Leader qualities and skills. What are leadership qualities? How to Awaken Your Leader

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A leader is a person of any group, organization, team who has recognized authority and influence, which manifests itself in the form of managerial actions. It is in every group or community of people. The qualities of a leader are not only innate, they can also be formed and developed, and this is what we will consider in our article below.

Essential Leadership Traits

Society changes, leaders change. Each of the human collectives requires special qualities from the leader. Some character traits are needed for the captain of a football team, others for the captain of a ship. But you can also find general leadership qualities. These character traits in demand in our society are:

honesty;
openness to new knowledge and willingness to change;
imagination;
self-confidence;
sense of humor;
enthusiasm;
rationality and rigidity;
readiness for change;
the ability to see and hold the target;
the ability to quickly find the necessary means to achieve the goal;
interesting appearance and charisma.

Leadership development is a daily job, and it will require all your strength.

What does a leader look like

Who is the leader on the outside? Look - a successful person is always noticeable. If there is a firm decision to develop leadership qualities, work on your appearance. Charisma is a set of external characteristics of a person as a leader that attracts people. You must have:

good stylish clothes;
neat hair and well-groomed appearance;
clean shoes;
stylish accessories - briefcase, watch, diary, gadgets.

Decide what kind of leader you are or what you want to become

formal and informal. This is a familiar situation - the formal leader is the official head of the company, but the tone in it is set by the informal one;
a leader - an inspirer who generates ideas and organizes a group around it or a lead performer who knows how to best accomplish a task;
business - the organizer and inspirer of the production process, who knows how to properly distribute work tasks;
emotional - the heart of the group that evokes sympathy and trust;
situational - manifesting itself at a critical moment and taking the lead in solving a specific problem;
a universal leader who combines all these qualities.

Try to become one of these leaders, use your innate traits. Decide what you do best - organize work, generate ideas, or masterfully conduct business meetings. Become perfect in this and climb one more step up on the way to the goal.

Leadership qualities, such as the ability to motivate people, allow group members to reveal their capabilities, push them to do more than they could before. Its energy allows you to unlock the hidden resources of the rest - the personal properties of a person, the hidden capabilities of a group or company. A leader is a beacon that marks the way for others to follow voluntarily.

What needs to be done to develop leadership qualities

What qualities should a leader have in order to lead others?

A leader is one who can identify and keep in mind the ultimate goal, retains the ability to lead a group to it even under the most adverse conditions, infects others with his faith, energy and passion to achieve it.

Whether a person is born like this or the necessary leadership qualities develop in the process of life is a question open to discussion. But their formation with purposeful work and perseverance is possible. This is a constant work, work on oneself of a person who is ready to be responsible for others.

Vision of purpose

Determine the goal, clearly know where to go and what you want to get at the end of the path. Be able to build a strategy to achieve the desired goal. To develop such a trait in yourself, you need to study the biographies of historical leaders and successful people of our time, get acquainted with the classic literature on business building strategy, watch those who have these qualities.

Plan your every day, analyze the effectiveness and correctness of actions in the evening. Gradually lengthen the planning period.

Ability to make quick and accurate decisions

Do not be afraid to make difficult and responsible decisions. To learn how to make decisions, start where the mistake will not be critical and will not violate self-confidence. Even if it's wrong, it's a great opportunity to learn a lesson about how not to do it. Learn to defend your point of view with confidence in the correctness of the decisions.

Ability to take risks

Do not be afraid to act in undefined situations, be prepared for the fact that a good result may not be achievable. Be adventurous and ready to take risks. To correctly assess the decision, learn to weigh the situation, clearly identifying the pros and cons of all possible scenarios for the development of events on a five-point scale.

Then you should evaluate the options, realizing that all solutions are imperfect and you can lose. But every mistake is always an opportunity to learn something new.

Ability to inspire team members

The leader is able to create a team with which it is much easier to achieve the goal. It unites people to achieve it, is able to motivate them to work at a level that was previously unattainable for them.

