11 Important Factors of Leadership – by Napoleon Hill

What makes a good leader?

In his book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill shares 11 important factors of leadership.

According to Napoleon Hill, following are the important factors of leadership:

11 Important Factors of Leadership (by Napoleon Hill)

1. Courage

Unwavering courage based upon knowledge of self, and of one’s occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader very long.

2. Self-control

The man who cannot control himself can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.

3. A keen sense of justice

Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.

4. Definiteness of decision

The man who wavers in his decisions, shows that he is not sure of himself, cannot lead others successfully.

5. Definiteness of plans

The successful leader must plan his work, and work his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical, definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later he will land on the rocks.

6. The habit of doing more than paid for

One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.

7. A pleasing personality

No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors of a pleasing personality.

8. Sympathy and understanding

The successful leader must be in sympathy with his followers. Moreover, he must understand them and their problems.

9. Mastery of detail

Successful leadership calls for mastery of the details of the leader’s position.

10. Willingness to assume full responsibility

The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift this responsibility, he will not remain the leader. If one of his followers makes a mistake, and shows himself incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he who failed.

11. Cooperation

The successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

Being Willing To Learn

Nobody knows everything, but a great leader knows how much they don’t know and are willing to find out more. While much of this focuses on the business itself, there are also more than a few skills you might need to learn. That’s where companies like the Corporate Coach Group come in.

These give you access to countless courses, many of which could relate to leading your specific business. This willingness to learn and actually doing it is one of the larger factors of leadership to focus on.

SEE ALSO: Best THINK AND GROW RICH quotes by Napoleon Hill