Leadership is the capacity someone to lead. It involves a
variety of qualities and skills. A good leader is someone who is able to manage
people and tasks, to direct them accordingly in a right manner, communicate
effectively, and make a positive team environment. Try to develop your leadership
qualities by checking your strengths and weaknesses, and setting a good example
to your colleagues and everyone around you.
Check the kind of leader you are. If you want to develop your leadership skills, it’s important
that you honestly analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Doing this will enable
you to identify the areas you need to improve and make you more aware of your
behaviors. Start by asking yourself “what kind of leader am I?”
- Perhaps you are someone who leads by example, and doesn’t get too involved in other people’s work.
- Or maybe you are a leader who helps to solve problems, and takes a more active and interventionist role.
- Being a good team player and helping other people get along and work together more effectively is another way of being a leader.
- You can even use online leadership quizzes to evaluate your leadership skills.
Think about how others might see you. Once you have begun to get a clearer picture of how you act
as a leader, it will be helpful to consider how other people think of you as a
leader. This could be your colleagues at work, or friends at school or college.
You can do this by paying closer attention to team interactions, such as how
often colleagues approach you for advice, and how comfortable they are doing so.
- You can also ask a trusted friend or colleague for her perception of your leadership qualities.
- You can ask a more senior colleague, who is familiar with you and your work, for some feedback and guidance on management and leadership.
Analyze your leadership qualities. After asking the initial questions about how you lead and
how others perceive you, you can try to analyze you leadership qualities in
greater detail. You will then decide which factors to work on. Write down the
following questions and try to answer them as honestly and fully as you can:
- Do I make an effort to be aware of the thoughts and feelings of colleagues?
- Do I help others perform to their best and reach their potential?
- Do I accept responsibility?
- Do I keep an open mind and try new ideas and new ways of doing things?
- Can I communicate effectively with others?
- Am I a good problem solver?
- Do I encourage and accept other opinions and perspectives?
Identify areas to
improve. These questions will help highlight
which leadership qualities you are strong in, and which you need to improve.
Using your answers to the questions, divide your leadership qualities into
three parts. Firstly, note those qualities that you think feel you are very
strong on. Secondly, identify which areas need some improvement. Thirdly,
determine which areas you are weak on, and need considerable attention.
- For example, if you are aware of the thoughts and feelings of colleagues, and you accept other people’s opinions, your openness and engagement with colleague is likely to be strong.
- If you don’t help others perform to their best, and you don’t communicate as effectively as you would like, these skills will need some work.
- These leadership qualities can be broken down into the more general areas of communication, inspiring and setting an example for others, openness, and teamwork and cooperation.