To learn this quality, learn to manipulate people, study the motives that move them. To do this, learn to listen to the person. Listening and hearing are two different things. When talking, you need to fully concentrate on the interlocutor, let's understand that you are listening to him: with gestures, a smile, a nod. If necessary, write it down. Learn how to initiate discussions among team members, critically evaluate all points of view and extract a healthy grain from them. Such attention to everyone will unite the team.

Active work on yourself

Be honest with yourself and others in assessing the negative and positive aspects of yourself, get ready to change if necessary, because there is no limit to perfection.

Learn consistency, know how to restrain fits of rage and outbursts of hysterics - this sets an example for team members. Be prepared for criticism. To do this, do not be afraid to ask about what to improve in your leadership style, keep a diary - this helps to critically evaluate your actions. Provide feedback to team members to help correct behavior.

Don't try to please everyone

Remember that there are no ideas that suit everyone. Don't try to be liked. Leadership development is about not being afraid of constructive criticism and being afraid of unfair praise - it slows down progress. You should learn to find the positive side of events.

Improve your health

Working on yourself is hard work. Excellent physical shape and health are also leadership qualities. To stand out in the crowd:

devote at least an hour a day to exercise and sports. Daily physical activity should become a necessity;
get enough sleep - a person who sleeps for four hours a day loses clarity of thought, speed of reaction. Compliance with the regime of the day with the obligatory full sleep will allow you to maintain an attractive appearance;
eat regularly - a haggard appearance, bags under the eyes do not adorn the leader;
consult a nutritionist and choose the right diet for yourself. This will ensure high performance;
obligatory day off, min once a week should become the norm.

Violation of the diet and diet will instantly affect the appearance and health. The syndrome of constant fatigue is a daily companion of violators of these rules.

How to speak, move and listen correctly

Appearance is only a component of the characteristics of a leader. Developing true leadership skills complement:

good manners;
clear, competent speech;
restrained gestures;
good posture and ability to move;
confidence.

Learn proper manners - there is a large amount of business literature of this kind published. Watch the leaders, their demeanor. You also need to learn how to speak correctly. For this:

To learn how to move well, sign up for a dance school. This will help to combine physical activity, emotional relaxation and learning the right movements. Communication in a new team for oneself is the development of sociability as leadership qualities.

There are people who are born leaders, but do not realize their potential. But there are those who are able to become them, having developed the necessary leadership qualities in themselves. Nurturing a leader is hard work. But without it, it is impossible to talk about achieving success in life.

The main referents (features) of leadership are:

A high level of activity and initiative of a person in solving joint tasks by a group;

Greater awareness of the problem being solved, the members of the group, the situation as a whole;

To a large extent, a pronounced ability to influence other people;

Greater correspondence of behavior to the opinions, values accepted in this group;

A more vivid manifestation of personal qualities that are standard for this group.

The most frequently mentioned personality traits are: dominance, self-confidence, emotional balance, resistance to stress, creativity, striving for achievement, enterprise, responsibility, task reliability, independence, sociability.

Let's take a closer look at each of these features.

dominance translated from English means "domination", "predominance", "influence". We are talking about dominance as the desire of the leader to influence other people. At the same time, it is necessary to constantly remember the psychological side of the issue. His influence must find an internal response from subordinates. Otherwise, the desire of the leader to dominate will remain nothing more than a duty claim to power.

The next personality trait is self confidence . In a difficult situation, you can rely on such a person: he will support and protect. Such a leader provides a certain psychological comfort and increases motivation to complete the task. Subordinates, as a rule, feel the state of the leader very well, and the latter, no matter how the circumstances develop, should, at least outwardly, keep himself calm and confident enough.

Let's dwell on two related personality traits - emotional balance and stress resistance . Emotional imbalance can reduce a person's self-confidence, and thereby also his business activity. But the leader is a living person. The constant suppression of negative emotional reactions, their containment in a public working environment can turn into a number of unpleasant consequences for the individual - neuroses and psychosomatic diseases developing on their basis. Therefore, the moment connected with the search for means of emotional discharge by the head deserves attention. The means of relaxation should be sought in the structure of the individual's leisure, the forms of which are extremely diverse.

