There are many traits that are often possessed by leaders which are essential in developing a person's ability to manage businesses and people.

Socially aware

• Leaders should be able to adapt to the cultural demands of a region

• A socially-aware leader can help the business increase connections and improve relations, resulting in more business links and the ability to expand into greater markets.

• Social competence is your ability to understand other people’s moods, behaviour and motivations in order to respond effectively and improve the quality of your relationships.

• Leaders need to be aware of different customs and etiquette in a cross-cultural setting.

• Awareness of different standards in relation to social and cross-cultural backgrounds

Skilled decision-maker

• A skilled decision maker makes fast, informed and sensible decisions, that take the market’s cultural factors into account. The decisions should not inflict harm on the community.

• They should have the ability to make decisions under pressure that require firmness, authority and finality.

• Leaders can balance risk in decision-making, so that damage to the business is avoided.

Future thinker

• Successful leaders need to be insightful and can see opportunities in the market.

• Leaders should seek to innovatively engineer new product offerings and then validate these strategic offerings through performing market research.

• In order to generate profitable returns, they must be aware of the diverse ever-changing needs of the customers.

• Leaders need to be able to think through multiple scenarios and the impacts of their decisions, while considering viable alternatives to their plans.

• It allows them to have a long-term vision on where the company plans to be. This allows for incremental planning to take place and the business can insulate against the imminent changes in the external business environment.

• “Future orientated” leaders seek to innovatively create new products and ideas, without solely relying on what has worked in the past.

• They are able to understand that they must modify their product offering to suit the cross-cultural needs of customers.

Self-discipline

• Leaders are often dominated by a sense of duty and tend to be very exacting in character. They usually have a very high standard of excellence and an inward desire to do their best.

• They can remove themselves from the little problems, which is the key to having an objective view of different issues.

• Self-disciplined leaders are internally motivated, highly persistent and resilient individuals who under times of duress are able to draw upon their expertise and experience to alleviate any concerns that may arise within a business setting.

• The unyielding organisational nature of self-discipline helps to unify and direct stakeholders in differing cultural settings.

Responsible

• Leaders should be polite to not offend other parties. If they are irresponsible, they could insult the others and can cause problems for their business.

• Responsibility extends to the consideration of wider stakeholder responsibility and the three pillars of sustainability:

  • Economic Performance

  • Social/Community Performance

  • Environmental Performance

• Responsible leaders take responsibility for everyone’s performance, including their own.

Motivational

• It is crucial for a leader to know how to motivate their employees.

• Being motivational involves the leader promoting the desire and willingness to achieve something in a workplace and to stimulate energy in stakeholders to be continuously interested and committed to work.

• Motivational leaders are often good communicators, encourage integrity and inclusion and feel sensitive towards the needs of employees. Motivation creates a safe and trusting environment and ensures an organisation is in position to achieve success.

• Motivation in a work environment can revolve around motivational theories such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which puts the employees first and covers basic human needs before the needs of the business.

• In terms of a cross-cultural environment, motivation encourages all employees to feel a sense of belonging and experience purpose towards a shared goal. 

• Effective leaders have the ability to empower and inspire others and are aware of how to inspire great performance in others.

• Successful leaders motivate employees to buy into the shared vision of the firm. They must be able to inspire and empower individuals from different cultural backgrounds, in order to unite them behind the business’ vision.

Skilled communicator

Being a skilled communicator involves the following:

• They need to be able to clearly communicate the company’s vision and objectives and share accurate & timely information about the company’s progress to ensure objectives are understood.

• They need to be able to actively communicate with people from different backgrounds.

• They have to foster relationships with suppliers and customers, to gain a better understanding of needs & wants.

• A skilled communicator is one who is aware of the various beliefs, customs, and traditions of stakeholders. Knowledge and understanding of these groups allow them to clearly articulate certain problems, strategies, and solutions without contradicting or offending others.

• They change the context of their language, depending on the issue they are trying to solve and the individual they are communicating with.