Leadership is not taught in any school or institution. Leaders are made — with the necessary skills over the course of their lives. 

But who is a good leader?

Warren Bennis states, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Therefore, a good leader creates a vision for his startup and aligns and motivates people toward achieving that vision. 

However, building a startup and leading a team of people can be challenging in a startup environment, especially during the initial phase. Leadership in a startup involves having an in-depth understanding of the business, coming up with strategies and innovations to solve the business problems, and developing a culture where employees flourish. 

For this article on Entrepreneurship 101, we focus on fostering leadership in the workplace and becoming the best role model for one’s team. 

Who is a good leader? 

YourStory asked startup founders to list some of the qualities of a good leader. Here is what they had to say: 

Team player 

A good leader is essentially a team player. They treat their employees with respect, irrespective of their designation and social status, and value what they bring to the table. 

While bringing their own expertise to the table, a good leader is aware of their limitations. Thus, instead of wanting to do it all by themselves, they work with their employees as a team and let the subject experts take over.

Value creation 

A leader must be able to differentiate between the long-term and short-term goals and gains. They should focus on creating brand values that would eventually help them stay on track, acquire, and retain more customers. 

A good leader must be able to maintain a “Balance between long-term and short-term goals…They focus on expanding and scaling, rather than focusing on immediate funding, generating an early exit option, and pursuing immediate advantages,” says Kamalika Bhattacharya, Co-founder and CEO of SaaS startup QuoDeck. 

This was first published on Your Story