If you have just recently gotten a promotion to be a leader, congrats, but do you know how to be a great leader? Being a great leader doesn’t mean that suddenly, you need to be tough on your employees and start to enforce and make up rules. In fact, it means that you’ve got to incorporate some of the traits below.

1. Learn to listen

This is the foundations of any good relationship, friendship or any leader/employee relationship. Learning to listen is going to be huge and also keeping an open mind. You want your colleagues to feel comfortable voicing their opinions to you, and you’ve got to be open to it.

2. Learn to story tell

Now that you’ve learned to listen, the next thing that you’ve got to learn as a leader is to become a storyteller. Storytelling is a great way to connect with your colleagues and to engage them. Whether you are telling a story to a boardroom of people or just a small team meeting, you’ve got to find a way to engage them, and that can be hard.

3. Be authentic

Finally, this is the most important. If you are a leader, you can not be fake. People spot fake right away, and then they won’t respond well. You’ve got to be authentic; you’ve got to be sincere. These qualities go a long way with many employees, and you’ll be a fantastic leader, right off the bat.