Anyone can be a good leader today if they are able to influence others, represent, stand by the majority and are confident. Sometimes you will not realize you are a leader not until people see that potential in you and choose you. It could be a ‘hidden potential’ but the way you act will show it. A first born child can be a leader at home because they guide their siblings.
You can be a leader at the church choir-you represent the youth or whatever. Some people have a misconception that leaders are only those people at ‘top positions’ like the President, big politicians, the deacons, Bishops etc.
” Taking an initiative pays off. It is hard to visualize someone as a leader if they are always waiting to be told what to do”
Leadership Quotes.
2. Who Is A Leader?
Leadership is defined as per so many perspectives. A leader is a people-person. A leader is a person who believes in others. A leader is a person who is bold, influences, guides, represents and inspires others in various ways. For instance, a woman who comes out to speak against ‘violence on women’ is a leader-she represents fellow women.
Note:
Commanding/ordering people around is uncalled for in leadership. Even if you are in better position to do it, don’t do it-it will ruin you. Leadership is not power, it is responsibility. No one loves command, people love to be understood. If there is need to take decisions without debating over it, at least influence them by giving them understandable reasons.
3. 10 Qualities One Must Posses To Become A Good Leader Today.
1. Be Exemplary:
Inorder to become a good leader, you must be exemplary. You should be able to lead, guide or inspire others by example. The people you lead will only believe in you if you yourself show up that you are involved. For example, you may be leading others at the factory but are not happy with the bad working conditions. So you may say “tomorrow we have a tools down strike at the factory” then come the next day you don’t show up. This means you donot lead by example and are not fit to be called a leader.
2. Be A People-Person.
Inorder to become a leader, you should be a people-person. A people-person is someone who freely associates, values, enjoys cracking jokes with others and loves the company of others. If you are this kind of person you can become a good leader. People will easily recognize you out of the rest and choose you to represent them.
3. Be Confident And Bold.
You cannot become a leader if you are not confident and bold. Are you bold enough to speak out for others? does your body language show that you are confident? If you are confident, you are not afraid to speak out your mind. Even if you could be wrong, that is your opinion. This level of confidence makes you a good leader. Someone who has the right opinion of things but isn’t bold enough to say it out, isn’t confident-they have fear and cannot lead others.
4. Be Well-Organized.
To become a good leader, you must be well organized, i mean how do you present yourself?. How you dress, how you take yourself, how you talk to others-even how confidently you move matters a lot. First impression of being organized is dressing code-it says it all before you even utter a word. For instance, you want to lead women (mothers of the nation at that) -you even have good motives good to go but indecent dressing will make you not suit this position. So be presentable so people feel ‘yah-she deserves it’.
5. Be Trustworthy.
Being trustworthy means, people can confide in you, trust in you and even believe in you. It means you believe in these people too. They can entrust you with their ideas, opinions on something. This is because they believe you are in better position to speak up or do things on their behalf. We can give an example of the members of parliament who represent us-say our opinions in parliament. If people cant entrust you with their information, you cannot make a good
6. Be A Good Listener And Communicator.
Have you realized that people who do more of listening than talking once they stand up to talk, they have a lot of sense in their speech? Why is it so? -This is because they take their time to understand what’s on ground so that when they speak, they have a good selection of words. One must know that speaking a whole lot doesn’t define making a point. You can make a point even if you said one word. You must be able to listen to others speak and have good communication skills to portray leadership.
7. Be Humble.
Humility is everything in this life. If you think so highly of yourself, You cannot lead anyone. It clearly means you are proud and arrogant. A leader should be humble person. A good leader should be a down to earth human, someone approachable by anyone and not segregative. They take all people as one. An approachable person is a humble one who people respect but not fear.
8. A Problem Solver.
A good leader should be able to offer solutions to problems. They should not only look at problems but provide possible solutions to them. If you are good at harmonizing people who have conflicts, calming a situation to make peace-you are a good problem solver. This makes you a good leader.
9. Be A Good Time Keeper.
Always keep time. Have good time keeping skills. A good leader should be a good time keeper. If you communicate a specific time to meet people you lead, always keep time e.g. 10:00am should be 10:00am. Avoid arriving late and keeping people waiting for long.
10. Accept Correction.
A good leader must not think they are always right. All of us are prone to making mistakes because we are all human. So a good leader should accept to be corrected when they go wrong. A leader can go wrong in many ways- can make wrong decisions or even give wrong reports. If you easily accept correction, then you a good to go as a leader.
11. Should Be Honest.
A good leader should be honest at all times. Be transparent in speech and actions. Some of the rising cases of corruption today are due to lack of transparency. I mean honesty means being true to yourself even in the absence of others. Be transparent in both your speech and actions to make a good leader.
Conclusion.
Leadership isn’t something hard if you are determined to become one. A leader is made and not necessarily born. You start building these leadership skills a step at a time. It could start from home, work place, church or wherever till you reach higher levels of the state. Learn the above qualities of a good leader and become one someday.