Perhaps one of the single most important things to achieve great leadership skills is that you believe in what you are doing.

That is to say, good leaders should have a real passion for what they’re doing and believe in it. This is important as it will help you to make the best decisions for the long-term success of the business and also it helps you to inspire others.

A good leader needs to be able to step back and see the bigger picture. They need to understand where the team is headed and what challenges will face them along the way.

This is important because it will allow all the individual members of that team to focus on their smaller aspects that are critical to the overall team delivery.

Good leaders have broad knowledge and should be something of a jack of all trades.

The reason for this is that it gives the understanding to see how all the pieces fit together and it will mean they can deal with issues as they arise across departments; even when that means taking more of a top-level approach rather than understanding the nitty-gritty. You’ll also find that having some basic experience in each aspect of your business can help you to get more respect from the individuals in each part of your organisation.

Good leaders understand people and should be able to work with anyone.

This means they need to be able to empathise with their people and understand what makes them tick, to inspire them to take action. It also means a good leader needs to know how to. They are great communicators but also need to be able to communicate as a leader. Not only is it your job to communicate the plan in a way that your team can fully understand, but it is also to communicate to your superiors, your clientele, and suppliers.

Good leaders shouldn’t just be dealing with the day-to-day challenges of the business but should be thinking one step ahead.

You need to be constantly questioning what the next challenge will be and how to face it and you need to be thinking about how to grow, improve and scale your organisation. Good leaders have contingency and backup plans. Think of your worst-case scenarios and be prepared for them. Many a business has gone out of business by missing this key area of thinking.

You must lead by example in all cases.

This means that you need to take a ‘do as I do’ approach, rather than making one rule for one person and another for yourself. It also means more generally setting the tone.

Teams look to their leaders as barometers – to identify how serious any given situation is and to know how they should react. If you panic, then your team will panic.

If you stay calm, then your team will too.

Good leaders are courageous.

If this sounds like your Saturday morning TV show again, then bear in mind that we’re not talking about the kind of courage that gives you the strength to stand up to the Decepticons in Transformers. Rather, we’re talking about the courage to take risks to break the mold and take responsibility.

Once you have made that decision, you must stand by it and face the music. That means that you need to accept responsibility when things go wrong. This can seem unfair at times but once again, it is a feature that is important for the welfare of the team.

By accepting responsibility, you remove culpability from your team and give them the freedom to work well without the fear of repercussions.

Best wishes