A leader is a person who others want to follow and learn new ideas from. Satya D Sinha tells you that to be able to lead, there is a need for the person to be in the driver’s seat, be transparent and honest with his team
leadership is the first step to create a successful team or a venture. The ability to find innovative ideas and execute them quickly are qualities of a good leader. Being a leader requires no age, qualification or power.
leadership qualities in a person are a power in itself. John Quincy Adams defines a leader as a person whose action inspire others to dream more, learn more and to do more. They make opinion and can mold the character of a group. It is about following and being followed by the crowd.
They need to act fast. The quality to be quick and being responsive are among the chief attributes. An agile person can motivate the team to respond and act in the same may. To be agile one needs to communicate faster so that executions can be kept on a flow. Communication is essential for successful leadership. The ability to clearly describe one own motive is one of the most important requirements.
Transparency is proportional to communication and information. Hence, to become a successful leader one must communicate actively and be agile to present the truth.
Passion for any objectives and internal motivation are essential qualities to become a leader. Passion comes from honesty and the nature to indulge the self with concocted ideas. Passion induces consistency. For average individuals, qualities emerge out turning them to be a leader for a short span of time. However, successful leaders are the ones who are consistent with their endeavors even in adverse situations.
They never abandon an idea even if they can’t be executed immediately. With passion, honesty is crucial. To become a successful leader one must practice the quality of honestly. Honesty can be cultivated and it can change a person to be better. One must hone the ideas of ethics and morality.
leaders are responsible for the team and it is crucial to maintain a strong sense of loyalty and trust not only between him or her and the team, but also among members of the group. Trust comes from transparency in behaviour, proceedings and dealings. Being passionate triggers these facets on not only the leader, but the group as well. The quality to adapt to any situation is just as important.
This brings out the need of dynamic personality and versatile nature in a person to become a leader. One should know how to employ resources in different ways to adapt to any condition and pave a way for the best. For instance, patience and the ability to calm down in aggravated situations are one of the many qualities of a leader.
In the same way, in critical situations, humour could work quite effectively. Forming up a sense of humour proves effective in challenging situations. learning to find humor and jokes in times of trouble and in adverse situation is a great encouragement to people. It creates a healthy space for creative work and discussion. In the same way, in times, a leader must also know how to act with an iron fist.
Farsightedness and the ability to execute long term planning are other two major qualities that a leader must have. He must be able to relate to the vision of the people or the team. This is also a form of training the team to achieve goals and motivate their internal urge to attain those objectives. Apart from propagating trust and faith among the team, agile communication of the vision can bring out many productive features within a group. To become a successful leader one must cultivate strong confidence and determination.
Confidence comes from knowledge and information about a situation. Truth and certainty makes a person confident. This reveals another facet of good leaders, which is vigilance or being alert. Being informative about any aspect of the team makes a leader sure about the position, power and competence of a team.
This helps to build confidence in oneself as well as in others. For being vigilant, a leader must have the character to listen and understand the other. He must be attentive towards other’s voice. listening to problems faced by the team and the ability to take compassionate but appropriate action is a prime character of a leader. Persons, who lead, set example. They are the ones to initiate an act and take complete responsibility. leaders are said to be born, but history of every great leader indicates their crude making, their experience and learning. To be a leader, one must be passionate to learn, observe, adapt and execute.
(The writer is CEO, Mancer Consulting)