Raven,
Awesome stuff! While no leader will be perfect and always have 100% perfect standards in every area, the stuff you are posting are a pretty good combination of good definitive qualities for any leader to aspire to. The things you speak of are a lot of what they often become over time with experience.
I would like to reply to each one individually and give my thoughts on them.
- Raven wrote:
- 6 Essential Leadership Traits
Leadership
is not some esoteric quality that only a chosen few are born with.
Rather, it is a set of skills that both potential and experienced
leaders can develop and hone, and utilize to transform challenging tasks
into spectacular successes. Here are some of the most essential
qualities of a leader.
I agree. Just as nobody is born wise, nobody can be born a leader. It is something one develops over time, through actions, experience, learning, and also consistency.
- Raven wrote:
- 1. Leaders are Emotionally Mature
Workplaces,
and other areas in life, can often be fraught with stressful
situations. Facing tough situations is an inevitable factor of life.
Usually, most people react to a tough situation either by displaying
frustration or by bursting out in anger or an emotional flare-up.
However, leaders always display emotional maturity in every kind of
situation they face. They have the skill of holding in their feelings of
anger and frustration, and instead displaying calmness and emotional
maturity.
This is true. How much a leader can be treated with respect is also by how well they deal with it. Interestingly enough, over time if one makes enough mistakes and is able to learn from them, they can grow to become better.
- Raven wrote:
- 2. Leaders Display Assertiveness
Leaders
are characterized by their firmness and strength of purpose. They know
what they want and need, and go about achieving it assertively. They are
never daunted by the challenges that they have to overcome on the path
to achieving their goals. They have an unwavering attitude towards the
obstacles that come their way. A leader has the skill to demand and get
the cooperation of his/her team assertively in order to achieve the
goals set.
I very much agree with this one. There is no room for passive aggressiveness in leadership. Aggressiveness can work alright if it's for training purposes, but again there's a time and place for things. As far as passiveness, if it's the right time for it alright, but for the most part, personalitywise, it isn't good to be passive when as a leader. You need to be bold. People need to know where you stand on things.
- Raven wrote:
- 3. Leaders have Self-Confidence
One
of the characteristic traits that define leadership skills is being
self-assured and having self-confidence. Leaders almost always, never
require the approval of others about the decisions they take and the
actions they carry out. They do not act in order to get other people's
acceptance. They are very secure about themselves and do not hesitate to
accept any mistakes that they may have made. This kind of
self-confidence is often the result of facing and overcoming challenges
as they occur.
This is also good too and very important. Confidence not only in ourselves but also in those we work with. Nothing will inspire a person more than believing in them. Well, alright, there could be other things, but I know how this one means a lot to a lot of people, when people truly believe in them. Honesty is important too, to ensure that all complements are genuine and not fake.
- Raven wrote:
- 4. Capacity to Work Hard
Hard
work does not daunt leaders. Fueled by their passion, they have high
levels of energy that keeps them going on seemingly forever. They get
the job done no matter how many long hours they have to spend on it.
This is a particularly important leadership skill as only when the
leader shows by example how hard he/she can work will the team follow
the leader likewise.
Passion is extremely important. It's something much deeper and more important than just having energy or interest. It's something that fuels you in your spirit. It keeps you going when you do not have much energy. Because you feel driven to do and truly believe it's important.
- Raven wrote:
- 5. Leaders have Self-Awareness
This
implies that leaders are conscious of their priorities, motivations,
weaknesses, and strengths. They are aware of what they need to do in
order to improve and exactly what is driving them to achieve what they
have set out to do. Since they are aware of who they are it helps in
making leading other people easier.
We have to know our strengths and weaknesses. This is also one important reason for why teams exist. To balance out each individual's weaknesses with the strengths of others. And sometimes the strength itself is in numbers.
- Raven wrote:
- 6. Leadership Skills involve Building Relationships
Indeed,
leaders have the skill of empathizing with each member of the team,
thus building a relationship with them. Leaders have the inherent
ability of earning respect from their team members and building their
trust. This is a vital contributory factor of the productivity of teams.
Consistent communication is the key here. It's what helps people get more familiar with each other and helps things flow more naturally.
- Raven wrote:
- Leadership
skills involve setting an example and being a model. It is about having
a certain charisma - qualities that other people are drawn towards,
trust, look up to, and feel comfortable with. Leadership involves taking
inputs from everybody and deciding how it all fits according to the
vision. It involves providing a path for others to follow. It means
having the ability to think ahead. It is about inspiring and motivating
people to achieve their full potential. Leadership means getting
everybody to comprehend the goal and then work towards achieving it.
leadership skills, remember, can always be cultivated in oneself.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/define-leadership-skills.html
Yes. That is all very true. Thank you for sharing this with us!
204,
As for what you had said... It reminds me of a question. If there were 3 people who could be chosen to be some kind of leader. You had 3 choices.
Candidate 1- Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate 2- He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate 3- He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.
So, if you were to think about which one sounds like the best candidate, just look at who each one is...
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt
Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler
Which is one reason to understand that personal qualities are often irrelevant to leadership. Popularity should never be an ingredient in leadership, it is however a bonus. It is what a leader stands for that matters most. But other good traits are just icing on the cake.