Many people want to develop leadership qualities in themselves. But not everyone understands who such a leader is and who he is. In simple terms, this is an authoritative person, distinguished by determination, tirelessness, the ability to motivate other people, to serve as an example, to lead them to the result. A leader is not only a prestigious status, but also a great responsibility. And since this topic is very interesting, a little more attention should be paid to its consideration.
Becoming a leader
To start, it's worth a little talk about it. Is it possible to become a leader? Yes, if a person initially has a corresponding character, temperament, a fire inside and what is called a grip. All of the above may “sleep” in a person for some time, but then either it will itself awaken under the influence of circumstances, or their owner will start the process.
Be that as it may, all leaders go through four stages of development. They can be briefly described as follows:
- Himself a leader. A person learns to understand himself, bear responsibility for his own words and actions, formulates individual motivation, trains discipline, sets goals, achieves them.
- Leader in the situation. A person assumes responsibility for a small group / company in certain circumstances. The elder in a university group is one example.
- The leader in the team. A person who can lead a large group of people to complex and important goals. For example, the head of a department of a company.
- Team leader. One who has great potential, inexhaustible confidence, strong fortitude and an ambitious goal, to achieve which he collects a whole team. For example, a businessman organizing his business.
Being a leader is not easy. But this status brings great results. So what qualities is a leader obliged to possess?
Ability to work with goals
This must be said first. The main quality of a leader is the ability to determine the goal and work with it in the future. He knows for sure the following:
- What strategies can help achieve results.
- In what direction must one move to achieve it.
- How much time and resources will be required to achieve the goal.
- What will be the result.
Also, the leader knows how to plan, analyze, constructively reflect and suggest sensible thoughts. In addition, he is able to easily and clearly explain all of the above to any member of the team.
Sociability
This, too, must be attributed to the main qualities of a leader. Sociability means the ability to establish contacts and promote mutually enriching, constructive communication. If a person is characterized by this quality, then he is considered socially successful.
And for a leader, the ability to communicate effectively with people, colleagues and partners is also the key to success. If he is sociable, then it will not be difficult for him to create a useful connection at the right time, which will help in effectively achieving the goal. In addition, this quality helps to win over people, ask questions correctly, quietly translate the topic into the right direction and quickly receive information of interest.
The ability to inspire and motivate
This is a very important quality. A leader is a person who not only leads people, but the one who wants to go! He must be able to create impulses of action that stimulate both himself and the rest. Moreover, he is also obliged to inspire action, create long-term and sustainable motivation.
The leader knows how to demonstrate an attractive and colorful future and thereby arouse the desire of his followers and wards to plunge into him quickly with his head. To do this, he must:
- Have a well-delivered speech.
- Create a “picture” of the future, vividly describe, but not embellish.
- To some extent, be a psychologist. Without knowing the “points” of their colleagues and wards, which you need to work on for inspiration and motivation, you can’t do without it.
And of course, a leader must be an example. Energetic, positive, confident and at the same time business-like calm. So that people looking at him know that everything will work out, they will definitely succeed, and even under such guidance.
Humanity
Despite the fact that we are all people, this quality is not characteristic of everyone. But the leader must have it. Who will people follow? Whom will they support? Who do they listen to? Only that who supports them, cares about their interests, is humanly, with understanding.
This is a very important personal quality. A leader can be both strict and disposable. Many are afraid to show understanding and support, fearing to lose credibility, but good leaders know in which situations to show one side or another.
Organization
Talking about what qualities a leader should possess, one cannot but mention organization. It is very important not to waste time on trifles, to be able to sweep away unnecessary actions, to concentrate on the important. The basis of the actions of this leader is:
- Self-discipline and discipline.
- Clear order of action.
- A well-thought-out schedule and a rigorous consequence to him.
- Diligence and punctuality.
- The ability to distribute time.
- The ability to maximize focus on a specific action.
In the process of leadership, the quality of a leader is manifested directly. After all, he does not just follow all of the above, he also teaches his subordinates. By the way, in a business environment, this is called time management.
What is leadership?
This is not a quality, but it also deserves attention. Leadership is a process of social influence, through which a person receives support from other people (team members, as a rule) to achieve certain goals.
Varieties can be a lot. The leadership style determines the worldview of a person, especially his character, experience. Sometimes circumstances also influence. Styles are as follows:
- Autocratic. Characterized by highly centralized power. All decisions are made by the leader, subordinates only follow orders.
- Democratic. All team members take part in decision making.
- Liberal. The leader transfers his authority to subordinates, which increases their initiative and creativity.
- Narcissistic. The leader does not consider other people's interests. This does not always lead to a bad outcome, but in a team with such authority, people are usually uncomfortable because of his arrogance and aggressiveness.
- Toxic. Authority uses leadership so that the team is in a worse position.
- Benchmark on the result. The leader leads the team to the goal, clearly following the plan and remembering the time frame.
- Landmark on the relationship. The leader is trying to improve relations in the team, putting real goals in the background.
Political sphere
It would be nice to briefly consider the topic within the framework of a particular industry. For example, what should be the qualities of a political leader? Of the main ones, one can distinguish the following:
- Consistent activity and activity. It is important. A politician should be perceived by people as an active and active person. Expressive speeches, impressive decisions, speeches, projects, deeds ... all this quality demonstrates.
- The ability to shape your behavior and image. A politician should be able to focus on people, capture their requirements and comply with them.
- The ability to think politically. It helps to formulate a social position in certain cases and determine your behavior.
- The ability to capture the relationship between events in society and spheres.
- The ability to generate credible trust. Not a single political leader will influence people unless they trust him.
Also in this list you can include the ability to use power and take responsibility, the ability to understand ordinary citizens, as well as the manifestation of humanism and high morality.
Signs of a Leader
I would like to list them in the end. Much has been said above about what qualities characterize a leader. And here is what can be attributed to the signs by which such a person is easy to recognize:
- He does not wait for orders, but acts himself, and does it reasonably and effectively, for the good.
- He is characterized by courage and a strong character.
- He makes bold decisions.
- He has many like-minded people and advisers.
- He thinks optimistically, but not recklessly.
- One of the best qualities of a leader is that he always knows what he wants.
- He is not afraid to destroy everything for the sake of building something new.
- The leader does not try to be someone, he remains himself.
- Such a person does not compete with others, but collaborates.
- He perceives change and crisis not as a problem, but as an opportunity to begin to act actively.
- Barriers motivate him, not oppress.
- He always goes all the way. Nothing can make him turn astray.
- His life is always impressive and fascinating.
- Many try to imitate him.
- The leader does not strain. If a problem arises, then he solves it, without wasting time on complaints and worries.
- In any area of life, it is clear from him that he is a leader. Even if he is resting alone.
Having studied even this short list, one can understand that a leader is a strong and strong-willed person, capable of both independently performing actions and feats, and successfully motivating others to do so.