7 traits of people who are naturally gifted in leadership

Some people are just born leaders.

When family friends or parents see a child playing with other kids, you might hear them say something like:

“Look at them! They’ll make a great boss one day!”

Because some people have a way of acting, talking, and carrying themselves that just makes people want to follow them.

Wondering if you’re a naturally gifted leader? Check out these 7 traits of people who are naturally gifted in leadership to find out!

1) Seeing through the BS

When you’re in charge, people won’t always want to tell you the truth to protect their own skin.

If they haven’t done or don’t know how to do something, you hope they’ll tell you the truth so things can progress.

But unfortunately, not everyone will be like that. Some people will try to blag their way through everything.

They’ll dodge their responsibilities and will waffle away at you so you let them off the hook.

But when you’re a natural leader, you have an innate ability to slice through the chatter.

You can tell if someone is hogwashing you or beating around the bush. You can cut to the chase, question what needs to be questioned, and uncover the truth.

I remember an old boss of mine who did this very well. She was pretty well known as a no-nonsense kind of boss.

In a meeting, she ran a tight ship. If someone was waffling, she’d quickly interrupt them and ask them (directly but graciously) to get to the point.

If a conversation was becoming unhelpful and unconstructive, she’d swiftly tell the people to discuss this outside of the meeting and report back when a solution had been found.

It took some time for me to realize it. But she could easily take control of any situation before it escalated and managed her time (and everyone else’s) very well.

And it’s that kind of ability – able to slice through the BS to get things done – that makes someone a naturally gifted leader.

2) Making quick decisions (without changing their mind)

There’s no doubt about it – leaders are decisive people. They can make decisions and make them (relatively) quickly.

If you’ve ever worked a corporate job, you’ll know how important it is for your boss to be able to make decisions.

There’s nothing worse than asking your boss something and have them debate it back and forth, ask your opinion, ask other’s opinion, and then say they’ll get back to you (to which they never do).

But if you’re a gifted leader at heart, you can probably make decisions easily.

If someone asks you where you want to eat, you can happily make a choice. If someone suggests two options, you can give your opinion on what you prefer.

Because naturally gifted people feel confident in making choices and vocalizing these.

3) Spotting people’s true colors

Do you ever meet someone and instantly get a gut feeling about them? Like that they aren’t telling the truth or have an arrogance to them?

Something sparks your instincts, and you can tell if they’re going to be your friend or not your kind of person.

Then this is exactly the kind of trait a natural leader possesses.

They have a unique ability to spot people’s talents. They can tell a blagger from a hard worker very quickly.

They get an instinct about whether someone is telling the truth or spinning them lies.

Which is a crucial skill to have if you’re going to be running a team and hiring staff.

4) Empathizing with anyone

Leadership is all about people – working with them, supporting them, and empowering them to get things done.

A good leader needs to understand people if they want to succeed.

They need to understand how people work, how to encourage them, how to support them, and (ultimately) how to get the most out of a team.

And to understand people, you need to have your fair share of empathy – for anyone and anything.

When someone comes to you in a crisis, your instinct is to be compassionate.

When you need something from another person, you’ll always think about how best to approach the situation.

Like if you need to ask a teacher or parent for support, you’ll wait until they’re in a good mood or aren’t rushed off their feet.

Essentially, you think about people and what they need to get the most out of them. Which is a skill a naturally gifted leader automatically possesses.

5) Confronting people graciously

When leading a team of people, one of the hardest and most important things you’ll need to do is confront people on occasion.

If someone isn’t doing their job right or pulling their weight, you’ll need to pull them up on it. And you’ll need to approach the matter firmly but with grace.

You can’t lose your head in a fit of rage. Likewise, you can’t be too shy about the matter – so much so that they don’t take you seriously.

And a naturally gifted leader knows exactly what to do in these situations. They feel confident confronting people, but they also know how to do it in a way that doesn’t alienate someone or hurt their feelings.

6) Knowing their own worth

Leaders don’t need to be the loudest person in the room. But they do need to be able to command the respect and attention of any room if they need to.

And that’s a quality natural leaders seem to instinctively possess.

You know those people that you see that just seem like they have confidence? Not arrogance, confidence.

Usually, it’s something about the way they walk, talk, hold themselves, and respect themselves.

It’s like they’re generally content with who they are and – even if they aren’t feeling confident – you wouldn’t know it from the way they act.

It’s like they have an inner confidence – and that ability makes them a great leader. It makes them able to speak to anyone, network with a crowd, go against the general consensus, and lead with confidence.

7) Handling criticism without taking it personally

When you become a manager of a team, everything changes. Not everyone in the office is going to be your friend anymore (nor should they be).

They also aren’t going to agree with all your decisions and ideas.

But when you’re in charge, you can’t worry about people not liking you.

You also can’t worry about people badmouthing you behind your back because they don’t think your idea is a good idea.

You have to be able to take criticism (of you or your team) without taking any personal offense from it.

Which is a hard thing to do. But it’ll come naturally to you if you’re a born leader.

Final thoughts

Despite there being people with a natural ability to lead, the saying, “Fake it til you make it” exists for a reason.

Anyone can become a great leader one day, even if they weren’t always suspected of being one or had any confidence as a kid.

It’s all about listening, learning, understanding people, and believing in yourself.

And once you’ve got those basics right, you can learn to lead effectively no matter what your natural gifts are.