Having a great business idea or getting promoted to a leadership role doesn’t automatically make you a good leader. In fact, there are lots of mediocre (or downright bad) leaders out there.

I learned a lot about leadership throughout my own journey to CEO. I’ve learned even more over the last ten years as I’ve coached, mentored, and advised hundreds of growth-stage leaders.

The most effective leaders are intentional about their leadership, working to develop the skills and characteristics that will make them better able to reach their own goals and to help their teams identify and reach theirs.

The best leaders:

Focus on long-term goals
Give direction
Can manage conflict
Adapt to change
Are consistent
Are decisive
Tolerate high levels of stress

Let’s dive into what it takes to be an effective leader.

Effective leaders focus on long-term goals

The hallmark of any great leader is a compelling vision for the future. It’s not that effective leaders ignore the details or the actions that must occur right now — they absolutely do not. They’re simply able to see and focus on both the immediate measures as well as the bigger picture.

During difficult times, a less effective leader might go for a short-term easy win that ultimately impacts the organization’s reputation or positioning in ways that don’t support its long-term goals. In comparison, a leader that’s focused on the long game may choose to stay the course during a rough patch, knowing that they’re continuing to set the building blocks in place for a successful future.

Effective leaders give direction

In a study of 550 executives by Harvard Business Review, 70% of respondents said employee engagement increases when senior leadership continually communicates and updates their strategy. The same percentage said employees are more engaged when individuals have a clear understanding of how their job contributes to the overall strategy.

An effective leader is able to communicate their vision to their team and give direction that guides their actions toward achieving that vision. If they’ve gotten off course or aren’t performing well, an effective leader can provide the feedback needed to help teams understand how to modify their actions or their goals.

Effective leaders can manage conflict

The current focus on happy and engaged employees has merit (happier employees show increased productivity). It can also have the unintended consequence of conflict avoidance, especially among leadership. And the truth is, conflict and happy employees are not mutually inclusive.

In fact, when leaders avoid conflict, they often create more difficult work situations. For instance, they may allow poor performance to continue unchecked, putting additional pressure on other employees to pick up the slack. They may struggle to prioritize or reject ideas that aren’t working, creating unsustainable and ineffective workloads.

Creating an atmosphere that allows for respectful disagreements and constructive feedback provides team members with the confidence to set and honor each others’ boundaries, to identify areas for growth, and to effectively manage their own conflicts.

Effective leaders adapt to change

Charles Darwin famously said, “The most important factor in survival is neither intelligence nor strength but adaptability.” He was, of course, talking about the survival of a species, but the same is true for leaders and their organizations.

Both internal and external circumstances are guaranteed to evolve during any leader’s tenure, and the ability to modify plans or change course entirely could be the difference between an organization thriving or going under. This flexibility should not be confused with a lack of focus or a tendency to jump from project to project.

Effective leaders are agile when they need to be — and they know how to remain steady and committed to their goals.

Effective leaders are consistent

A goal is only as meaningful as the consistent actions taken to achieve it. Flexibility without stability creates disorganized or even chaotic activity that fails to move an organization or team in a meaningful direction.

Teams need consistency to understand and achieve their goals. If a leader constantly moves the goalpost or behaves in ways that create uncertainty — for instance, encouraging employees to work remotely and then penalizing employees that aren’t in the office for an unscheduled meeting — team members struggle with both productivity and morale.

Effective leaders are decisive

Seeing all sides of a given situation is valuable. Ruminating endlessly on the consequences of a decision can slow down momentum and lead to missed opportunities. There are times when a leader must act decisively—either because time is of the essence or because their team needs to know that someone in leadership is able to take the helm.

My first leadership coach told me that as a CEO, I must always be decisive — that I would be right 90% of the time. When I made the wrong choice, my job was to admit I was wrong and move on.

Decisiveness is not the same as bullying or tyranny. A 2012 think tank report from the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Institute identified knowing oneself as one of the primary skills involved with decision making by advanced leaders. “Be aware of what you are good at, what skills you have, and where you need to bring in others.”

A good leader understands themselves as well as the circumstances around them, and their ability to take decisive action inspires confidence in their teams.

Effective leaders tolerate high levels of stress

Almost every trait we’ve talked about, when put into action, has the potential to create significant stress. Setting and meeting goals, handling conflict and change, taking decisive actions that will impact your organization and the lives of your employees — all are inherently stressful.

Effective leaders aren’t immune to stress. They’re simply able to tolerate high levels of it, and they don’t shy away from the feeling. They continue to challenge themselves and others in the midst of stressful situations because they know that stress, like conflict, is an inevitable part of any work that’s worth doing.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to assess leadership. I’ve suggested these based on our experience and how they’re represented in the BestWork DATA strengths instrument that we use with our clients and in our Organizational Assessments.

While some leaders will exhibit these traits more easily than others, being an effective leader isn’t an innate quality. It takes deliberate education and practice.