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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

How To Become a Great Leader

One thing that all great leaders have in common is strong beliefs. Once you understand your beliefs, you can next look at your group to determine if those beliefs are being promoted. To be a great leader, you don't want to waste time worrying about things that are not directly connected to your beliefs.

You must focus on yourself and your goals. Many people have misconceptions about what it takes to be a good leader. Some will tell you it is a natural gift, while others will say a leader must be tall or speak well. In reality, these factors are insignificant when it comes to being a strong leader. The most important aspect of being a great leader is having strong principles. A person without principles will not succeed as a leader.

In addition to having well defined principles, you must also have the bravery to bring them into fruition. You should see yourself as being a guide based on the principles that you believe in. It doesn't matter if you are the leader of a company, team, or army. Those who are under you will all want the same thing. They want someone who they can trust. They want to work with a leader who is looking out for the best interests of the group. Not only will they want to be led by someone they can trust, but they also want to be led by someone they like. A leader is nothing if they don't have someone to follow them.

If you want to know how strong of a leader you are, all you have to do is look at the performance of your group. Do they work at a high level? Are they successful? The performance of your group is a reflection of the quality of your own leadership. A great leader will not only reach their goals, but they should surpass them as well. The first thing you will want to do is decide what is important to you. You should understand your values, goals, and beliefs. Once you have clearly defined them, you will next want to decide if you are promoting these beliefs on a consistent basis. If you are not promoting these values each day, you will want to start as soon as possible.

Any organization that you are with should support your principles. If it does not, you will fail as a leader. You should provide all the necessary assistance to those under you to make sure they can succeed. They should be given all the tools they need. This is information you will want to go over on a daily basis. Doing it will allow you to see how you are performing as a leader. You will want to make changes to any areas that need improvements. When you make changes, you will want to make sure they are done gradually, as your group needs to become familiar with them. This will require you to be patient, and patience is an important trait for a good leader.

Once you have a well defined set of beliefs, you will want to alter your behavior in such a way that it is in alignment with your principles. In fact, a great leader will seek to create a culture around their principles and goals. It is important to get the thoughts of those that are under you. A common mistake made by leaders is focusing too much on their own convictions while ignoring the opinions and thoughts of those that follow them. While you will ultimately want to support both your goals and beliefs, the opinions of those that follow you should always be taken in consideration. Remember, without them you are nothing.

Spend time talking with your followers to find out what they need. Communication is important, and a good leader will also want to be a good listener. Your followers may have great ideas that you may not have considered. At the same time, you will want to give your followers just enough to make them happy, but not so much that they become completely independent. While charisma is something that you may or may not have, being a great leader is something that can be learned, but it will take effort on your part.

The Secrets of Successful Leaders

If you wish to be a great leader, you will want to have a deep understanding of what is valuable to you. It is also essential for you to understand ethics. A great leader will showcase their ethics and values in their behavior.

A common problem that many leaders have is trust from those that follow them. When you don't showcase your ethics or values, people will be wary of trusting you. The reason for this is because they can't be certain of what actions you will perform. When people understand the value and ethics of a leader, they will be more inclined to trust them.

When a leader makes the mistake of behaving in a way that is contrary to their stated values and ethics, they will lose the trust of their followers, and it will be next to impossible for them to ever get it back. The role of trust is important to for those who want to increase their leadership skills. Trust has been broken down into three parts, and these are the ability to trust, the image of competence, and the image of intentions. If you have set down important guidelines that you fail to follow, you will lose the respect of those that work under you.

However, when you follow rules that you have created, you will earn the respect of those who are beneath you. In addition to this, you will have a powerful effect on their actions. One secret to being a successful leader is to pick the values that you want to define you. Some words that should come to mind are accuracy, respect, honesty, reliability, and efficiency. You will want to pick the values that will define your behavior, and you will want to live by it. When you live by the values you choose, you will greatly influence those that follow you.

A number of things have been written about the attributes of a good leader. However, there are some characteristics which stand out from others. Great leaders are those that make the decision to lead, and they want to be the individuals that will be followed by others. A great leader is someone who has a powerful vision, one that is so strong that they can practically taste it. In fact, the greatest leaders in history are those that thought of nothing but the goals they wished to achieve. Another important trait of a good leader is the ability to motivate and inspire those that follow them. In addition to this, they will make their own followers feel important, instead of just elevating themselves.

Many people have debated about whether great leaders are made or born. I believe the answer to this question is both. While there have been great leaders throughout history who have naturally demonstrated the ability to lead, their have been cases of normal people who have become great leaders as well. In other words, I feel that great leaders can be both made and born. Leadership is not the same as management. Many people make the mistake of confusing the two. There are some key differences between the two concepts.

When someone talks about management, they are referring to those that are responsible for giving directions to employees or workers. A manager may be responsible for designing a number of systems which allow employees to work efficiently. They are also responsible for handling any problems that may arise among those they manage. The goal of a manager is to get employees to work in a manner that is highly proficient. While a manager may have some of the traits seen in leaders, they are not the true definition of one.


A great leader is rare. They tend to have a specific combination of abilities that are difficult to learn. Many of the things that compose a great leader appear to be natural. Many people have personalities that allow them to easily move into leadership positions, while other people may not display leadership abilities until they are placed in a difficult situation. In this situation, people that appear to be normal could demonstrate a brilliant capability to lead. Other people choose to lead. They understand what it takes to be a good leader, and choose to take on this role

Leadership Styles

One factor in becoming a successful leader is choosing the right leadership style. The style that you choose to use will play a role in your success or failure. As you can imagine, there is no one leadership style that will work for all situations.

