Communicate: Communication is critical because even if you have great ideas, but are unable to convey their importance or effectiveness to others, then they are meaningless. Good leaders are able to effectively communicate their ideas and orders to their team members in a way that their teammates can understand. Using humor and personal stories can help to reinforce key messages. By doing so, people are more likely to remember what you said because they can relate to it.
Listen: As a leader, being able to listen is just as important as being able to communicate. But the best leaders in addition to being able to lead others, also listen to other’s ideas. Listening is a critical skill to have because if you are unwilling to hear someone out, you may not hear a revolutionary idea, a brilliant solution, or even make someone feel like what they say matters. When a leader is close-minded and doesn't listen to others, they are not properly utilizing the resources available to them, and it can cause communication problems.
Be Proactive: To be a leader, you must be proactive. Unless you take initiative, work hard, and be willing to put in the time and commitment to achieve your goals, you will not reap the rewards. As said in 7 Habits, proactive people are the drivers of their lives, not the passengers. Although there are many things such as external factors, employee behavior, or employee production that you cannot control, you can always control your reactions to situations. Being proactive will allow you to get things done and continue towards your goal. A leader is not an effective leader if they're reactive, otherwise they become a follower. A good leader is and will always be proactive because if they truly want something they will go and get it. There is a broad difference between the reactive and the proactive leader. Reactive leaders are often in a frantic state of constant activity striving to achieve company goals to the best of their abilities. However, proactive leaders tend to champion company missions and achieve goals more often and with greater ease. Where reactive leaders deal with events as they come, proactive leaders anticipate events and plan accordingly. Being proactive exemplifies leadership, increases positive results and encourages a more joyful workplace.
Adaptability: At some point in time during your time in a leadership position, you are bound to be faced with many different challenges, every one of them with a different solution. A good leader is one that can think on their feet effectively and efficiently to help overcome adversity. I feel a leader is able to get themselves and their team members through times of adversity. A leader must be able to change their leadership style to adapt to certain situations. In a leadership position, you can be faced with all different types of challenges.
Democratic: Out of the three leadership styles, autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire, I feel the best leader is one that is democratic. Democratic leaders are ones who have the last word (make the final decision) but they include their team members in the decision making process. A democratic leader is one that tends to analyze all of the given information and ideas before making an informed decision. Democratic leadership is very effective, especially if you have talented team members around you. By being a democratic leader, you are able to capitalize on your team members’ skills and talents by letting them share their views, rather than simply expecting them to conform. Democratic leaders are ones who encourage creativity and seek feedback and input on things that they do. As a result, employees tend to have higher job satisfaction and productivity because they feel like what they say will be heard by others, what they do will have a meaningful impact on results, and that they have a vested stake in the outcome.
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