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This topic raises questions such as, who are leaders? What is required of one to become a leader? What are the qualities of a successful leader?
In simple terms, the answer to all these questions can be as simple as; a leader is an individual with the potential to lead others, one who can control, manage and shape the behavior of other people to a desired form. When talking about leadership, it is not restricted to recognized positions, elected roles, experience and training, it goes wide into non-convectional roles such as household management, responsibility groups, being a voice of reason “which in its way is also leadership” and many other scenarios where an individual is tasked to influence the actions of other people.
When examining the different forms of leadership out there, convectional and non-convectional leadership it is easy to conclude that leadership qualities are to a degree inherent, but when you read and study the biographies and histories of some known great leaders you can also notice that leadership qualities are molded, attained, borrowed and even polished over time. This means that anyone can have qualities of a successful leader. When one has the will to become a great leader, it does not have to be inherent. On the way, one can continuously develop themselves through a process of self-awareness, training, experience, polishing and borrowing. Great leaders are always in a position to learn and dynamically condition themselves into a situation. Here are the most basic qualities that make successful leaders;
Elaborate goals and vision
A leader should always know ‘the what now’, ‘the what how’ and ‘the what when’ of their goals and vision. The goals and visions in qualities of a successful leader are always with them in their minds. This enables a leader to execute great action at any time needed while considering the repercussions of their actions now or later.
Know thy strengths and weaknesses
Understanding yourself in terms of what works for you and what doesn’t. From the past, how did you succeed and how did you fail. Do you accept and work through your failures? A successful leader will always know and importantly accept their weaknesses and strengths. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses you will be in apposition to capitalize on that which makes you the best while avoiding areas of weakness and for greatness, tackling those weaknesses, making them you strengths “Making your weaknesses a weapon is a sure way to turn them into strengths”. For example, if you are withdrawn use it to your advantage and make it look like you are just a reserved person who only interacts to make great things happen but not to make merry. That way, people will view you as a principled person and elevate you above your “being withdrawn”.
Know who you are leading
You are not a great leader if you cannot distinguish the needs of one person/group to those of the next person/group. Being a successful leader means being able to know and understand those you are leading. Your audience determines whether you are a good leader or not. Know them, understand how they operate, which groups do they belong to and how they do like their things done? When you know the people you are leading, you will be able to deliver customized leadership to individuals, groups and they all will feel your impact as a great leader because everyone will feel like you gave special consideration to them. Different people have different expectations and needs, know your people, be able to distinguish what you need to do and to whom, then you will become a successful leader.
Decision making
The only reason we have leaders is to have decision makers on our behalf, people to lead us into the right direction. If you cannot do that then you have catastrophically failed as a leader. Whether a leader of an elected role, an indirect role, or a responsibility, you are required to make decision that will positively impact those you are leading, bring growth and achieve a certain intended purpose. For a successful leader, you should be able to make decision that achieve those goals, decisions that keep people together, decisions that can be sustainable, reliable decisions and importantly acceptable decisions. Example: if you offer advice to a friend, you are at that moment their leader, they want to solve a problem, let the decisions of your advice be able to solve the problem, be acceptable and sustainable. You are only a great leader if you can deliver results, acceptable results, this means you need to polish your decision making skills, cause, only by making good decisions can you achieve good results.
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