Development of leadership qualities requires an appropriate environment.
Find a mentor! Our educational system does not prepare us for the real world. Do not think that you will have all necessary knowledge after high school graduation. This is hardly possible. You must continue studying. The most successful people visit seminars and clubs, read books, join interest groups, search for mentors, even hire highly paid business coaches to get the greatest likelihood of success.
Look for a mentor who has already achieved what you want. Look for a mentor who you want to follow and who will accompany you on your life path. Leadership is a matter of choice. Leaders are people who are able to take care not only of themselves. Effective leaders achieve their goals by helping people to realize their dreams. They operate on the principle: "You will get everything you wish in life if you help others to get what they want." This is the philosophy of a leader.
Your environment determines the level of success. You can realize your greatest dream only with the other people’s help.
Universal leadership skills
The skills that are inherent to leaders such as the ability to make decisions and to plan, to coordinate, to work hard, and qualities such as responsibility, foresight and other, can be applied in your own life. You can be a leader without controlling others.
For example, you can become a leader and create an excellent business in the Internet, and you do not need anyone (if you are ready to figure everything out yourself). In this case, you need to manage only yourself. Leadership is necessary in a family - it is the ability to understand children and spouse. Even if you do routine work leadership is in its performance. It can be in dedication to some activity.
Stephan Leimberg recommended to learn, how to make a decision - to lead someone, to follow someone or step aside. Usually, the price of inaction is higher than the cost of making a mistake.
And this is absolutely true. Not to make a decision is also a decision. Procrastination and postponement are negative time management practices. It is necessary to analyze available data to assess all possible options for action. On the basis of the executed work you can come to a certain conclusion. However, some issues are more important than others. When you are going to do something you should mark them as the primary ones.
Develop the important skills that will help you to be more reasonable in decision-making. Reply promptly to all letters - either by phone or in writing. When you are offered to come or to convene a business meeting decide immediately whether to spend time on it. If not - refuse.
However, sometimes it happens that hasty decisions appear to be productive. As well as the first reaction (after a short consideration of options) is the best answer. So if you have limited time and the decision will not have great affects then make it at once not to get caught up in feelings such as: "How will this turn out in the future?"
Leaders do not use the word “problem”
Leadership is not a destination, leadership is a way, persistent work, first of all over itself. Leadership is a process of improvement of yourself and your qualities.
Leaders don't use the word "problem", since it gives rise a negative image that attracts negative situations. It must be simply excluded from your dictionary. Use the word "situation" instead.
By means of words it is impossible to transfer precisely that image created by imagination. Leaders think as follows.
They use only positive epithets, as they know that mind perceives only images and thereforeo try to create the picture favorable for work. It is impossible to reach effectivess in a gloomy or disturbing condition. Leaders realize an essence of a problem and try to present it in a simplified way. If you reduce the size of a tiger to the cat’s size, it will not be able to scary you. Usually people exaggerate the size of a trouble scale that makes things even more complicated.
Leaders do smile. Try to smile and think about something bad. You will not be able to do this. Either smile will be gone or your thoughts will move in a positive course.
Leaders can seem serious, but in soul they are not. Seriousness increases the importance and size of a problem. The smile, on the contrary, relieves the tension, reduces pathos, and the problem is easier to solve. Awareness of the issue's importance blocks the thinking ability. The experience becomes stronger if the material is more difficult. In such conditions it not easy to adequately address the tasks and solve them correctly. Leaders understand it and therefore try to reduce the importance of a problem for their employees.
Leaders use volumetric images. They make big plans. Bright images can motivate much stronger than people. Instead of asking a question, how long is the way to a goal, leaders focus attention on how much was already achieved. They know and try to show people that follow them how much was already done.
Leaders can see business in the long term perspective, how it will be in the future. Each businessman imagines his new business as it is already flourishing, he works for it and ready to overcome all difficulties. What he has now is only a transitional stage. Your real life occurs at your conscious, and reality is only reflection of its work.
Leaders look positively at all occurring events. They see situations in a favorable light, even if they are not. Every situation bears a grain of the following victory. Our life is a sequence of our choices. By reacting positively, you transform negative circumstances into the positive.
Here, for example, a history of the Sony company's success.
At first its future founder, designer Akio Morita, designed the rice cookers, but they were not successful. Rice continually burned in them and they were broken easily. It was a total failure! However, Morita did not give up. Akio started developing a transistor, and then the first tape recorder. Business went on a new and extremely perspective way. In the 70s of the last century Akio Morita became the richest person of the world.
Practice
Answer honestly a question "Why do I want to become a leader?" Try to make it as clear as possible. The more precisely you understand why you need to become a leader, the quicker you will become.
By being the leader, I will:
1. ___________________
2. ___________________
3. ___________________
For example, it is possible that:
· leadership will bring you a moral satisfaction;
· you considerably increase your income and ensure a good standard of living for your family;
· you feel that leadership is your true calling;
· you want to help other people or simply you wish to manage;
· it only a step on the way to next achievements.
Deep inside you feel that you must become the leader and to manage others. But remember: you need to reach a unity of your mind and heart, as wiithout it you will not achieve any serious results. The desire can be felt at the level of emotions, but the mind needs the facts. Explain to yourself, why do you wish to become a leader. Explain it logically, and your mind will support you for all 100%.
Write down the answers on paper. This way you will be able to formulate reasons more precisely, than in mind. Clearness and clarity are necessary. The reason perceives figures. Be most specific, as you are in shop to buy some food. So, you have just defined why you want to become a leader. The reasons are written down. The next step is readiness to work and become a leader. It is an intention.
Keep watching over the most successful leaders. What ways of influence on people do they use? How do they achieve a unity of team? How do they inspire and motivate their employees? Describe the ideal leader. Ask yourself a question: what quality do you need to be more successful? Select the two people in your environment with whom you have most serious difficultties in negotiations. Describe these people as detailes as possible: their individual traits, goals and priorities, what makes them approve/reject. Try to put yourself on their position. "Try on" them different ways of influence. In advance prepare for the meetings by thinking over various styles of influence, applicable to this opponent. Conduct at least five meetings with these people.
Try to apply spirit of great leaders. Learn from them, read their biographies and books. You receive the most powerful charge of energy. Examples will inspire you to move forward. The leader is a person who learned to turn dreams into reality.