Stress resistance of the individual is quite closely adjacent to emotional balance. Stress is an overstrain that reduces vital activity, disorganizing behavior, weakening attempts to achieve a goal. The whole difficulty of stress lies in the fact that the level of stress, which is favorable for the efficient functioning of some of us, is completely unbearable for others. Different people require different levels of stress to be happy.

Another personality trait creativity. In translation, it means “the ability to creatively solve problems.” The ability of a leader to see elements of novelty, creativity in the activities of other people, to support their undertakings.

The following two personality characteristics are − striving for achievement and entrepreneurship. Closely related to them is risk-taking personality.

The pursuit of achievement reflects the fundamental human need to achieve a goal. Such people prefer situations in which they can take responsibility for solving the problem. They set rather moderate goals for themselves, striving to ensure that the risk is largely calculated and predictable in advance. People who have a need to achieve a goal want specific feedback that informs them of how well they are doing on the task. Perhaps that is why they feel great in business life: after all, it constantly creates situations with clear information about achieving success.

Now, regarding two more rather related personality characteristics - responsibility and reliability in completing the assignment.

We constantly feel the lack of these human qualities in everyday life, reaping the fruits of many years of depressing irresponsibility. Meanwhile, once in Russia, responsibility and reliability were business cards of entrepreneurs. Significant deals were concluded on parole, and God forbid, it was to violate the obligation taken: the offender was in big trouble, primarily financial, they simply stopped dealing with him.

Undoubtedly, an important personality trait that ensures the success of actions in various areas of life, including decision-making, is independence. The main thing is that the manager should have his own point of view on emerging problems, his professional and human face and support this property in his subordinates. Prominent entrepreneurs often encourage dissent in their companies if it serves the social and economic health of the latter.

And finally, the last personality trait considered here is sociability . There is no particular need to prove how important it is in any activity.

I would like to especially note such a personal quality of a leader as charisma (Annex 19) . The charismatic influence of a person is built on the strength of the personal qualities or abilities of a leader. It is determined by the attraction of other people to the leader. Charismatic influence is entirely personal. Here are some characteristics of a charismatic personality:

- Energy exchange... It seems that this person radiates energy and charges the surrounding people with it;

- Impressive appearance. A charismatic leader is not necessarily handsome, but attractive, well-behaved, and well-behaved;

- Independence of character. Does not rely on others in its pursuit of well-being and respect;

- Good rhetorical ability. He has the ability to speak and the ability to interpersonal communication.

- Perception of admiration for one's personality. He feels comfortable when others express admiration for him, not at all falling into arrogance or selfishness;

- Decent and confident demeanor... He looks collected and in control.

People are more likely to be influenced by those who have character traits that they admire and who are their ideal that they would like to be like.

We have looked at a number of important personality traits. Of course, a person is not born with a ready-made set of these traits. All of them are a unique fusion of both the natural features of a person and the socio-historical conditions of his life.

The main thing is that a person has a desire to improve himself, a clear understanding of the need to build his personality daily and hourly.

But the two roles presented above (formal and informal) do not exhaust the leadership structure. In the life of the team, different situations happen and in them so-called situational leaders - people who are capable of leading a team for a certain period of time.

In addition, a team may consist of several microgroups, and they often have their own leaders. And they are sometimes capable of exerting a significant influence on the life of the collective, especially in cases where one or another group occupies a dominant position in the collective.

How to become a leader

Indeed, how do people become leaders? Does it come with experience, with age, with education, or is a true leader born that way?

A well-known scientist, the author of the book "The Psychology of a Leader" A. Meneghetti, is convinced that a person receives certain inclinations of a leader from birth, but this does not mean that he will become a leader. To become a leader, one must reach the appropriate level of culture, education, life experience and professionalism. Meneghetti identifies several steps on the path to leadership:

✓ The first step is culture and education ... They include general culture (it is important to know the culture of your country and environment, as well as a little understanding of art, music, etc.), professional culture (to be a professional in your field) and experience in diplomatic relations (the ability to create people capable of realizing goals, because the leader cannot find ready-made people).

