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Developing Your Leadership Skills

Written by: Cecile Peterkin

Article Overview: Leadership = Influence. The art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically. As human beings we all influence someone: parent to child, teacher to student, friend to friend, employer to employee, and coach to athlete. If you stop to think about it, the list is endless. Therefore, we are all capable of influencing others.

Developing Your Leadership Skills

Leadership is not always dependent upon being at the head of the crowd. It is more than a position. The next time you are in a meeting or a social function, see how quickly you can tell who the real leader is. It is not necessarily the person at the head of the table or the one with the title. It is the person other watch and listens to and naturally follows.

We all have areas in which we excel and from time to time we are all thrust into different leadership roles. Take advantage of those situations and use them to develop your leadership skills. Leadership takes time and experience to develop.

Qualities of a Leader

1. Perceived as positive and trustworthy
2. Must have clear values and live those values
3. Communicates directly
4. Forms intensive one-on-one relationships
5. See themselves as constantly evolving human being, focusing more inwardly than outwardly
6. Intuitive, understanding of what needs to be done
7. Finds self-esteem through self-reliance and personal expression
8. Courageous – must not balk at obstacles or become bewildered in the presence of adversity
9. Empathetic – appreciation and understanding of others values
10. Decisive – knowing when to act and when not to act
11. Accountable for personal actions
12. Dependable
13. Responsible
14. Stewardship
15. Self-confidence

Leadership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it.
--- Henry Mintzberg




Copyright 2009, Cecile Peterkin. All rights reserved.

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Article Tags: influencing others, leadership



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