What Makes a Leader?

"Leadership is based on experience; we learn to lead as challenges arise, and we develop skills to address them. Thus, in the process of leading, we learn to communicate, to compromise, and to collaborate so that others can help further our objectives. We experience our way to becoming a leader. Everyday leaders pick up the skills they need, often through trial and error and through a willingness to change course as circumstances change."

"Thus, while leadership is not necessarily an adventure, it still may be full of surprise, tough going, and some hair-raising near-misses. That's okay. The best leaders find a way to fight uphill battles and rearguard actions (even simultaneously!) because they must. Of course, they may panic and break a sweat. But they keep going, assimilating experience, refining their goals and their strategies."

"There are five, inter-related qualities required for leadership: Vision. You don't have to be a visionary like Bill Gates, whose famous book, The Road Ahead, forecast how tech (which he helped pioneer) would transform how we live and work. But you do need a reasonably coherent goal and, more to the point, a sense of purpose. You need to recognize that any vision-though it guides your objectives-is malleable. It can change,"

Leadership grows from experience and repeated practice; people learn to lead as challenges arise and develop skills through trial and error. Leaders learn to communicate, compromise, and collaborate so others can further objectives. Effective leaders create a guiding vision that is coherent yet malleable, adjust plans as circumstances change, and combine planning and organization with communication to sustain that vision. Leaders accept responsibility for mistakes and successes, refine goals and strategies after setbacks, and build credibility by demonstrating confidence and delegating responsibility appropriately. Persistence through difficult and surprising situations further develops leadership capability.

Read at Psychology Today