✓ The second stage is ability to overcome stereotypes ... This requires inner maturity. A leader must be able to rise above traditional values. This second aspect must always be in agreement with the first. It is impossible to offend people by destroying humanistic, ideological and other values, one should rise above them. The second level of leader formation cannot be achieved in a university or academy, only experience and teachers of life lead to it.

✓ The third step is knowing your unconscious ... The unconscious is a storehouse of life and intelligence that we do not fully use. Throughout its history, mankind has developed many methods for activating the potential stored in the human subconscious. Meditative techniques of Eastern origin are known. It turns out that true leadership is work, work and more work. First of all, work on yourself. And the innate inclinations of a leader are the inner potential that must be subjugated and directed in the right direction, otherwise the born leader will not go further than the leader of the yard football team.

P. Senge, speaking about the formation of a leader, notes: “Such people cannot be created at all, because they create themselves. Most prominent leaders were neither tall nor slim nor particularly attractive. Often they are rather mediocre speakers who do not stand out in the crowd, and their eloquence is not capable of igniting the audience. They are usually distinguished by the clarity and persuasiveness of ideas, the depth of conviction and the constant willingness to learn. They do not have a ready-made answer to everything, but they know how to inspire others with confidence that together “we can learn everything that we need to achieve what we want. The ability of such people to be natural leaders is a by-product of their whole life, subject to the development of the ability to formulate and persuade, listen and evaluate the ideas of other people. They reflect on personal values and link their own behavior to them. If personal charisma (unaccountable attraction to others) does not rely on such efforts, then it is just a style devoid of content. And then everyone who succumbs to the charm of an empty style loses the last ability to think independently and make reasonable decisions. Such a leader is dangerous both for society and for the organization.”

Indeed, in essence, this person is like a beacon that indicates where people who trust him should move.

A leader can become a person whose interests are much broader than just his own, because he thinks extremely broadly - and, first of all, he is most interested in personal growth, development and self-realization of other people.

Qualities that a true leader must have

1. Clear awareness of your own goal

A real leader absolutely knows and really realizes where and why he is going - because this gives him the opportunity to lead other people - his followers. Otherwise, he will be just a small unit of a large crowd.

2. Self-control, the ability to listen to your intuition

Knowing yourself well, the ability to deal with what is happening inside yourself, the ability to understand and at the right time to listen to your own emotions, feelings, intuitions is a really important quality of a true leader.

Are you surprised that so much attention is paid to ordinary feelings? In vain. It is they who help at the right time to correctly orientate in what is happening and in time to “notice” the chance that life carefully provides. A true leader cannot be manipulated, he cannot be led astray - because he clearly understands what he wants.

3. Adequate self-esteem

The leader must be calm, sober, confident in himself and in his abilities. All these important qualities help him behave correctly in certain critical cases, and thanks to them, sometimes he can even take risks in some way, because in certain critical situations his decisiveness and courage are really increased.

Adequate self-confidence significantly expands the limits of the leader's capabilities, as a result of which he can gain new positive life experience. Usually such a person has a much higher sense of self-confidence than his followers.

4. Moral readiness for reasonable risk

A real leader is ready to take risks not only in business, his own business, his own work, but also in his ordinary everyday life.

Moreover, he is absolutely not afraid to do this, and all because he is quite clearly aware that later he will have to pay a serious price for an initiative that is not shown in time. That is why he is ready in some cases to literally get ahead of possible events and consciously take a certain risk.

5. Honesty and reliability

Any leader is, in a sense, the bearer of certain general moral norms of a certain association of people, therefore his own worldview and actions must comply with the universal and moral norms that are familiar to us - justice, honesty, reliability, certain responsibility and clear consistency in their own actions and actions.

6. Motivational activity and adequate initiative

A true leader never waits for someone else to create a productive desire to work in him. He understands and clearly realizes that the entire responsibility for convincing himself to do something lies solely with him. Therefore, at first he tries to learn how to properly motivate himself, and later makes self-motivation a necessary and absolutely regular practice.

