1851

When it comes to the overall success of a business, we often point to markers like system-wide revenue or same-store sales. However, there&rsquo;s another non-numeric factor that has the power to make or break a company&rsquo;s future: leadership.

Brands marked by poor leadership have to overcome negative reputations and stifling work environments. Companies that are known for their positive leaders, on the other hand, consistently recruit the best talent and see consistent success. No matter what industry you&rsquo;re in, there are a variety of traits and habits that are known for making great leaders. And according to Doug Kushell of Franchise Search, Inc., a brand that places strong candidates in executive positions at a variety of emerging and established franchise concepts, those characteristics are easy to spot.

Below are 20 traits that have a proven track record of making great leaders:

Passionate

Leadership can&rsquo;t exist without passion. Whether you&rsquo;re leading an entire brand or a small group of employees at one specific franchise location, you need to be passionate about your mission to succeed. That&rsquo;s ultimately what sets you up for success&mdash;being passionate gives you the drive necessary to turn your goals into reality.

Focused

Being a leader requires an advanced level of focus. While being in an executive position often comes with a side of chaos, it&rsquo;s crucial for leaders to be able to focus on the most important tasks at hand. Even if something goes wrong, being focused on your desired outcome will ultimately help you see success.

Vision

In addition to being focused, one trait that all leaders share is a vision. Without a vision, it&rsquo;s impossible for employees to know what they&rsquo;re working towards. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s up to leaders to show that there&rsquo;s a long-term goal in sight that&rsquo;s possible to achieve.

&ldquo;All leaders need to have the belief that they can make a difference in their company. It&rsquo;s obvious when someone has a vision or goal that they&rsquo;re working towards&mdash;that makes all the difference in effective leadership,&rdquo; said Kushell.

Accountable

Leaders then need to be held accountable to their visions. It&rsquo;s one thing to say you have a goal, but it&rsquo;s another thing to put the work in to achieve it. Leaders need to be able to back up their goals with a proven track record and history of making positive changes in the company&rsquo;s they&rsquo;ve served.

Expertise and Confidence

In order to be trusted with the responsibilities of a leadership position, you have to demonstrate that you&rsquo;re an expert in your particular field. That means being confident in your abilities, and not being afraid to get things done. When leaders are backed up by a confident attitude that&rsquo;s grounded in real expertise, they have a greater shot at growth.

Honesty and Integrity

Being a great leader requires traits that extend outside of the office. Two of those are honesty and integrity&mdash;it&rsquo;s critical for you to be forthcoming with the team around you in order to be trusted. Honesty and integrity ultimately position leaders as invaluable assets to the brands and consumers they serve.

Friendly and Positive

Along the same lines as honesty and integrity, leaders also share the characteristics of being friendly and positive. No one wants to work for someone that&rsquo;s mean or negative about their jobs&mdash;by being a nice person to be around and encouraging those around you, leaders create an atmosphere and culture that attracts top tier talent.

Kushell said, &ldquo;While it&rsquo;s often overlooked, leaders need to live and breathe their company&rsquo;s culture. In order to effectively lead, they need to be setting the example that others need to follow.&rdquo;

Team Builder

Leadership and the ability to build a strong team go hand in hand. In order to thrive, leaders need to surround themselves with other people who will push them to do their best, even under high pressure. That then impacts the culture of a brand or organization&mdash;strong teamwork often leads to success.

Understanding and Empathetic

Once a leader has their team in place, it&rsquo;s crucial for them to be understanding and empathetic towards their needs. That doesn&rsquo;t mean they can allow their employees to waste time&mdash;instead, it means that leaders should have a realistic understanding of what their team needs in order to do their jobs well.

Excellent Listener

In order to be both understanding and empathetic, leaders need to listen to feedback. You need to really listen to what people are saying, from employees to customers. That feedback has the potential to further your growth and development down the line.

Multi-Tasker

One of the most important characteristics for leaders to have is the ability to multi-task. Being placed in a high-level position requires juggling multiple things at once, even under a lot of pressure. And those things all require a lot of attention&mdash;projects can&rsquo;t be forgotten. Instead, they need to be prioritized.

&ldquo;Leaders are able to oversee multiple projects at the same time. In the franchising industry, for example, executives need to be comfortable guiding both franchisees and other corporate team members,&rdquo; said Kushell.

Open Minded

Leadership also lends itself to open mindedness. There&rsquo;s a certain level of innovation that comes with taking charge&mdash;leaders often have the ability to see beyond the day to day tasks in order to envision a successful big picture. That requires being open to new ideas, even when they seem daunting at first.

Decisive

Being open minded doesn&rsquo;t mean that decisions are never made. Decisiveness is a trait that makes leaders into who they are. People will never look to someone who struggles with pulling the trigger on decisions both big and small.

Kushell says, &ldquo;People who lead with a decisive hand create an environment in which sound and strategic plans can be executed. That importance of that type of atmosphere can&rsquo;t be overlooked for businesses that wish to succeed.&rdquo;

Financially Responsible

Being financially responsible is another habit that&rsquo;s often found in those who lead. Even though all leaders may not be tasked with planning a budget, they need to be able to find ways to stay within their means. At time, that can mean getting creative with the resources at your disposal. But in the long run, it&rsquo;s worth it to avoid the fallout of climbing debt.

Calm in a Crisis

In business, there are always problems that arise and unexpected events that go wrong. When those situations happen, the leadership behind a brand needs to be able to solve whatever problems pop up. And if they&rsquo;re unsure of what to do, real leaders will know who to ask for help.

