Monday, April 27, 2009

The Basics of Leadership, Leadership Traits Defined

By Braden Parks

If you are going to be put into a position of leadership, you may feel that you are not prepared or ready for the position. However, you need to keep in mind that great leaders are made. They are not born. Leadership is a quality that you can learn over time. It is fairly easy to figure out what things can make a leader a good one. However, sticking to these things can be a bit harder.

The first thing to remember is that honesty is part of being a good leader. You should never lie to people who really trust you. Although you can refuse to tell them information that is sensitive, it is never an acceptable action to lie to them. If you are in a leadership position, lying is going to be a disaster for you as a leader.

Are you great at communicating with others? More than any person on the team, the leader is the one that needs to be able to communicate with force and very clearly too. If you want others to follow you, you must get them to understand what you are saying. Ensure that those beneath you know what is going on and make sure they know they can come to you for clarification too.

As a leader you also have to know what you're talking about. You need to know where you're going to be a good leader. Often people who are good at what they're doing end up being a leader in that area. However, this can be a problem if they don't have the other leadership characteristics that are so important. They must know how the job is supposed to be done.

Flexibility is important. While you may not think this is really a leadership quality, unless you are able to keep peace within the team you'll end up with a variety of different problems. There will be conflicts that come up and many may be internal conflicts. You must think about your ability to compromise. Then think about what you can do to make sure your team will work well together.

You must also be willing to take responsibility as a leader. This is not one of the more attractive parts of being a good leader. Many leaders are not good at standing up and being responsible. However, if you really want to be a leader that is effective, you need to be able to stand up, take responsibility, whether things are going right or whether they have gone wrong.

When you are in a leadership position, you should never play favorites. Make sure that you treat everyone with the same respect, attention, and the same responsibility as well. This way you have interaction with the team that is responsible.

It can really be a lot of work to be a leader. It can be a big headache at times for you. In the end though, it can end up being totally worth it. So, take some time to think about it and figure out what being a leader means for you.

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