7. Active life position

It is she who helps the leader to correctly and adequately navigate in any situation. Thanks to her, he is always in the thick of any events, knows how to learn everything directly from the first mouth, and as a result of this, he is well informed about everything that happens and has an absolutely clear own opinion on every occasion.

8. Ability to assemble people into a team

A strong personality, as a rule, constantly attracts people with his thoughts or ideas, certain ideals, as well as the power of his ability to convince, so a certain group of like-minded people gathers, which becomes a cohesive team.

It is this skill of a simple person that is the most important ability, which subsequently determines his successful development as a leader. A competent setting of the right values and rational control over the adherence of the followers themselves to these goals is an important quality of the leader himself.

9. Definition and clear vision of perspective

Agree that the person leading the team must know the direction in which he is going. Therefore, the most important organizational qualities of a real leader, among others, also include observation, determination and a clear understanding of the prospects for the specific activities of his team - the people who follow him.

A true leader does not notice the obstacles that arise in his way, but he absolutely clearly and clearly sees the specific goal he is striving for.

10. Ability to organize and motivate a team to quickly solve the tasks

This is the fundamental organizational quality of a true leader. It lies in the ability to competently and adequately distribute responsibilities between team members, as well as the ability to properly motivate and inspire people at the right time to complete specific tasks and coordinate work in case of real need.

11. The ability to quickly navigate in any situation

In fact, the leader is the main participant in a complex process, he is literally in the center of events, where various forces interact and oppose, which very often, for objective reasons, cannot independently control.

Therefore, a true leader must feel the potential development of events, literally “feel the situation” and at the same time be able to instantly navigate in it so that his decision is exclusively correct.

12. Willingness to help and support your followers in difficult times

These qualities characterize a true leader as a Human. People begin to respect him even more for the fact that he always remembers their interests, and if he is also puzzled by what he can give them, and not by what he, as a leader, can get from them, then respect and love for him is simply will know no boundaries. A bad leader is one who does not notice the problems of his followers and does not consider it possible to support them in a difficult situation, especially when he is able and able to do so.

In addition to this extensive list of leadership qualities, a true leader must be able to thank and encourage his followers in time. This will help him much more successfully perform specific functions in organizing the management process.

How often have you met such people in your life? Most likely really rare. Sometimes life tests the strength of such comrades. They start as true leaders, but, alas, they never pass the test, because they are weak in character or they are not leaders at all, but just ordinary upstarts.

If you suddenly notice certain leadership inclinations in yourself, then know that positive qualities need to be developed, which means that you are able to overcome all the obstacles that arise, avoid the possible temptations of abuse of authority and become a real leader, but this is not achieved immediately. Don't be afraid to work on improving yourself!

To become a leader, you must possess or develop a certain set of qualities and character traits. Leadership skills affect the process of development and formation of the leader's personality in different ways. But it is impossible to single out one or two qualities that have the main impact.

In the life of any leader, sooner or later, situations arise when any of the leadership qualities presented below may be needed.

In addition, the leader is faced with diverse problems and tasks, and in order to solve them, a wide range of leadership qualities is needed, which will eventually achieve the desired result.

Therefore, I offer a list that contains 21 points and will reveal the main leadership qualities, the development of which will allow you to become a real leader.

1. Being a Leader in Your Life - Knowing how to manage your life, motivate yourself, set goals for yourself and take action to achieve them - this is the first step to leadership. It is this leadership quality that will serve as the foundation for your future success.

2. Perspective vision - this leadership quality requires constant development and training. The more knowledge and experience you have, the better and more reliable you will be able to imagine future events.

3. Openness - The development of a leader is ongoing. Every day he receives new information, communicates with people, makes decisions - openness is simply necessary for effective implementation. If we compare all leadership qualities, then openness is one of the most important.

4. Courage - This is perhaps the second most important leadership quality. The ability to control your fear and act in spite of fear is what the courage of a leader is. Everyone is afraid, but those who continue to pursue their goal are successful.

