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Improve the Leader in You
By Annetta Holmes

Some people are natural leaders. They’re confident, can boss people around, push to the front if they have to and people go to them for help and advice. How do they do it? They don’t know. They just are that way.

Now if your lips have turned down at both corners because you’d rather be sitting at home with a good DVD and some popcorn instead of leading something, this article’s for you.

Firstly no-one became a leader in five minutes and every one made mistakes. Some made spectacular flubs and guess what! No one died. Well…maybe one or two did…but that’s for another day.

Secondly all good leaders have common qualities. Luckily you don’t have to be born with these traits; you can actually train up on them. It takes perseverance. That’s what your mother had when she taught you to talk; your teacher had when she taught you to write; your dad had when he put you on your first bicycle. Perseverance and determination.

If you work on the following list you’ll soon start being a better leader.

Confidence – Leaders believe in themselves and their abilities. Assess what you are good at and be proud of that. Know that you are good at it. Confidence comes from within. Get your thoughts off yourself and onto those around you that you want to lead. Ditch those thoughts that say you can’t.

Posture - Leaders don’t slouch, shuffle across floors or try to make themselves invisible. Straighten up a bit, swing your arms a little when you walk. Release your white-knuckled grip on your purse. Be a little more there. This is a transformation. Work on your posture. Walk and move like a leader.

Dress – Be neat and tidy. You may have a limited budget but if you apply yourself you’ll soon crisp up your look. Invest in your image. Start to observe the dress sense in leaders you admire. Compare that with you. Work out how to cross the divide.

Communication – Leaders are not brash, insensitive or overwhelming. Nor do they mumble or swallow their words. You may have a typical accent of your home town but if your speech is heavily inflected or not clear you’ll have trouble communicating. Good leaders make sure they get their ideas across and are willing to spend time with people to sort out any confusions. Develop the ability to listen to what people are saying and to communicate clearly what you need from them.

Toughness – If you want to lead you have to be tough. That doesn’t mean you are tough on people, it means you are tough. You don’t crumple at failure. When things are going wrong, leaders are in the thick of it trying to fix the problem. Work on springing back after disappointment. Remember tomorrow is another day and you’ll have a brand new opportunity to start anew.

Caring – If you want to be a truly great leader, start caring about what’s going on around you. Leaders want to know what’s happening; they’re not hiding in their office hoping no one will bother them. If the pamphlet holder’s out of literature the leader is asking why? When parcels are collecting in the reception area, tripping up customers the leader will automatically start sorting it out.

Start caring about things around you. When you see errors, train yourself to do something about it.

Gradients – A little each day goes a very long way. Don’t try to change everything at once. However when you have advanced, refuse to slide back to your previous non-leadership ways. Strengthen and reinforce the improvement. Pat yourself on the back and admire your tenacity.

Trying to become a leader is an admirable thing. A strong leader creates lots of good survival for many people. Turning yourself into a successful leader entails applauding your accomplishments, learning from your duds and then pushing forward.

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Written by: Annetta Holmes
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Words: 650