Qualities of a True Leader | 5 Points from a Life Science’s Consulting Firm’s CEO

[December 6, 2020]  As someone with more than 35 years of senior executive experience under my belt as a successful marketing expert, I am often consulted for leadership advice or solutions to various startup issues that young people come across.

A little about the person giving you these pieces of advice? I go by the name William Patrick Slattery, President and CEO of life sciences consulting firm called ‘Nieuw Amsterdam Advisors’.

Now that you are aware of who is guiding you, I hope to shed some light on some of the leadership characteristics one should adopt as soon as possible.

Key Leadership Qualities One Should Have

One of the essential assessments that you should make is not of the processes but yourself. This is a crucial phase where you sit down with yourself and make sure you are aware of your weaknesses and strengths.

Other than this, here’s a quick list of leadership qualities that I believe make a great leader.

1. Have a Vision and Be Passionate

During the initial phases, it is your passion and vision alone that tell the story of what you are planning on creating. So, have an overriding purpose for your business that can be shared with your team of employees, investors, and customers – in order to convince them and have them on board with your business’s purpose.

2. Have Clear Goals and Objectives

If you are a confused leader, then so will be your entire team shooting arrows and wasting resources, hoping for it to land somewhere. Work toward having a defined and concise set of realistic, achievable, relevant, and measurable goals.

3. Learn to Communicate Clearly

An effective leader knows how to engage everyone and can meet their level in order to explain or speak in a way that makes sense to them. One of the ways to exclude any doubts, miscommunication, and confusion is to be very clear in what you convey. Moreover, open the lines of communication open. What worked best for me is having an open-door policy where my colleagues and teams alike can talk to me at any given time, provided I wasn’t occupied with something of high priority.

4. Get and Receive Feedback Without Any Qualms

How else will we improve as leaders if we cannot handle constructive criticism? Establish a great environment that includes encouraging everyone to improve themselves and openly address any issues or hindrances that may be pushing them back as a team.

Make sure you shed the ego and harbor a humble attitude and approach to all of your in-house matters.

5. Know When to Bring in The Experts

One of the golden qualities that a leader can have is knowing when the company needs some consultation from an expert to set the course in the right direction. Take my firm, for example; we are approached and reach out ourselves to companies that require our expertise to solve specific problems ranging from building the brand to finding the right resources to propel them in the direction of success.

These are some of the fundamental leadership qualities that would create a massive difference for the person in charge, the startup he or she is responsible for, and of course, the team(s) working for the same cause. Good luck!