5. Decisiveness - the life of any person is limited. Therefore, leaders do not waste time on empty talk. If there is not enough information to make a decision, they will do everything to obtain it and continue to act.

6. Energy is one of the fundamental leadership qualities... The life of a leader takes a huge emotional and physical toll. And in order to withstand this, strong energy is simply necessary.

7. Positive outlook on things - Problems arise for everyone and always. Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes. Positivity helps the leader focus on finding a solution rather than finding blame.

8. Ability to listen to others - no one can be an expert in all areas at once. And the leader understands this. The strength of a leader lies in the ability to find experts and organize them for the good of a common cause. This point can also be added to the most important leadership qualities.

9. Mindfulness and Criticality - Leaders gather facts carefully and verify all information. Any business can be ruined by one small detail.

10. Confidence and calmness - composure helps the leader to focus on finding a solution. It controls emotions and prevents them from influencing the decision-making process.

11. Flexibility and sensitivity - Our world is changing. And the pace of change is accelerating every year. What worked 5 years ago is no longer effective today. For continuous growth, it is necessary to constantly make adjustments and develop leadership qualities.

12. Result Orientation - The greatest success is achieved by the one who achieves great results. What matters is not how you did it, but what you achieved. And it is your results that will drive you to success.

13. Admit your mistakes - Leaders make mistakes too. But they know how to admit it to other people. That allows you to keep moving forward. If we take all leadership qualities, then in importance this is in the first place.

14. The ability to constantly learn - The volatility of the world has led to the fact that knowledge becomes obsolete at an amazing rate. Gaining new knowledge and skills will allow you to increase your competitiveness. New knowledge will help develop new leadership qualities.

15. Proper self-esteem - The leader is clearly aware of what he can and cannot do. And he focuses his efforts on what he does best. This increases its efficiency, which allows you to achieve better results.

16 Passion for work - A leader loves what he does. This passion allows him to maintain interest in what he does, increases his efficiency and effectiveness. This item allows you to develop all other leadership qualities.

17. Knows how to ignite people - A leader without associates is not a leader. Having learned to motivate himself, the leader acquires the ability to ignite the fire of desire and action in people, motivating them to fulfill their goals and objectives. And thanks to this leadership quality, you can achieve a lot, a lot.

18. Charisma - helps to attract the right people. Great achievements require an effective team. And the leader knows how to create it.

19. Focus - this leadership quality allows you to isolate the most important thing among the things and focus all your attention on it.

20. Competence - the ability of a leader to articulate what is needed, plan what is needed, and do what is needed, and in such a way that it is clear to others that you know how to do it and it is clear to them that they want to follow. you. In terms of importance of leadership qualities, this is in second place.

21. Generosity - The measure of a leader's greatness is not the number of people who serve him, but the number of people he serves. Generosity requires putting other people first, not yourself. The leader knows how to share and in return receives even more.

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Being able to be a leader is important for anyone who decides to start their own business or head a division of an organization. For some, this ability is given by nature, and this manifests itself even in childhood - at school, on sports grounds, among peers. It is undoubtedly easier for such children to grow into real leaders in life. However, if nature has not fully endowed you with leadership qualities, this can always be corrected by hard work on yourself.

He adheres to the opinion that everything can always be developed in oneself, the main thing is to have a great desire and perseverance. To know what to strive for, consider the personal qualities of a leader, which he formulated John Maxwell(trainer for personal development, and in particular, leadership). In his opinion, every true leader must harmoniously combine 21 qualities, which will be discussed later.

Hardness

On the life path of every person from time to time there are difficult situations, and in order to make the right decision, it is necessary to show your character. As a rule, it is in such situations that the degree of firmness of character and perseverance is revealed. A person who does not know how to be firm in solving important issues and demonstrates inconsistency will never be followed by other people.

Charisma

Hundreds of books have been written on how to become a charismatic leader. This is a separate part of the general theory of leadership. And it is not for nothing that psychologists pay such attention to this - it is not so easy to develop charismatic qualities in yourself if they are not given to you by nature. Not easy, but quite possible! The opinion that there is either charisma or it is not, and nothing can be done about it, is erroneous. Such people themselves block their personal achievements. Charisma is a personal attraction, and in order to develop it in yourself, first of all, you need to learn to love your life and the people who surround you.

Devotion

To captivate people, you must be committed to what you do. Adequate love and commitment to one's work are essential qualities of a leader. Your goal is to make people believe in your common cause, but how will you do this if you yourself do not believe? Loyalty can also be expressed in other, more “down to earth” things: how much time you spend at work, what you sacrifice for it, and how much personal effort you put into achieving the goal.

Sociability

Surely you have noticed that the leader in every team is a sociable, talkative and easy-going person. We do not mean excessive talkativeness, namely sociability. If you want to become a leader, it is essential to develop the skills to communicate with a variety of people. If you have a first-class idea or thought, but you cannot communicate it effectively to others, then how will they know about it? And then the fact that you have some unique idea will absolutely not matter to them.

In general, in order to develop communication skills in yourself, it is important to adhere to the following principles - do not complicate your speech, notice individuality in each person, speak only sincerely and insist on a response.

Awareness

A knowledgeable or competent leader is not just a person who can convey his thoughts to those around him, but can also develop a plan of action in solving the task; plan what he needs to do himself and what others need to do. A competent leader does not need to persuade people to follow him. When he becomes competent, people themselves want to follow him. Moreover, awareness is one of those qualities that must be constantly proven. Every day you should show this quality in communication with your followers, and you should never stop at the level once reached.

Courage

The courage that lives inside the leader is capable of engendering this quality in his followers. It is important to remember that when you are faced with a difficult life situation that requires courage, courage and courage, you must first overcome the struggle with yourself. A courageous leader is one who makes not just quick and resourceful decisions, but also the right decisions.

foresight

With this quality, you can find a solution to the current problem and know that in the future it will not entail negative consequences. In order to choose the right way to solve a problem, it is necessary to find out the origins of this problem. Since there is never a single correct solution, it is important to consider all alternatives and choose the most optimal one.

concentration

The effectiveness of a leader is determined by his ability to concentrate on the task at hand. This is where the need for proper prioritization comes into play. To achieve your goal most effectively, you need to know which things require more concentration and which require less. John Maxwell advises focusing on strengths by 70%, weaknesses by 5%, and new, yet undeveloped aspects by 25%.

Generosity

Generosity is a powerful factor in persuasion and leadership. However, here it is important to constantly adhere to one line and be generous always, and not just “on holidays”. Generosity, shown only once, is unlikely to give reason to consider you a truly magnanimous and generous person. A true leader, who is able to captivate people, must act in the interests of his group and each of its individual members, and not just in his own.

Cultivating true generosity in yourself is not a quick process, but when you succeed, you will notice how people will begin to reach out to you. Of course, this is only possible in combination with other leadership qualities that we are talking about in this article. Start with sincere gratitude for what you have, and perceive money not as an end, but as a means.

Initiative

To be successful, you must take action. Moreover, to show not some abstract actions, but quite specific ones. If you stop even for a little, you are already at risk of losing much of what you could have. Moving along a given path, of course, sometimes you will make mistakes, but the main thing is never to stop acting. Be proactive in motivating yourself: do not wait for external incentives, motivate yourself from within. It is also worth looking inside yourself for the reason for the lack of initiative. In everything that is not in you the way you would like, only you are to blame, but not the people around you.

The art of listening and hearing

John Maxwell called this quality art, since such a skill requires a lot of work on oneself. The leader must always build his communication strategy with his followers in such a way that they talk to him not about what the leader wants to hear, but about what he really needs to know in this situation. If they talk to you only about pleasant things, praising your knowledge and skills, but they are afraid (or do not want to) report troubles or admit their mistakes, then only the illusion of leadership is created.

To hear what the interlocutor (subordinate, partner, client, competitor) really wanted to convey to you, during the conversation open not only your ears, but also your heart. Perceiving only the bare facts will not give you a chance to get to the heart of the problem. Learn to read between the lines and understand not only the words of the interlocutor, but also his feelings and emotions.

