Teachings,+Leadership

Leadership
(Kai Stormwalker)

Leaders come in a wide variety of personal characteristics such as their ability to make speeches in public or to relate to people in groups or individually. We have all met successful leaders that we wondered what enabled them to be effective. Some are smooth and some are rough. Some are charming and some... It is impossible to find any one characteristic that all of them have and many non-leaders do not have.

Motivation is the most important characteristic of any leader. Even the shyest person may become a hard charger if their passion is aroused.

Communications skills are the second most important. If you cannot communicate effectively, you cannot be an effective leader. But as I discuss below, communications is much more than being a good speaker.

Despite the great diversity among leaders, there are some characteristics or traits which most successful leaders have. Very few leaders have all of them to the limit, but the most effective leaders will have most of them well developed. A few leaders will have only a few of these traits such as persistence or the ability to get people to work together, but they are likely to have those few very well developed.

All of these traits can be developed or attained. None are genetic, although some of the traits may be the gifts of wise parents to some very fortunate young people. For many of us they are the result of years of hard work. I have talked to many successful politicians, bankers, judges and leaders of many other types, almost to a person they have said that they have worked over the years to further improve their skills. I strongly believe that any person can, with sufficient motivation and work, develop to a considerable degree all of the traits.

To be a successful leader is very simple: the more of these traits you have successfully developed the greater the probability of your success in most types of leadership and in most careers.

Personality

An Outgoing Style - the ability and enjoyment of “working the crowd” is a very useful skill both for leadership and many other parts of life. If you are at a meeting or a party make sure you shake every hand and greet every person.

Charisma - we are not quite sure what charisma is. It is probably the ability of a person to gain very quickly the attention, respect and trust of others. Famous leaders like Martin Luther King and John Kennedy are said to have had charisma. No question, it is an effective tool for leaders in certain situations, but it is difficult to learn.

Humor and warmth are effective in most leadership (and non-leadership) situations..If you aren’t fortunate enough to have them, they can be developed. Start be developing a good smile and laugh. For a long time males in our culture were taught to be serious and not show emotion, whereas women have usually been encouraged to smile and show their emotions.

Memory - to be an effective leader it is helpful if you can remember people’s names, details about their family, what their interests are, etc.

The time to start the change in your personality skills is today.