What makes people want to follow a leader? What does it take to become a great leader? The kind who attracts people and makes things happen?
I mean, if you took the time to really look deep down into yourself – your thoughts, your body vibrations – would you find the qualities you need to live the life of your dreams, to impact people around you and achieve your boldest desires? That’s a question we need to ask ourselves, we gotta find the courage to dive deeper and answer if we really want to achieve our highest potential.
In this episode we will dive deeper and look into Qualities of a Leader. This is also the episode you want to come back and relive it. Use it to reflect, review and renew.
Everything rises and falls on leadership. It develops from the inside out. When you can be the leader within you, the best version of yourself for you, you will also show that on the outside and become the person people will want to follow you. When this happens, you will be able to do anything in this world.
Qualities of a Leader
1. How the leader deals with the situations of life tells you many things about the character
When something goes wrong, do you stress out, become frustrated or you take control in your hands and deal with the situation?
Let me give you an example. You are invited to speak on the stage, it’s so exciting, you are ready, In fact you were born ready. But then, just within minutes you start presenting your speech, microphone sound goes wild and that’s it, nobody can hear you. What do you do? Do you panic and stress out? Start to point fingers and get totally distracted? Or you stop the talk being totally in control and calm, insuring the audience with “don’t worry, tech team will get this covered in a bit and we can continue the show” or maybe you throw in some humor to make sure your audience feels it’s all OK, it’s save and those things happen. No need to panic or give too much attention to it.
In the same situation different people will react differently and if you are truly a leader you will take control in your hands.
2. Do you have a charisma or can you learn to be charismatic
Sure you can. Most people think it is something mystical and definitely something people are born with.
Charisma is the ability to draw people to you. Like other characteristics, it can be developed.
We are naturally drawn to people who love life, they are enjoying things they are doing and they are in control of their future. Think of people you are attracted to, in life or social media – why is that? Do you like how they celebrate life? Do you feel they are living a fulfilled life? Of course we can go into someone’s highlight reels, and not always what we see online, is true, in fact, is the best part.. but still – it determines if you are attracted or not. So what is it? If you want to attract people, you need to be like the people you enjoy being with.
Expect the best from people. I know a lot of you might think that expecting nothing will help to not be disappointed, but if you put the crown on every person you meet and find things you love about them, when you think highly of them, it will help them feel and think more highly about themselves, which helps you as well. Kinda got twisted into this but hope it is clear enough. There is one great quote, not sure who the author is, but it is something like this “The greatest good you can do for another is not to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own” – it encourages to appreciate others, help them reach their potential. Fix that crown on other queens heads, if you know what I mean.
Another great way to share your character is to let people inside your life, share your story and take them with you on a ride.
Exercise to do: Play the first impressions game
(yes baby, it will never get old for me to talk about first impressions): when you meet someone for the first time – you will leave the best first impression if you will follow these instructions:
- Learn person’ s name and repeat it several times during conversation;
- Focus on what she or he like to do, what are they interested in;
- Be positive and encouraging;
- Most importantly treat them the best way possible, like on 100.
My belief is if you can do it once, you can do it every day and that’s how you can develop your charismatic character as it will be natural for you after time.
3. Let’s talk about commitment and why it is so important
Well it’s pretty easy – people do not follow uncommitted leaders. It all starts within you, with your heart and soul. If you are anything like me – perfectionist or recovering perfectionist – you want everything perfect before you commit to anything. But it is not how it works. Commitment always precedes achievement. You need to take action, it is the only real measure for commitment. What is something you would do no matter what? Spend some time alone journaling or meditating, write down what you discover.
4. Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership
The biggest tip I can share with you first of all is – simplify your message. As it is not about what you say it is about how you say it. You don’t need to impress people with big words and complicated expressions. Second – listen more. If you want to become a better communicator, become your audience oriented, listen to what they ask you, listen how they do it and what kind of language they use. Practice and you will get better. There is two books I can also recommend are “How to win friends and influence people” And “Non-violent communication”. One more important thing is to live up to your promises and walk your talk. That is huuugggeee!
5. Self development
I could talk about this again and again. Since I started my self development and even spiritual journey, it’s like an egg crack opened, once it’s done, it’s done, there is no looking back. Show up every day, not only for your audience, but for yourself. It is all about energy – if you can maintain your flow and energy at your best, you will take care of yourself and when you do that, you will attract more people and inspire them. All highly competent people consistently improve, they keep learning, growing. The one important lesson I learnt here is – ask Why. The person who knows how will always have a job, but the person who knows why will always lead. When you work on yourself, your leadership skills, when you discover yourself and your inner beauty – you will accomplish more than expected. It is always good to go extra mile.
This is it for today, your 5 qualities for better leadership. Come back to this episode, take notes and practise daily, you will see how your life changes and you are starting to attract more and more people around you and your power.
Book links:
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://amzn.to/2FWMUCM
Nonviolent Communication: https://amzn.to/2HzwXTe