It is amazing how and under what circumstances leadership qualities are formed in a person. In what proportions should they be mixed in order to get a person who is deprived of self-doubt and own abilities, active in any manifestation, thinking outside the box, acting decisively and able to rally any disparate group for a common goal?
Anyone can become a leader, since qualities, which will be discussed below, are present to one degree or another in every person. But, as it turned out, this role does not suit everyone and not everyone.
Terminology
Leader (from the English leader - "leading, first, leading the way") - a person in a group who enjoys great authority and has influence, which manifests itself as controlling actions.
The role of a leading, ideological mastermind and mentor is terribly tiring for most ordinary people. For the majority, but not for the leader - a person whose powerful energy hits over the edge and seeks application.
So who is he?
Key Leader Qualities
Psychologists have studied this topic in sufficient detail and came to the unanimous opinion that fundamental ideological traits are inherent in all ideological inspirers.
A leader is a person who combines:
- Self-confidence. Reasonable or not quite, but the leader has absolutely no reason not to believe in himself. His confidence is contagious - being confident in himself, he inspires this feeling to the people around him.
- Energy and tenacity. Not so rare quality, but coupled with self-confidence it gives amazing results. A man lowering his arms at the first obstacle is a whiner. A person who blames others for his failures is a psychopath. A person who knows how to analyze his failures and goes further is the market leader. He is such only because of his perseverance and perseverance.
- Charisma, charisma. Very important human qualities, agree. Before you begin to lead, the leader must first hook others, they like. Unfortunately, a person who does not have attractive emotional characteristics is unlikely to become a real leader.
- The ability to convince. To be able to correctly and intelligibly express their thoughts is already a science, and the ability to put their thoughts into the minds of others so that people take them for their own is a whole art. Of course, a person possessing such a gift can be called a manipulator, but the leader is essentially a puppeteer, leading the masses in the right direction.
- Initiative. A leader is an active, energetic person who has a lot of ideas and wants to bring all of them to life. A real find for any team!
- Responsibility. This is the fundamental quality of a person that underlies the entire pyramid of a leadership figure. Indeed, if for all the above qualities there will be no responsibility for the committed acts, this will result in a portrait not of a leader, but of a poseur, an empty bell and a fanfare. A true team leader will readily answer for the consequences of any of his undertakings.
Where is the intelligence?
Have you noticed that among the above qualities there is absolutely no such as intelligence or mental abilities ? According to many scientists, this is absolutely not a mandatory quality in the portrait of a leader. The most important condition for successful leadership is to be a little smarter than others. With a fairly large gap in the intellectual plan of the leader and his environment, the opposite reaction occurs - the crowd rejects the know-how, and the leader himself becomes bored with working with such “raw material”.
Is the leader and leader the same?
Reading the article, many of you have probably tried on a portrait of a leader to your leader. Coincidences happen, but very rarely. Does this mean that we are led by people who are not able to lead, random? Causal relationship: if random people lead, then leadership turns out to be ineffective.
Let's figure it out. The leader leader in nature, of course, is. It’s a rare Beast, it is found more in the central part of Russia (ambition haunts, and leadership qualities call to conquer the capital). The farther from Belokamennaya, the calmer and more measured our leaders become.
Leadership in their characters are present, but not in the maximum value. How do they manage to lead?
The task is solved in one action, and the answer is simple: competent managers help out such managers. Indeed, what could be simpler - if I lack some quality, I need to find a person who possesses it and take him to work. This is exactly what a thinking leader, a team leader does. At the same time, the idea of ​​organization does not suffer, all components are balanced, and the goals are achieved.
The leader in the organization, not thinking about the future of his brainchild, takes his brother, matchmaker, and mistress to work, which discredits not only himself, but also the company.
Female leader: gift of heaven or punishment?
As experts jokingly assure, in order to succeed, a woman must not only be smart and cunning, she must be taller than any man by two heads. And this statement is not without meaning, because the gender approach also rules here.
An independent group of scientists has experimentally proven that it is very difficult for the weaker sex to lead. A “leader” was first planted in the group of subjects, first female, then male. In both cases, the decoy leader had to take the reins of government into his own hands and, convincing the subjects, lead them to solve the problem. During the test, it turned out that others agree rather favorably to the desire to lead, coming from a man. They allow you to get the better of them and more readily agree with his point of view. While the activity of a woman striving for leadership, causes the majority of those around her aversion and irritation.
It is not surprising that women leaders in the competition with the stronger sex are forced to mask their weaknesses. They acquire masculine personality traits, masculine management style, masculine habits. It’s kind of a defensive reaction.
Can a leader be subordinate?
Very interesting question, agree. Indeed, if a person has more ambitions and self-confidence than hair on his head, how can he obey the requirements of another person, his boss?
Indeed, an informal leader is a big problem for the current leader. He, by virtue of his character, simply cannot remain aloof and will undermine the authority of the incumbent boss daily and every minute.
An informal leader is a person who is himself a hostage to his charisma.
Of course, you can get rid of such interference by dismissal, but if the rebel is also a good specialist, then it is more reasonable to find another application for his energy. Offer him to take the place of the head of the trade union organization, appoint him responsible for fire safety and labor protection. Believe me, you will not regret it. Empowerment and certain authority will ensure the satisfaction of the ambitions of an informal leader. Of course, he will not stop criticizing you, but exclusively on the case. And besides, you should not sweep away everything said by the informal leader in his address - his brain is designed so that he clearly sees the disadvantages in management. Therefore, it is better to "wind up" and take into account.
Is it possible to educate a leader in yourself?
Of course, you can, but first you need to decide whether you really need it.
Numerous existing courses and trainings on the development of personal qualities of a person offer everyone who wants to educate themselves in one or two weeks. This, as psychologists assure, promises social significance, fame and attention. Many of these trainings really need and help. But there is a possibility that a person, having passed such courses, will experience real shock and stress if in the course it turns out that he is not born to be the main thing.
Summarize
To summarize the foregoing, we can confidently say that the problem of leadership is very multifaceted. From a psychological point of view, a leader is a hostage to his indefatigable energy. They are most often unsafe, his life is full of unforeseen situations, he is always at the epicenter of events, but from this the real leader receives only satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
Praise fearless, the world is rotating!