If you have worked for others, you should quickly answer the query, “What are the qualities of a good leadership” with ease. Working for others can often give you a clue on how to lead others and take the right call effectively.
While it sounds simple enough, the fact remains that not everyone can be a good leader – for example, Lenin, Hitler, PolPot, etc.
History is full of tyrants and dictators who thought themselves living gods, with naturally disastrous results for the whole population. That should underscore the importance of reviewing this op-ed on “what are the qualities of good leadership.”
- Be aware of your transformation:
When it comes to being a good leader, one of the crucial abilities you need to possess is “self-awareness.” You must be able to gauge the reaction of the public and people at large and determine how they react to your messages, speeches, etc.
Take Donald Trump and Hitler – both these leaders were highly self-aware and confident, to the point of brainwashing entire populations to vote them into power. These examples prove that self-awareness is one of the many abilities a good leader must have and that it is not an end to the means, either.
- Uptick your credibility:
If you hope to be a leader, your credibility is one of the pivotal issues you need to work on immediately. The people must feel that they can trust you unequivocally and that you are credible enough to be quoted,
And in doing so, they would soon come to believe in your message/ pitch and make you a leader. And when the followers no longer believe in your words nor find you credible enough – they would soon hightail it out of your association and seek greener pastures elsewhere.
- Know your crowd:
When it comes to being a good leader, you must always know your crowd. None exemplified this better than Franklin.D.Roosevelt, especially during the Second World War. President Roosevelt was not a strong man physically.
Moreover, he was stuck in a wheelchair, and despite his handicap, he made it a point to connect with his voters. He took the time to address the critical concerns of the crowd, listed a course of action, personally connected with the crowd, and soon managed to win all of them over.
As doctors would tell you, you need to know your crowd and be able to connect with them. Doing so would make the public feel you are on their side and can empathize with them better. That, sadly, is one of the reasons that Hitler managed to win so many Germans over to his side before the hostilities even broke out.
- Action speaks louder than words:
If you hope to be a great leader, you must realize immediately that action speaks louder than words. Sure, you can have your speeches, know your crowd, and be able to connect with them. But if you fail to follow through on your promises with the requisite action, the chances of the crowd turning against you are pretty high.
You must never commit the cardinal sin of promising a specific action but forgetting it later. While the crowd may seem as though they are with you at the moment – in the end, it’s about the action on the ground. It would be best if you did not make the blunder of freezing up and not delivering on your promises.
- Be humble:
Contrary to what you may assume, humility is often a sign of a good leader. It is often commonly assumed that one would have to be autocratic to be considered a great leader. In reality, being humble is often the earmark of good Leadership.
You are letting your followers know that you are just one of the public and can relate to the commoner on the street. Several leaders had set themselves above the ordinary person on the road, only to be topped from their post.
- Transmute into the real McCoy:
When it comes to being a good leader, you may find yourself at a crossroads between what you believe in and who you are supposed to champion. Remember that as a strong leader, you would be expected to be authentic at all times.
And that includes your speeches, posts, and messages, both online and offline. Be true to yourself and your principles; that should do the trick! More to the point, never descend into empty, clueless rhetoric, for they rarely do much to help your case.
Being a leader is not about showcasing a performance but a memorable one that will be discussed in coffee rooms worldwide for ages.
These are some of the indications of a good leader. And you need to ensure that they form the cornerstone of your policy! Above all, make sure you recollect your ambition to do good for the people and to serve them.
Leadership is not about you or one where you get to put your selfish desires last. Instead, it is about how you can help serve the ordinary person on the street – that sets a true leader apart from a tyrant, case in point, Hitler, Stalin, and Putin.
