How to be a Leader

Courtesy of “Andrew Neel” from unsplash.com
First of all let’s clear up:

Everyone can be a boss but only some are Leaders

When you have a leadership position, you need to remember that a leader will be naturally followed by its people, but the wrong leader would have to be a tyrant in order to be followed by others.

That been said; think about the different leaders you have had all your life, since the first teacher you had in school until the last boss you’ve got. How are they different? What do they have in common? Can you compare them? Do you remember how easily it was to talk to them or how hard was it? Were they encouragers? Was it easy to follow their lead? Take a moment of your time and try making a list of all of the different leaders in your life, try remembering their positive and negative attitudes.

Personally speaking I only remember those names of people who made a good impression in my life, that people who taught me and encouraged me the most. I call them ‘the contributors of success’. Don’t we all wish to be that kind of good and encouraging leader? Isn’t that all we want? (Hope you feel this way!)

One of the most important things to remember when being a leader is that is your responsibility to be the ‘ADULT’ of your team; meaning that tolerance, patience and tutoring is part of your job apart from your tasks and diligences of your role.

If you wish to accomplish your career as a leader, I would recommend you the book “Bankable Leadership by Dr. Tasha Eurich”, where you can notice the different types of leaders and their characteristics; you can either identify yourself as one of them or have examples to build your skills up.

One of the best ways to see what kind of leader you are is that you make your own list of defects that you would like to change to improve yourself, and qualities that are already working (make notes-try keeping a diary of activities and self-ideas). If for some reason you feel that the people under your command aren’t responding to your leadership, you might to discover or pay attention the way you are delivering yourself. This doesn’t mean that you are a bad person or that your leadership can’t improve, it only means that you are a step away to grow as a person by accepting your mistakes and learning from them.

I remember one of my favorite professors in the University was teaching for pleasure because he should have been retired long ago; he was a very very very tolerant person with all the students including myself, and very nice. He was approachable and sincere, but very strict. I had the privilege to have different classes with him through the entire career. He used to establish simple rules for the students and the limits for the working that was supposed to be done. I remember many students confusing his kindness and I also remember how he used to show his strict authority to them when necessary. He never had to be rude or raised his voice. We used to feel respected and valued. The students were exhorted and encouraged to behave better because the professor made them feel worthy of his advice and his care. We were all grateful of his strictness; his kind words of wisdom were full of good intentions because for some reason he made us think of all the potential we had and how big was the future waiting for us.

The most important thing he said is that we are all responsible for what happens in our lives. I remember how he won respect and love from us, he is a great leader.

Now, having a hint of what a leader should be; the limits you have to put to our employees should be simplified as ‘doing the job in the time requested’, the way they do it and the expertise they use to get it done it shouldn’t be your problem as long if they are delivering, but remember to show how to do it once or twice before expecting for them to do it from scratch. We all need guidance in adapting times and that’s one of your roles. Don’t forget!

Another thing to remember is that you can always ask a professional about career coaching if you feel like walking in a robe, being human is okay!

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