How To Be A Great Leader


by Charlie Conrad

Have you recently been promoted into a leadership position? Or perhaps you simply need some tips to help sharpen your leadership skills. It's true that there are natural born leaders but there are also many leaders who are bred. Here are some tips to great leadership.

Confidence

Many people confuse confidence with arrogance but in actuality, they are quite different. When you believe that you can succeed against all odds, you have confidence. On the other hand, arrogance is fueled by over-confidence which can be dangerous. Plus, nobody really likes an arrogant leader who's obnoxious and rude. A great leader must be confident so that people can feel secure and invest their trust in the person. If you show uncertainly, your team will be anxious or nervous, and their performance will be affected in a negative manner. In times that you are losing confidence, you must be strong enough to portray optimism so that your team will push on. When it's time to get advice or help, you should be composed, and you should never panic under any circumstance.

Listen

One of the most essential qualities in a great leader is the ability to listen. By listening, you will find out the problems or troubles that your team is facing so you can help to guide them through the crisis more effectively. Many times, you hear that a great leader must be a good speaker but you will discover, you will speak that much better if you are a good listener.

Be Proactive

A great leader should have the ability to recognize and solve a problem before it actually takes place. To do this effectively, you should observe the happenings in the team and take the necessary steps to prevent the problem before it occurs. For instance, you may be aware of some resentment among your workers and if you just sit on the problem, it will grow big enough to disrupt the functions of the company. Without delay, you should round up the troublemakers and try to work out a solution.

Focus

A great leader must always be focused on the task at hand. You should know the duties and responsibilities of your team members. When something goes wrong, the team members will expect you to lead them out of the crisis so you need to stay focused.

Keeping Your Head

When the going gets tough, the great leader gets going. In times of crisis, leaders must possess a cool head to captain the ship to safety. No matter how dire the situation, you should be calm and not panic or throw a fit. The team looks up to you as a leader and they expect you to possess the strength and courage to overcome the problem, not crumble. If you crumble, your ship will sink.

Be Decisive

Your decisions should be firm. Your team will be disheartened or disillusioned if you make decisions half-heartedly. When you are faced with uncertainty, you can take some time to think things over.

Respect

Respect is something which is earned. If you want your team to respect you, you should show respect to your team. When you treat your team members fairly and respectfully, they will be more motivated to perform for you.

About the Author

Charlie Conrad is an independent project manager and contributing subject matter expert for Vantage: The Social Approach to Project Management. Visit http://projectvantage.com to learn more and signup for a free trial of Vantage project management software at http://www.projectvantage.com/index.php/pricing to get started. Each trial includes 10 free user accounts to share, so get social with your projects today.

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