Most leaders are made rather than born. You’ve heard of many influencers or successful individuals who were previously shy and unsocial for a long time. Then they started to learn and cultivate the qualities of a leader within themselves. Eventually, they became great leaders. So, who is stopping you from becoming a great leader? It’s no one but you.
I will discuss the 10 qualities you need to develop within yourself, if they don’t exist already, to become the leader everyone aspires to be. These 10 characteristics are introduced by Donald Miller in his book Business Made Simple.
Qualities
- Consider Yourself an Economic Product on the Open Market
- See Yourself as a Hero, Not a Victim
- De-escalate Drama
- Accept Feedback
- Never Avoid Conflict, Engage in Conflict the Right Way
- Strive to Be Trusted and Respected More Than Liked
- Have a Bias Toward Action
- Do Not Choose to Be Confused
- Be Relentlessly Optimistic
- Have a Growth Mindset
The titles are self-explanatory, but let’s elaborate a bit more.
Consider Yourself an Economic Product on the Open Market
Think about the stock market. Which stock would you choose to invest in? The one that will return you more money, right? Similarly, think of yourself as a stock in the stock market. Now, if you’re an employee who provides outstanding returns, the employer is obviously going to invest more in you. So, think of yourself as a stock and make yourself such a valuable asset that every employer wants to invest in you.
See Yourself as a Hero, Not a Victim
It’s easy to play the victim. In a movie, a victim (usually a heroine) has to do nothing but be rescued by a hero. She has no responsibility. But the story doesn’t revolve around the victim, right? The story always revolves around the hero. At first, the hero is weak, so the villain takes the heroine. Then the hero seeks guidance from a mentor. He struggles a lot to become stronger. Eventually, he becomes stronger, fights the villain, and rescues the heroine. The whole story revolves around the life of the hero. Similarly, if you want to be a leader or a hero that everybody respects, then you cannot be the victim. Sometimes you will face unimaginable troubles and struggles. But a leader believes that he cannot control the situation, but he can control his actions. So, take actions and take responsibility for your actions. Your actions will defeat the villain (life problems) in your life.
De-escalate Drama
What is drama? Drama is an overreaction that can occur due to external forces such as others’ criticism, a sudden setback, or others’ behavior. If you overreact to another’s criticism, then that person will also react, and the drama will continue until there is a bad ending for both of you. Drama creates fog in your brain, which stops you from thinking clearly. So, take control of your emotions. Don’t get agitated easily upon others’ behavior or remarks. No reaction doesn’t mean you are weak. By not reacting, you can find a better way to handle the situation. When others see that you can maintain your calm in difficult situations and handle those situations effectively, everyone will praise your leadership.
Accept Feedback
Suppose there is a new version of the iPhone in the market that can fold, but the customers don’t like it. They want the iPhone as a bar. Now, if the company keeps producing the folding iPhone that no one likes, then they are doomed. Think of yourself as an iPhone. If most of your customers are not happy with your service, then find out what you’re doing wrong. Take their feedback, analyze it, and determine in which areas you need to improve. Although the readymade iPhone cannot be modified, you can modify yourself. Also, take feedback on a regular basis from a trusted advisor at your work or from someone who knows you very well. Only by constantly evolving will you become a leader that everybody wants to follow.
Never Avoid Conflict, Engage in Conflict the Right Way
A conflict can be a miscommunication or misunderstanding between two people or a necessary discussion about poor performance, etc. A leader will engage in conflict to resolve it. Others may avoid discussions about poor performance or unmet expectations because they don’t know what the outcome will be, but a leader organizes a discussion with clear goals and finds a great result out of it. Believe that the more you progress toward being a successful leader, the more problems people will bring to you. All of these problems are conflicts that you might want to avoid, but as a leader, you will engage in these conflicts. So, do these four things for conflict:
1. Always expect conflict as you grow.
2. Control your emotions when engaging in conflict.
3. Say positive things first about the person you’re confronting so that he doesn’t feel threatened, then discuss the problem.
4. Understand that you could be wrong too. (Don’t try to prove that you’re right even when you’re not.)
Not all conflicts will turn into a win-win outcome, so try to maintain these rules to keep the conflict healthy.
Strive to Be Trusted and Respected More Than Liked
If a leader wants to be liked by his team, then he won’t be able to lead them very well. In order to be liked by his team, he will assign them comfortable tasks, which will ultimately lead the team to failure. Thus, he will lose respect. So, a leader should strive for trust and respect instead of being liked. For that, he will do three things:
1. He will set clear expectations for his team. The team should know where they are going and where they are now.
2. He will ensure accountability. Team members will be accountable for the roles they are assigned to achieve the goal.
3. He will reward his team for their performances.
This way, he will earn respect. And respect also brings some likability, right?
Have a Bias Toward Action
What kind of person are you? Are you a problem-oriented person who always thinks about problems but can’t get out of them, or a solution-oriented person who thinks of a problem, finds a solution, takes action, if it doesn’t work, then finds another solution, and takes actions accordingly until the problem is solved? If you take action toward your goal, then you’re already better than 80% of people because, although they may have interesting goals or dreams, they don’t even take a step. The good thing is it doesn’t matter whether you’re lazy or procrastinate. If you have the tendency to get things done, then you’re already on the one-way road towards success.
Do Not Choose to Be Confused
If you need to let go of a person from a company, let him go. You might not want to make the decision of firing someone, but if that is the right thing to do, then don’t confuse yourself. Otherwise, your company will face the consequences. Similarly, in other aspects of life, don’t get confused while making decisions. See the bigger picture. If my friend were in my position and asked me to guide him, what would be my response? Separate yourself from the position and then decide. Finally, set a deadline to execute that decision. You know what to do, but that won’t bring you results. You have to take action. Execute the decision within the deadline, and you will be a value-driven professional.
Be Relentlessly Optimistic
I have a friend who is a hardcore pessimist. When any topic arises while talking, he always sees the bad side of the story, even if it is a good story. If you want to become a great leader or a businessman, then you have to be the exact opposite. You have to be pro-optimistic. Why? A pro-optimistic person sets bigger goals, which take them to bigger success. Without optimism, you won’t take action, and without action, there is no hope for success. There are always ups and downs in the life of a person who takes action. But a pro-optimistic person recovers quickly from a setback.
Have a Growth Mindset
There are two types of people: those who want to improve and those who don’t. Those who do not want to improve have a fixed mindset, while others have a growth mindset. Fixed mindset people think that they cannot be changed or improved. Some think to such an extreme that they are perfect the way they are, so they don’t need to be changed. You cannot be perfect at everything. If you think like that, there is little hope for you. The truth is everyone can grow. They just need to accept that they do not know everything. You cannot fill more in a completely filled cup, right? So, believe that you don’t know everything, and there are always new things to learn. Don’t mind, but let me tell you a secret. Those who are super successful have lost way more than what you have achieved in your life. By losing so much, they gained vast experiences, and ultimately their constant action took them to such success that many can’t even fathom reaching.
Let’s Draw the Line Here
You are a hero, so there will be many problems in your path. You will not confuse yourself and will make calculated decision and execute it. If that execution takes you towards your goal, then you’re successful. That execution might also fail you, and you might have a setback. Since you’re a pro-optimistic person and you have a growth mindset, you will learn from your mistakes, find a different plan, and execute that. Eventually, you’ll reach your goal.
