Leadership has been defined as the act of leading a group of people or an organization. This does not sound like the easiest task humans can take. Every leader wants to improve and become a skilled leader, yet, when faced with difficult situations and weighty decisions, many have found it hard to deliver the right and perfect solutions.
This has led to many wondering if leadership is an inborn quality, or if one’s personality affects leadership skills. It has led to questions like, can one learn leadership? Does it come by chance? These are some of the questions many ask when they are interested in becoming an exemplary leader.
One basic truth is, one’s personality plays a major role in leadership. For one, it is the basic building block for self-confidence. Self-confidence, on the other hand, is a quality that can be learned and developed.
When faced with daunting and strenuous tasks as a leader, maintaining your self-confidence becomes harder, yet, there are ways to work around it easily. It starts with understanding the current situation and devising a way to handle the situation.
When you cultivate your confidence, you improve your chance of becoming a good leader. Without your confidence raised to the highest, or close to the highest level, you cannot become a good leader.
The Effect and Importance of Self-esteem
Self-esteem is one of the essential traits you need to develop as a leader. It is required to help you build your self-confidence.
Self-esteem can be defined as how individuals evaluate their worth and define how much they value themselves.
Those who like themselves always find themselves progressing rather than regressing. In fact, when you like yourself as a leader, you become more effective and efficient in handling all your affairs.
The key to paddling your affairs well and effectively is building high self-esteem and maintaining it; this, in turn, will help you become a skilled and efficient leader.
Keep a Consistent Value in Life
As important as building high self-esteem is, maintaining a consistent value in life is one way to maintain it.
As a leader or a leader to be, you need to clearly identify your values, and the things you believe in, it is important that you do not compromise your values. Learning to clearly identify what you want, and valuing yourself will help you respect yourself better. Failure to do this as a leader will reduce the respect you have for yourself and others’ respect.
Your feelings and your actions are expected to work hand in hand when you have a feeling. You should act in a way that goes in line with the feeling you are having. The basic fact is, endeavor to be consistent when marrying your feelings and actions.
The way you act or your actions’ effectiveness should show how valuable your time is to you. If you value yourself as an important person, you will be consistent with your value in relation to your actions.
Lead Courageously
Practice they say helps one become perfect. If you will build up an excellent reputation, you must endeavor to practice your leadership qualities to show that you are courageous. Life comes with numerous risks; whether you like it or not, you must take risks each day, as long as the result of your action is uncertain, even by the smallest chance.
While you are comfortable taking the small and less significant risks, you should also brace yourself as you will need to take bigger risks if you will become a leader. Taking these risks depends on you being courageous, and this courage will affect your skill as a leader.
While it is important to take risks, you should try and become more effective and skillful when taking risks. More than anything you need, you need to be convinced and confident that you are making the right decision and taking a positive step. This helps you maintain a positive attitude that drives you towards success. To be successful as a risk-taker, you must take intelligent risks.
What does intelligent risk involve?
Learn to carefully analyze and assess risks before taking them. This helps you narrow the chances of committing errors down, and makes you more competent; the final result affects your self-confidence and makes you more effective.
Be ruthless when taking risks, but be conscious about every input, and make sure your decisions are not impulsive. Break risks into steps; as such, if you make a mistake, you can easily trace the source of error. Never compromise as long as you are making the right decision, complacency will also reduce the quality of your result.
Get rid of all fears, turn your worries and fears into challenges that you are ready to overcome. See challenges as a stepping stone to success, and keep pushing forward irrespective of the limitations you are facing. Learn to face the fear head-on (at least don’t shy away), take charge of your fears (be in control), progress irrespective of limitations. When you do this, you are on your way to becoming a fearless leader.
A shortcoming is not a failure
A self-confident leader will definitely have shortcomings; you need to admit this as well if you will progress. Be open to advice, especially when you know you are wrong, or when others point that out. If you live by the rule that you’ve played all your cards well, you cannot be wrong; then you are destined for failure as a leader.
Ego can affect your leadership
Accepting you have shortcomings will make you more successful, a courageous person will admit their mistakes. Admitting your error shows you are confident and that you are primed for success. It takes courage if we are sincere to admit our shortcomings. You need that as a leader.
Additionally, don’t just accept you are wrong because others say you are. Analyze your steps and actions, and see if you truly are. Even if you are not, after your careful consideration, seek ways to improve.
Manage your insecurities
When new opportunities come through, you can find them exciting and challenging. They come with a measure of insecurities that you must manage well if you will become a confident leader. Keep on practicing healthy habits if you want to become a courageous leader.
Do you know any courageous leader around you? They are the result of unmatched self-confidence and excellent self-esteem. When you also build this up, you are on course to become the skilled and confident leader you crave even in the face of uncertainties. We have all it takes to help you become the best and courageous leader you wish to become here.