Attributes of a LEADER

[Ali]

Hello everybody

I can see a nice topic about attributes of a hero however I have always wanted to discuss the Attributes of a real leader. I am taking some personal development courses regarding being a good leader. But I would like hear peoples opinion about how a person who considers himself/herself a leader should behave.

Two of the characteristics that I learnt so far are:
- A leader is a confident decision maker.
- A leader puts people being led before himself/herself .


Thanks

Ali

[songwriter]

Well, it depends of how you want a leader to be...

Usually a leader is one that is (or seems to be) sure of a thing... never doubting. (think politicians...).

[smallstar]

I'm off from criticizing that other thread to criticizing this one.

Originally Posted by Ali

Two of the characteristics that I learnt so far are:
- A leader is a confident decision maker.

Making the decision can actually be a great pain for even the best of leaders. I think it is more important is that the leader takes full responsibility of his decisions.

Originally Posted by Ali

- A leader puts people being led before himself/herself .

Yep, especially military leaders do this nowadays. A general has his troops literally "before him" when attacking into enemy position, since he is too important for the war effort to be sacrificed at the front line.

My suggested qualities: takes responsibility, ready to correct himself when proven wrong, able to inspire other people, fair treatment of inferiors.

[wadoo]

The real leader, in my opinion:

* has the very good communication skills.
* don't afraid to do something different, than other people are doing.
* has a sense of humour.
* is realistic. He wants to surround his environment with smart people. Even smarter than he or she is.
* has a strong vision of his life.
* has very good time managament skills.
* controls his / her emotions very well.

and so on...

I mentioned a sense of humoure. You may ask why humour? The answer is simple: I think that humour is very good tool to solve problems, suppress anger and so on. Do you think otherwise?

[duhshuh]

What about honesty?

I'd also have to add...

Has the respect of those below him/her.
Can effectively delegate duties.

[Ali]

songwriter

yes indeed a leader should be confident and must have discovered his/her why from the first place. I mean why they are doing what they are doing! They have a passion towards what they are doing hence they are sure most of the time on the actions they take. That is a proper leader.

Lool smallstar I loved your answer about the military leaders. That’s a fact yeh .. but I did not mean that about a good leader. A leader is totally opposite to what you implied. I mean when there is a benefit that comes he puts people FIRST before he gets the advantage. Take the dictators for example, they TOTALLY broke this rule. Stacking money in their accounts while their people suffer.

"to correct himself when proven wrong" yes a true leader should realize he made a mistake if his people can prove it to him. Arrogance is a dangerous attribute of a leader, it isn't an attribute of a leader actually. Because he will end up crushing others and himself later.

wadoo you mentioned a very vital point "has a strong vision of his life". Some personal development trainers say that the leader must have the BIGGEST goal compared to the people under him. Because he will always be aiming for the highest and will exceed others thus making it easy to manage others and help them reach where they want.

"has very good time managament skills." The fair leader would 've got his position due to his skills and not by hijacking the position.


Yeh duhshuh honesty relates to the point above of how good the leader is when it comes to his relationship with others. Cheating and lying for his own benefit means he will crush people under him thus putting the whole community down and sooner or later himself as well.

Thanks

[taylor]

The biggest real difference in a leader is that leaders have a clear sense of direction and purpose. They have a crystal clear vision. They know who they are and what they are doing. This makes them into a confident decision maker. A leader simply, has a goal they want to lead people to help accomplish.

Without a clear vision, backed up with plans, you are unsure, hesitant, and far less effective. Who is going to follow someone who doesn't know where they're going? But if you know where you're going. If you say 'this is where I'm going.' people see your strength and automatically want to join you.

Leaders are not followers. Leaders do not do something just because everyone else is doing it. They only do something when they personally agree with it or see the necessity in joining. They follow their own opinions formed to the best of their ability, not the consensus.

A good leader is also a really nice person. The most effective leaders I see are consistently cordial and supportive of everyone around them. People like being around them and want to help them. When someone is genuinely kind towards you, you automatically want to help them.

Leaders are also fearless, because with fear you cannot be effective.

[Dating Specialist]

May I also add two more attibutes of a good leader:

1. They rise up to the occasions and take the lead when nobody dares to in the face of danger or impossibility.

2. They earn the trust of the people they lead.

There are leaders everywhere. Even managers in our companies are leaders of a certain sort. But to be a really good leader where everyone respect and follow with no questions asked, that's a good leader.

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by taylor

Leaders are also fearless, because with fear you cannot be effective.

I would say that this is not absolutely true, but rather that a leader's "crystal clear vision" allows him to overcome all distractions, including fear, that would prevent him from fulfilling his vision.

[Erik Mazzone]

Borrowing fairly liberally from Stephen Covey, I would suggest that the primary two attributes of a leader are: 1) the ability to envision a brighter future for people than they can envision for themselves, and 2) the ability to inspire them to pursue that vision.