Forward Thinker

It&rsquo;s easy to spot a leader by their ability to think ahead. It&rsquo;s easy to get bogged down in the daily aspects of any job. But leaders have the ability to think beyond those tasks to others that will arise in both the near and distant future. Forward thinking is a sign that a leader can anticipate what&rsquo;s coming next, and better prepare for possible situations.

&ldquo;True leaders can think ahead. It&rsquo;s not uncommon for candidates looking for leadership positions to be asked to create a 60 to 90 day business plan based on the due diligence they&rsquo;ve done before they&rsquo;re even hired,&rdquo; said Kushell.

Delegator

Being a leader doesn&rsquo;t mean taking on every single responsibility you come across. Instead, leaders typically know when they need to delegate tasks to others. By splitting up responsibilities, leaders enable their teams to grow professionally and ensure that all of their work is being done by the people best equipped to handle a specific task.

Authentic

An often overlooked trait that&rsquo;s commonly found in leaders is authenticity. It comes with honesty and integrity&mdash;it&rsquo;s easy to spot when a leader isn&rsquo;t being their true self. Your passion and dedication to your role need to be real in order to see positive changes being made.

Communicative

Leadership also requires the doors of communication to be wide open. It&rsquo;s ineffective for leaders to hide their goals or expectations&mdash;those need to be communicated to their team. It&rsquo;s critical to discuss both successes and failures to determine the best next steps for a business or brand.

Inspiring

Lastly, leaders have the ability to inspire those around them. On top of their assigned responsibilities, this is one of the most important tasks leaders are charged with. By inspiring others to succeed and grow alongside their vision, they have the potential to ensure the growth of their company.

&ldquo;If a leader doesn&rsquo;t have a strong idea of where their brand is going in the future, how will others buy into it? Executives need to have a clear understanding of what&rsquo;s to be expected down the line in order to relay that message to everyone around them. The same applies on a personal level&mdash;leaders should leave their employees inspired and excited about the career opportunities that lie ahead,&rdquo; said Kushell.

20 Traits That Make Great Leaders

1851 Franchise

From passion and vision to authenticity and forward thinking, there are a few characteristics that are often found in leaders regardless of their industry.


20-traits-that-make-great-leaders

Jollibee

Design with Peter Wright headshot and photo of Jollibee fries

Peter Wright Joins Jollibee as Vice President of Franchising to Lead U.S. Expansion

franchise-growth-peter-wright

HomeTeam Inspection Service

Photo of home inspectors speaking with another person outside of HomeTeam Inspection Service vehicle

From Inquiry to Ownership: How HomeTeam Inspection Service Paves a Clear Path to Franchising

hometeam-franchise-path-to-ownership

Mellow Mushroom

Art and Economics: How Mellow Mushroom’s Local Commitment Helped Secure Franchise Times Top 400 Spot

mellow-mushroom-franchise-times-400-rank-growth

Sola Salons

Photo of interior of Sola Salons location

How Much Can I Make as a Sola Salons Franchise Owner?

franchise-earnings

SweatHouz

Memberships That Matter: SweatHouz’s Recurring Revenue Model Explained

sweathouz-recurring-revenue-model

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum

Authority Brands Enters Q4 with Record Momentum, Surpassing 200 New Franchise Owners in the First 10 Months of 2025

authority-brands-enters-q4-with-record-momentum-surpassing-200-new-franchise-owners-in-the-first-10-months-of-2025

Franchises, work-life balance, millennials in franchising, millennials work-life balance

The Best Franchises for Millennials Wanting Work-Life Balance

best-franchises-millennials-work-life-balance

Photo of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza franchisee Lily Wilford

Entrepreneur: This 18-Year-Old Saves Babysitting Money for College — Then Decided to Buy a Business Instead

18-year-old-franchise-owner-lily-wilford

Amazon outage, AWS outage, Amazon AWS logo

The Day the Cloud Stalled: How Amazon's Outage Impacted Franchise Economy

amazon-aws-outage-franchise-impact-travel-dining-failure

Thursday 1851 Franchise Agg - NASAA’s Noncompete Push

NASAA’s Noncompete Push Puts Franchise Growth on Uncertain Ground

franchise-noncompete-nasaa-advisory-reasonableness-standard

A Practical Playbook: Who To Call First When Franchising Your Business

franchising-your-business-who-to-call-first

Coffee & analytics image with photo of Nick Powills

Athletes And Franchising: Why the Connection Runs Deep

athletes-in-franchising

image  of Happinest franchise collection and all their brands that work together. 

The Happinest Advantage: A Marketing Partner Invested in Your Bottom Line

happinest-franchise-marketing-strategy

The Shift From Founder to Franchisor: Building a Team, Culture and System That Scale

the-shift-from-founder-to-franchisor-building-a-team-culture-and-system-that-scale

image of jerome hanway from right at home Las Cruces, New Mexico 1851 franchise franchisee spotlight

Jerome Hanway Is Building His Right at Home Franchise Around His Mission To Serve

right-at-home-franchise-las-cruces-jerome-hanway

NJCAR v. Ford - New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

new-jersey-franchise-practices-act-njcar-v-ford

image of michael panos and michel panos, owners of mellow mushroom in Atlanta

The Panos Family’s Role in Preserving Mellow Mushroom’s Character — and Expanding in Atlanta

mellow-mushroom-franchise-panos-restaurant-group-metro-atlanta

image of franchise deep dive from 1851 franchise on doody calls franchise authority brands

DoodyCalls Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

doodycalls-franchise-deep-dive

Graphic with arm, holding graduation cap, coming out of stack of books

top-tutoring-test-prep-franchises

20 Traits That Make Great Leaders

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS