1. The
ability to set an ambitious goal and believe that it is possible to achieve it
If you want to be a leader, then you need to know
your final destination. Where do you wish to lead your followers, to what end
and for what point?
All leaders are leaders because they have a clear
vision of what they what to achieve. If you have no forward vision; if you
don't have a destination in mind, then how could you act as a leader?
But if you do have a clear vision of how the future
can be made better, and if you can believe that vision is true, then you can
lead others towards it.
"Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it
can achieve".
All great leaders conceive, believe and achieve.
2. The
ability to communicate the goal to others; and make others believe in it; and
work willingly towards it
Now you have a goal you need to be able to attract
other people to want to achieve the same goal. To do that, you need to be a
good communicator. You need to be able to explain your goal to the others, in
such a way that they will feel your enthusiasm and they will want to get
involved too.
It is no coincidence that great leaders are also
great communicators. They need to have a good grasp of language.
So if you want to be a good leader, you may need to
improve your ability to express yourself with words, both in the spoken and
written form.
Study communication: Study language: Study grammar:
Study the language of rhetoric and study the language of logic.
No ineffective communicator ever became a great
leader. Great leaders are also usually great communicators. So if you want to
be a great leader, improve your communication skills.
3. The
ability to formulate a plan capable of achieving the goal
The next part of your development as a leader is to
develop your capacity to build practical plans. An inspirational goal is
useless unless it is allied to a practical plan.
Some people have great goals, but have absolutely
no idea how they will achieve it. This is not very inspiring situation for the
team if they see the plan is missing, or is inadequate.
The third skill you need to perfect, if your goal
is to be a great leader, is the capacity to formulate detailed, practical plans
of action, based upon a logical analysis of all the available evidence. This
skill is essential. And it requires a willingness to think long and hard about
the means whereby you will achieve your goal.
Planning, prioritisation, analysis, proper ordering
and logical sequencing; these are the mental skills you need to develop if you
are to be a good planner and a good leader.
4. The ability
to harmonise the various personalities in the team
The leader's role is to harmonise the different
personalities in the team and to make their differences a source of strength
rather than one of weakness. This means that although a cautious person won't
like working with a naturally adventurous person, both types of personality are
needed in the team.
- If the team were made up of only cautious people, the team would never advance and would fail.
- If the team were made up of only adventurous people, the team would overextend itself and would fail.
The leader's role is to balance the relative
strengths and weaknesses in the team, to achieve the best team performance, by
drawing on all the various abilities at the right time for the right jobs.
The role of the leader is to create one unified
team from the multitude of its parts. The leader's role is to find the ONE in
the MANY.
5.The
ability to maintain confidence and forward momentum, even after suffering
setbacks and defeats
As time progresses, there will be defeats and
setbacks. Some of the team will lose their spirits, they will begin to doubt
the plan, they will begin to doubt themselves, and they may even begin to doubt
the leader. Now is the time the leader needs to draw upon an internal strength
and work hard to motivate the team through the inevitable difficulties.
The leader must be able to inspire positive
attitude in the team. The team leader must be able to create and sustain the
right team atmosphere.
There needs to be a positive attitude in the team,
since the team's attitude will tend to affect the productivity of the team.
- If the attitude and atmosphere is negative, then the team won't produce well.
- If the attitude and atmosphere is positive then the team will produce more.
The leader needs to ensure the team spirit is
right.
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