Why Patience is One of the Most Important Qualities a Leader Can Have

The chasm between a leader and a great leader is a deep one. It is one that is often filled with qualities like clarity, decisiveness, courage, passion, and a healthy amount of humility given the circumstances.

But one of the major qualities that is essential to leadership that people don't talk about nearly enough is patience. When patience is practiced wisely, it can have a dramatic effect on your entire organization from the top down.

The Ripple Effect of Patience

In general, patience is more important than just being willing to wait for results. Yes, all people are different and employees need to be given room to move at their own pace for the sake of quality. But, the true benefit of patience runs much deeper.

First and foremost, patience shows respect in a way that also encourages productivity at the same time. If you're the type of leader who delegates responsibility but then spends hours each day telling people to "hurry up" or to "get things moving," ultimately all you're really doing is creating frustration or fear in an environment where you can afford neither.

Being willing to wait for someone to work at their own pace shows an employee that you value their overall contribution to the larger organization. You didn't just choose any person for this job; you chose the right person for the right job. Sometimes, that takes a little more time than you'd like, but that is perfectly fine. Patience is also an important acknowledgment that every person progresses at a different pace. If you're up in arms every time someone takes a little more time to complete a task, what you're doing is communicating that they're not as good as someone else when given the same responsibility.

Patience Also Says a Lot About You, Too

Being patient with others isn't just about your employees - it also speaks volumes about you. When you're constantly working from a place of "I needed this yesterday," all you're doing is artificially inflating the stakes of the business you're trying to run. You're not making considerate decisions; you're making ones fueled by little more than raw emotion and a ticking clock.

Patience shows that you're the type of leader willing to stop and let things breathe for a moment. It shows that you're willing to listen and consider all variables before making a thoughtful judgment about what to do next. It shows that you're not the type of person to make snap decisions that you'll later regret and that your employees shouldn't be willing to settle for that, either.

These are just a few of the many reasons why patience is one of the most important qualities a leader can have. It's also important to remember that you need to be patient with yourself. Patience is a virtue, yes, but it's also something of a discipline. You'll need to acknowledge the importance of patience and the role it plays in your business so that you can grow into the type of leader who no longer has to make an effort to be patient with others. Instead, it will become an afterthought.