[The Probabilist]

Unfortunately I don't remember who said this originally, but a great quote goes:

"A leader isn't the best person, but one who brings out the best in others."

[Milo Riano]

A leader could be a contributor, commander, diplomat, knowledge hoarder, etc. It depends on the situation and environment and requirement. A good leader is someone who can adapt and be any of the following depending on the need.

[ChampionsChoice]

I'll just roll a couple off my mind right now:

A leader is a servant.

-does what is right rather than what is popular
-Knows how to follow
-Knows how to take the back seat when necessary
-Has a clear vision
-has compassion on his followers
-cares more about followers good
-sees the inate greatness in all people (even if they don't)
-Sees the Big-Picture
-Praises in Public, Corrects in Private (encouarges even the tiniest growth)
-Always learning and always growing
-A leader is always full of praise.
-Is willing to challenge the conventional
-Is willing to challenge those he works with
-use the phrases "thank you" and "please" on his way to the top.
-talks about his own mistakes before talking about someone else's.
- a person of honesty and integrity.
-genuinely interested in others.
-willing to take responsibility for his actions, and those of his team
- specific in what he expects, and follows up, holds themself and others accountable


just to name a few...

[ABlix]

I heard some wise men talking one day and they said that leadership and being a politician is all about being an actor. If you can convey voice projection, then you can be a good leader! It's about being a public speaker, and practicing your butt off! Join toastmasters. Check out theatre classes. Anything you desire to help you conqeur yourself, most importantly it is about having good values and not wanting the position due to it being a personal ego-boost. It's not going to help if you want to be a politician, to make more money and have some fun with some technology and not really lead anyone anywhere. Politics have been about deceiving the public for a long time, and it still is.

For example, the Roosevelt Corollary ( Roosevelt Corollary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), and ( Roosevelt Corollary ), was cited as an "extension to the Monroe Doctrine," although in my personal opinion it had very little to do with the Monroe Doctrine. It was then used, to justify US intervention of Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. These wars were arguably used for personal military gain. Later, "In 1930, the Clark Memorandum stated that the U.S. did not have the right to intervene unless there was a threat by European powers, reversing the Roosevelt Corollary. In 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt further renounced interventionism and established his "Good Neighbor policy" of lessened military intervention." The Good Neighbor policy was presented as better to the public (Good Neighbor Policy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but according to the "Enduring Vision, edition three," the government simply used less threatening methods to intervene. For example, they would fund dictatorships in South American countries that were more aligned with their policies in order to change what was wanted.

In the movie, the "Art of War," it presents an interesting argument to how our economy is dependent on war and historically this seems very difficult to argue against.

[sorry for the long answer!]

[stephencp]

The first criteria for a leader is to have followers... After this, most discussions on leadership confuse motives with the act of leading.
Was Hitler a good leader?

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics

[ABlix]

Edit: hijacked account

[stephencp]

I did not ask whether he led people to do good or evil things, I asked was he a good leader? Could he lead people? Did he have masses of people hanging on every word and following him?
This is what I meant by confusing the efficacy of a leader's leadership (i.e. the ability to get people/followers to do things) with what those things are.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics

[haider]

Hello all,

The essence of leadership is that you set the example you want others to follow. Every other characteristic is detail to add to this characteristic. Imam Ali (peace be on him) said: "I have not asked you to do anything, except when I have done it myself."

The benefits of this attitude are enormous, and no leader can be a true leader if he does not fulfil this characteristic. For one thing, he will not be able to earn the trust of his followers, when he is considered a hypocrite. Furthermore, the inspiration a leader brings to his followers is in proving that the life he wants others to lead (or the actions he wants others to carry out, or characteristics he wants others to manifest, etc) are achievable, and that he's living proof of that ideal.

Therefore, courage, integrity, confidence, honesty, patience, persistence and all the qualities that should exist in a leader are transferable to his followers because of the understanding that he is a role model to follow.

The scope of your leadership depends on the example you wish to set. Do you want to be an example of the ideal employee? Or the ideal spouse? Or the ideal parent? Or the ideal human being? Your leadership is to the extent that you represent that ideal. A manager can be a leader in organizing business processes, but his personal life can be a mess. This is because he's a good business leader, but not a leader in all aspects of life.

In order to be a good leader, and to recognize what characteristics you need, ask yourself: What qualities do I expect and want others to have? If these qualities are not in you, then you can't expect others to hold these qualities. By fulfilling your own expectation of others, you become an example for others to follow, and a true leader.

Although great communication skills are a must for a leader to express his knowledge and vision, the "silent" communication of personal conduct is more powerful, and of greater necessity than verbal communication. As Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be on him said): "Become preachers without using your tongues."

As a side note: not all leadership is morally good. It depends which direction this leadership takes you. An example already mentioned is Hitler. I would say he was an effective leader in guiding people towards his vision, but that his vision was viciously immoral. "Leadership" is a neutral term. It doesn't mean that one is good simply because he's a leader. The same is true with "cooperation": You can cooperate over making a contribution to society, or over committing a crime.

Therefore, it's not the position of leadership that matters, but the substance of that leadership.

[andrew]

Kinda funny, I just picked up Think and Grow rich and the first pages I looked at were about leadership whilst being on this thread. Oh universe, you.

It looked like he had it down, so maybe read up on it.

[escapee]

In addition to Wadoo's list , IMHO a super great leader (a true stateman) must also

1 ) always be compassionate towards all living beings and environment.

2 ) always speak the truth, so that his underlings would be more likely to do the same. ( and the taxpayers willingly pay the taxes because there is no chance of corruption in the government level )

3 ) uphold the universal values of justice , fairness ,integrity, meritocracy and etc

4 ) accept & encourage peaceful public dissent .

5 ) Uphold the "real" Democracy. ( = 4 maybe )

I believe the closer the leaders toward the list ,the better the world would be.

[stephencp]

Esapee,
Everything you listed should be aspired to by EVERYONE, leader, follower and peer right? Can you make a distinction between good leaders and good people?

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics

[escapee]

I guess i was speaking on behave of those million(or billion?) of aspiring ppl around the globe who are afraid to show their democratic face on the street with fear of prosecution but you are definitely right , there is a no difference between good people and good leader.

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by stephencp

The first criteria for a leader is to have followers... After this, most discussions on leadership confuse motives with the act of leading.
Was Hitler a good leader?

Indeed! What made Hitler a good leader was his ability to motivate and inspire a vision for people who were without hope, without a dream and without a future. Those are essential functions of leadership, regardless of how they are used. He used inspired words that were water to famished people; it did not matter that they were evil words. They wanted someone to listen to, someone to follow.

Yes Hitler was responsible for creating a vision of hate, racial supremacy and destroying the lives of those outside of his dream for Germany.

Can we seperate the two? Good Leadership and Leading with Good Motives? Hitler had great leadership skills. To say otherwise would mean that he never achieved any progress in his vision. We are all living on with his hate driven actions and will never forget those killed by his dream.

[nickww]

Originally Posted by stephencp

The first criteria for a leader is to have followers... After this, most discussions on leadership confuse motives with the act of leading.
Was Hitler a good leader?[/url]

Looking at it in an absolute objectif way I would say an effectif leader.

[Ali]

Hello All

Great posts, I am actually taking some personal development courses online and they have provided 10 characteristics of a leader. But you guys have discussed the idea in more depth. Here is what they say in the course:

1. The Leader must have a dream larger than those he/she leads.
2. The Leader must have an attitude superior to those he/she leads.
3. The Leader is responsible and admits when he/she has made a mistake.
4. The Leader is a decision maker.
5. The Leader puts those he/she leads first.
6. The Leader sets the example by being in the front of the pack.
7. The Leader displays a commitment to integrity and character.
8. The Leader strives for excellence in all things.
9. The Leader displays a commitment to personal growth.
10. The Leader has the highest level of persistence and determination.

Very interesting point Vanessa and Stephencp Hitler might be a leader of causing harm and suffering. However I was looking at a leader from a positive point of view. I mean a leader thinks about others before him, Hitler rather crushed others. May be not his people but others. I might sound like I am missing the point of looking at the whole issue from a neutral point of view however the idea of leading a positive life is a very vital thing in a leaders life.

Haidar very nice bro .. "As Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be on him said): "Become preachers without using your tongues."
A great saying indeed, it is like saying actions speak louder than words. Don’t you just love Ahlul bayt

Andrew it's kinda funny as well for me, I just realized how important it is to focus on Leadership if you want to succeed in business.

Thanks

Ali

[Nicketas]

Originally Posted by Vanessa

Indeed! What made Hitler a good leader was his ability to motivate and inspire a vision for people who were without hope, without a dream and without a future. Those are essential functions of leadership, regardless of how they are used. He used inspired words that were water to famished people; it did not matter that they were evil words. They wanted someone to listen to, someone to follow.

Yes Hitler was responsible for creating a vision of hate, racial supremacy and destroying the lives of those outside of his dream for Germany.

Can we seperate the two? Good Leadership and Leading with Good Motives? Hitler had great leadership skills. To say otherwise would mean that he never achieved any progress in his vision. We are all living on with his hate driven actions and will never forget those killed by his dream.

Nah, we can't seperate intentions with skills. I mean, why even bother making them different, distinct words? They're CLEARLY both the same.

[stephencp]

"Nah, we can't seperate intentions with skills. I mean, why even bother making them different, distinct words? They're CLEARLY both the same."

We can't separate intentions from skills?? I think the problem stems from confusing "good" with "effective".
Was Hitler an "effective" leader? Did he motivate others to follow his vision?
This is different than asking whether he was a "good" person with a "good" vision.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[Michael Chui]

I think Nicketas was being sarcastic...

[stephencp]

Sorry. You're probably right. The evils of e-comm...

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[Akashic_Librarian]

A great leader is one never seen, who never asks for thanks and never recieves it.