Passion

What can give a leader the presence of passion? First, it fully develops the willpower of the individual. If you have a strong desire to achieve something, you will always find the strength to do it, even if you have to sacrifice something. Secondly, passion enhances your ability to achieve your intended goal. Thirdly, passion can change the world around you. If you are guided by the passion you have developed for it, and not by any other intentions or feelings, in achieving your goal, you will become a more effective leader.

Passion can erase the word “impossible” from your vocabulary - because if you passionately desire something, then nothing can stop you from achieving your goal.

positive attitude

Every successful person just needs to be constantly charged with positive energy. Positive thoughts and attitudes are important in your development as a successful person. This affects not only your own perception of the world and the people around you, but also how you are perceived by the people around you.

It should be understood that on the path of each person there will be both people who give you flowers and people who throw stones at you. It is important not to allow these stones to spoil your positive attitude towards life. And the most experienced and effective leaders can even turn all the negativity directed in their direction from ill-wishers into positive. It is important to always remember that your attitude in life determines many things that happen to you - from small things to great events.

Ability to overcome current difficulties

In whatever field you work, from time to time you will be overtaken by difficulties and problems that need to be solved. It is impossible to get away from problems, they have always been, are and will be in our lives. The modern world is in constant development and is characterized by an ever-growing complex diversity.

To develop the ability to solve problems, rely on the following: analyze the current situation and predict possible difficulties; accept reality as it is; always consider the whole picture, not its individual fragments; act in order without missing a single step; Don't give up, even when things go wrong.

Ability to get along with people

One way or another, each of us interacts with different people. And the one who aspires to become a leader should have a special attitude to the relationship with the surrounding individuals. People will be drawn to you if they enjoy working with you; if you can always get along with them in any situation, even the most uncomfortable ones. The ability to build favorable relationships with people is based on three factors: understanding, sympathy and a desire to help.

A responsibility

It is necessary to remember once and for all: for who you are, what you have and what you do, only you are responsible. Real leaders never shift responsibility to relatives, friends, colleagues, bosses, or subordinates. Great success is possible only if you have the ability to take responsibility and be responsible with dignity for yourself and your actions in any outcome of the situation.

Self confidence

If you have somehow taken a leadership position, but there are still traces of self-doubt left inside you, you, as a leader, will only harm your team, but above all, harm yourself. In this scenario, your internal personality shortcomings (uncertainty in your actions) will only intensify, since much will be expected of you as a leader, and you will not be able to show this much. A confident leader is a leader who is able to instill confidence in others; a leader who gives more to people than he receives from them; a leader who empowers himself and his followers.

self control

Self-control is one of the foundations of success in achieving your goals. Without self-discipline, you will not be able to make the most of your abilities and reveal all your skills and talents. To develop the self-control of a leader, you must begin to lead a disciplined lifestyle, and it should concern not only work, but also all other areas of your life. Forget about any excuses for your wrong actions, prioritize and clearly follow the planned plan.

Ability to work for others

It is worth making a reservation right away: this does not mean your position or work duties, but the psychological side of this skill. Paradoxically, learning to truly serve others requires strong self-confidence. Only she is able to allow you to do this without sacrificing adequate self-esteem (which is in every person). A leader who serves others does so of his own free will and puts the interests of others somewhat higher than his own.

Self improvement

A true leader will never be satisfied with what he has already achieved. Even when you have already earned respect from others, your opinion is valued and you can influence people, never stop improving yourself.

If you stop there, you risk losing a lot of what you have already achieved. Why? The logical chain is simple: 1) the ability to improve yourself defines who you are; 2) who you are determines who and how you can lead; 3) and who you lead is of no small importance in the overall success of your team. To start effective self-study, you need to get rid of excessive pride and narcissism, and admit that you still don’t know and don’t know how to do a lot.

Work for the future

Without this quality, no one can become a leader. Those who want to get everything at once, as a rule, do not get anything and never. Look to the future, concentrate your efforts on what you want and you will definitely succeed!