is a social process.

It’s also essential to recognize that  leadership is less about one strong or charismatic individual, and more about a group of people working collectively to achieve results together . If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader, but fail to grasp this key point, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well-liked and respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals. At CCL, we like to say that the  outcomes of leadership are about creating direction, alignment, and commitment, or DAC , within a group.

Good leadership never stops.

Also, we believe that leadership isn’t a destination, it’s a journey — it’s something that you’ll have to work at regularly throughout your career, regardless of what level you reach in your organization or what industry you work in. Different teams, projects, and situations will provide different challenges and require different leadership qualities and competencies to succeed. So you will need to be able to continue to apply these leadership characteristics in different ways throughout your career. Just continually keep learning and growing, and you’ll be an agile learner with a long career .

How to Develop and Nurture the Qualities of a Good Leader

Organizations can strengthen leadership qualities and foster deeper levels of engagement at work through providing a variety of on-the-job learning experiences, mentoring, and formal development opportunities. At CCL, we have many award-winning leadership solutions with clients around the world, and we’d be honored to work with you and your organization as well.

But individuals don’t have to wait to begin strengthening these leadership characteristics within themselves. If you decide you want to work proactively on developing your leadership qualities and skills,  download our action guide & visual summary  of this content. And get our tips on how to  convince your boss to make an investment in you  and your future. We’re here to support you every step of the way on your journey to becoming a better leader!

Ready to Take the Next Step?

After you download the 12 Characteristics of a Good Leader , keep on learning and growing: never miss our exclusive leadership insights and tips — subscribe to our newsletters to get our research-based articles, webinars, resources, and guides delivered straight to your inbox. 

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Based on Research by

With over a decade of experience in education, Micela provides internal research and evaluation support to build our capacity as a provider of evidence-based leadership solutions in the field of education. She is particularly interested in youth leadership development, using research and evaluation to help improve program implementation, and the role of trust as a critical ingredient for organizational change. She has also co-authored 2 books on youth leadership development: Social-Emotional Leadership: A Guide for Youth Development and Building Bridges: Leadership for You and Me .

Stephanie is a researcher with a background in developmental and educational psychology. Her research at CCL focused primarily on promoting equitable and inclusive organizational cultures, exploring collective leadership through networks, and enhancing motivation and empowerment for leaders across their professional journeys.

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With over 30 pages of insights gleaned from our research, this collection of resources includes actionable tips and team discussion questions to help you become a (better) leader with a focus on compassion, wellbeing, and belonging.

This introduction to our leadership philosophy explains how direction, alignment, and commitment (the elements of our DAC framework) are key in how leadership works, connecting exponential potential with collective progress.

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Want to set yourself apart as a leader? Arm yourself with these 6 essential skills. Our global research study found that organizations will need these 6 key qualities that their leaders presently lack.

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Learn more about our flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP)®, the most widely known and longest-running leadership development training in the world.

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Learn more about our leadership training courses, which are targeted to develop the skills leaders need to succeed at all levels of your organization.

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At the Center for Creative Leadership, our drive to create a ripple effect of positive change underpins everything we do. For 50+ years, we've pioneered leadership development solutions for leaders at every level, from community leaders to CEOs. Consistently ranked among the top global providers of executive education, our research-based programs and solutions inspire individuals at every level in organizations across the world — including 2/3 of the Fortune 1000 — to ignite remarkable transformations.

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