The world is full of good leaders. But what makes a great leader? What are the qualities that cause certain men and women to lead their teams from merely doing a good job to achieving something great? What is it about them that not only attracts highly competent people, but inspires them to go above and beyond and achieve greatness?

1. An attractive attitude. People today are looking for hope. They have enough disappointment and negativity in their lives. If you are a gloomy, complaining, pessimistic person you will be regarded as another toxic influence to be avoided, especially by healthy, optimistic, high-achieving people. But if you demonstrate a can-do attitude of joyful optimism and confidence, you’ll inspire hope in others and be regarded as life-giving and empowering. High-achievers understand the importance of having such people in their lives and will be attracted to you. They will see you as a source of encouragement and strength in their life that will take them higher in their pursuit of greatness.

2. A compelling vision. People need a sense of purpose. Everyone is searching for significance and has a need to be a part of something greater than themselves. Nowhere is this truer than with high-achievers. They need to know their work matters and is making a difference. Leaders who want great team members must communicate their vision with clarity and passion. They must be compelling, not simply by describing what the future looks like, but by inspiring people to see the significant role they play in the vision—that, in fact, the vision cannot be accomplished without that person’s specific, individual abilities and presence.

3. A smart management style. People today are looking, not only for good leaders, they want capable managers. Unfortunately, not all leaders are good managers and not all managers are good leaders. But the best leaders are also capable managers. They understand, not only the long term vision, but the immediate goals that need to be achieved to reach that vision. As well, they are able to articulate those goals in an inspiring way, connect people to those goals and coach them through the process of successfully achieving them. These leader/managers are exciting. Because of their confident ability to identify goals and coach people toward successfully achieving those goals, they fill their team members’ lives with victories and a sense of personal fulfillment.

4.  A motivating environment. People need to be inspired. Without inspiration, work becomes monotonous and mundane. It’s nothing more than a series of routines that one tolerates until the task is done. Great leaders are able to inspire people. In other words they understand what motivates people internally. They know what people need to hear, see and receive to keep them excited about their work and personally fulfilled. It can be as simple as a sincere compliment, a genuine thank you, a public recognition or a team award. Whatever it takes, the leader keeps the culture of his team lively and exciting by keeping his people motivated and inspired.

5. A high standard. Good people want to be challenged. They’re not looking for the easy way out or the path of least resistance. They work hard and want to know that their hard work is contributing to a worthy cause. If they are not given assignments that challenge them or cause them to achieve higher goals or better themselves, they will be left feeling insignificant and unfulfilled. While leaders should not be overly demanding, neither should they be apologetic for giving difficult assignments. Instead, leaders should convey the value of the task to the organization’s objectives. Raise the standard, but help workers to appreciate the importance of the assignment as a crucial to the mission of the team.

Good people are hard to come by. It's even harder to hold on to them. It takes a special leader to keep high achievers on his team, performing to their highest potential. Leaders who are unable to do so usually share the same deficiencies:

1. Their attitude is unattractive. Most people make the mistake of thinking vision is what attracts people to a team. It’s not—at least not at first. What initially attracts people is the leader. As John Maxwell has said, people buy into the leader first and then they buy into the leader’s vision. If your attitude is positive, optimistic and inspiring, people will be attracted to you. But if you’re a complainer, pessimistic and discouraged, people will see you as toxic and, for their own peace of mind, separate from you.

2. Their team lacks vision. Vision is the ability to see. For the leader, it is the ability to see into the future. The leader’s vision must be so compelling that people see it for themselves, take ownership of it, and invest themselves in it personally. For such “buy in” to occur, leaders need to communicate vision in a way that each person sees the significant role they have on the team and how their contribution is crucial to its success.    

3. Their people are not motivated. Every worker needs to be paid, even volunteers. For the volunteer, however, their payment is not through extrinsic monetary means, it’s intrinsic. Volunteers are motivated by something internal. They are looking for a deeper sense of personal fulfillment, that’s why they show up and sacrifice their time and energy, because the vision resonates with them personally. For the leader, this is key. He or she must keep their people connected to the vision by validating that sense of significance they are looking for. Verbal affirmation, public recognition, personal acknowledgement all become key motivators to empower people with an inner sense of significance rising out of their performance on the team.

4. Their management skills are lacking. Good leaders attract good people. Attracting good people, however, is one thing; keeping them is another thing entirely. Sometimes leaders complain about their team. They complain about being criticized or challenged or disrespected. What they often fail to realize is that the problem is not always with their people. More often, the problem is with the leaders. If you have good people on your team, they will be your greatest asset—if you are a good leader. If you are a bad leader, unable to establish goals, allocate resources, make decisions, assign targets and hold people accountable—these good people will become your worst nightmare. Not because they don’t “like” you, but because they understand good leadership and effective management and your deficiencies are frustrating them.

5. Their performance standards are too low. Another reason why good people leave teams is because poor performance on the part of their underachieving coworkers is tolerated as an acceptable norm. Leaders have the responsibility of determining culture. The behaviors the leader allows or disallows set the tone of the environment. Lateness, disrespect, complaining, sloppy work or unprofessionalism can be very frustrating for people who become personally invested in the vision. Overtime, good people will not want to be affiliated with a shoddy team nor will they feel satisfied investing themselves in it.