Six qualities that appear in nearly every serious leadership study. Not the only ones that matter, but the ones without which the rest don't hold up.

1. Integrity. Saying what you'll do and doing it. The trust baseline all other leadership traits rest on.
2. Humility. Accepting feedback, admitting error, recognising that you have more to learn. The quality that makes leaders teachable.
3. Vision. The ability to articulate where the group is going in a way people want to follow. Not prediction — direction.
4. Decisiveness. Making calls with incomplete information. Indecision costs more than imperfect decisions in almost every organisation.
5. Empathy. Understanding what others are experiencing. Leaders who can read a room make better calls and keep teams intact during hard times.
6. Resilience. Returning to form after setbacks. Organisations that survive are led by people who don't collapse under pressure.

Six qualities. Pick the one you most need to develop; practise for six months. That's how leadership actually compounds — one quality at a time, not all six at once.