To become a good leader, you will need to know when to use a certain leadership style for a given situation. There are six simple leadership styles that you will want to become familiar with. In this article I will go over them, and you can decide which one is best to use for a given situation. You will want to choose the one which will help you succeed.

The first leadership style is called the authoritative method. This style should be used when you wish to persuade those that follow you to carry out a specific task. A leader who uses the authoritative method is telling their followers to "join them." This is a style of leadership which will convey a great deal of confidence. You don't want to demand that your followers carry out a certain task. This is a very considerate style.

The second style of leadership is called the coercive method. When a leader uses this style, they are telling their followers to "do as I say, not as I do." This style is not good for people who run their own businesses. A business person who uses this style will find it hard to build strong bonds with their employees, because they don't set a good example. This style should rarely be used, especially if you are the manager or CEO of a company. It is not efficient for laying down long term objectives.

The third style of leadership is called the affiliative method. Another name for this style could be called "followers come first." This is one of the best leadership styles in existence. A leader who uses this style realizes that they are nothing without those that follow them. These leaders will typically be quick to perform difficult tasks with those beneath them, and will not place themselves above those they lead, even though they have enough power to do so. This method has been used by many well known multi-billion dollar companies.

The fourth style is called the democratic method. Leaders who use this method will want their followers to have a say in the decisions they make. This is a very good style of leadership that is similar to the affiliative method. When employees are allowed to play a part in the decisions that are made by the leader, they will feel valuable, and research has shown that they will become very productive. Unfortunately, this is not a method that is used by many large companies. Most companies are run by a CEO and board of directors who make the decisions, and their employees are not allowed to participate.The employees will often have a view of the company that the corporate executives may not see, and could be instrumental in helping the company improve.

The fifth style of leadership is called the pacesetting method. With this style, a leader will create high standards that they will follow, and will expect their employees to perform in the same manner. With this style, the leader is basically telling their employees to "act as I do."

The sixth and last leadership style is called the coaching method. With this style, the leader will place an emphasis on the development of his followers. This is a good style of leadership because it allows you to invest in your followers, and when their skills or knowledge is enhanced, they will be more productive.

There will be situations where multiple leadership styles will need to be used. No matter which style you decide to use, it is absolutely critical that you understand that the people you lead are more important than marketing, products, or services. They are the people who can make or break your company. If you don't believe this, imagine for a moment what would happen if all your employees decide to quit on the same day. Your business, no matter how successful it is, would slow to a halt. While this may sound simple, you would be surprised by the number of large companies that fail to understand it.

Leadership Tips

To become a great leader, your followers must be able to respect you. There are a number of tips you will want to follow to gain and keep the respect of those you lead. There are a lot of mistakes made by people who wish to be leaders, and they are often made because they don't understand what people want.

One common problem made by leaders is expecting people to follow them because they have a certain title. It is not enough for you to have the title of CEO or captain. A title is nothing if people don't respect the person who holds it.

How you rate as a leader is dependent on what the people in your group think of you. To have authority which extends beyond your title, you will need to earn the respect of those who are under you. The best way to do this is to practice honesty and communicate effectively with everyone. When you have bad news, you should share it as quickly as the good news. If you make a mistake, admit it. People don't like to be lead by someone who is not willing to acknowledge their mistakes. If you are not able to acknowledge your mistakes, this means you will make them again, and this will send across a message that you are incompetent. Always fulfill any promises you make.

It is also important to make sure there is active communication between you and those you lead. When you are not communicating with those you lead, you are on the road to disaster. How can you know were to improve as a leader if you don't have anyone to provide you with feedback? When employees don't feel like they are part of a company, they will begin to drift away, and their performance levels will drop. Once this begins to happen, the revenue of the company will begin to drop as well. Communication is an important part of being a successful leader. No matter how smart, brave, or strong you may be, you are not omnipotent, and cannot know everything. Your employees may have suggestions that can help you succeed, and you should always want to seek out their advice.

Are you spending more time managing those beneath you instead of letting them manage themselves? Spending too much time managing those beneath you is not fair to you or those you lead. First, you will be putting too much stress on yourself. It is impossible for you to do it all. You shouldn't have to directly manage your employees. They should be able to manage themselves. Your goal should be to lead them to success, and you will need to use their energy in order to achieve this.

To be a good leader, you will need to find a balance between dangerous risks and being overly cautious. A lot of people fall under one extreme, and this is not a good form of leadership. Taking unnecessary risks can put you and those you lead at risk. For example, if you are a military general, how do you think your troops would feel if you led them into a place you were not familiar with? It would not be long before you were replaced by someone who is more competent. At the same time, a leader that is too cautious will not inspire their followers to succeed.

If you want the respect of those you lead, you will need to give the impression of a leader who is not only the head of an organization, but is someone that actively participates in the tasks that members are required to carry out. Work together with the group. Don't sit back and let them do all the hard work. This will convey a message that you are better than they are, and this will cause them to become resentful. Once this happens, their performance will begin to decline, and your organization can fail to succeed. Even though great leaders can be difficult to find, you will want to take the time to increase your skills. Learn what works and what doesn't. Being a successful leader requires you to understand people. Once you understand what they want, you will only need to give it to them.