Successful companies have leaders and managers at every level of the organization to monitor employee behavior, watch the bottom line, and oversee different aspects of the company. Some people are good leaders, while others are not. Some leaders are underaggressive while others are overaggressive.

Recently, I was thinking about what makes some businesses and its leaders more successful than others. To manage a company successfully, leaders must motivate employees to do their jobs. But how do we keep our employees motivated? How do we prevent them from boredom? We have to keep them challenged, interested and motivated. Do the more successful companies have more financial resources or social leverage? Do they just have better leaders? These are some of the questions I investigated.

Essentially, I found that a few of the most successful companies such as PepsiCo, Avon and Google are led by prominent leaders. Business leaders Indra Nooyi (CEO of PepsiCo), Andrea Jung (CEO of Avon), and Marissa Mayer (VP of Search Products Google) embody a list of nine shared characteristics.

1. The leaders that are the most successful are those that are able to gain the trust of colleagues, employees, and stakeholders.
2. Good leaders are devoted and committed to completing the tasks at hand. No matter how early in the morning or late at night it may be, good leaders are committed to meeting deadlines.
3. A good leader will take personal responsibility when things don’t go according to plan or when a project fails as well as award credit when credit is due. Good leaders acknowledge their team members.
4. Strong leaders are humble. They leave their egos at the door.
5. Good leaders value and respect the views of their team members. No matter how silly an idea sounds, good leaders will not mock their team members.
6. Strong leaders have effective communication skills. They clearly articulate themselves.
7. Good leaders are creative and develop fresh ideas while maintaining the core values of a project. Good leaders listen to all ideas presented by the group and give everyone a fair chance to express ideas.
8. Good leaders remain level-headed and maintain a sense of humor. No matter how intense or how badly the situation may get, a good leader can maintain a sense of humor and keep the spirits of the group up. They inspire the group to stay focused.
9. Strong leaders can lead through any situation. When things get difficult, they can control emotions. They make decisions based on logic and fact and gain the confidence of others.

Some people seem to have innate leadership characteristics but there is no concrete evidence that shows leaders are just born that way. Anyone can improve their leadership skills. Leadership characteristics can be learned, developed and strengthened one day and one experience at a time.