Leadership-qualites of a good leader

I had my annual review last week.  It was a good one, but it started me on thinking about my next steps.  You see, I started working where I am working to really hone my skills as an accountant and I am nearing the end of the major part of that journey.  So, I am thinking about my next steps.

On each annual review I get asked the question, “what things would you like to concentrate on in the next year?”  I know that this is a question designed to get me to start to plan for the upcoming year.  This year I told my bosses that I want to add a new facet to my learning, in that I would like to hone my skills in leadership.

Why leadership?  I guess it is a want to move forward into management level positions.  I believe that being a strong leader would also make me a strong manager.

I have managed before and to a point I do every day as I teach my clients how to recognize things that they see everyday and evaluate if it is efficient or not.  I have found that over time, when one has been with a company for a while they fall into this complicacy.  Essentially, they fall into this attitude of we have always done it this way, and forget that there may be other better ways to do that.  Its part of my job to help others re-learn to look at what they are doing and just ask one simple question “why”.

So why would I want to hone my skills as a leader?  What is the motivation?  Well I believe that it is just another way to be better at what I do.  I believe that I have great cores skills; I just want to tap into them better.

That leaves me with the question, what makes a good or great leader?

So I set out to do some research Google, by the way, is a wonderful tool and I made several selections to see what others say about leadership.  Here is what I found out.

To recognize the traits of a leader, look at their past.  What have they done in their personal life that equates to leadership?  Have they been a deacon in their church, or have they lead in the scouts? If they show leadership outside the job then they have potential for leadership inside the job.

A leader is a big picture person.  They are willing to not only see the forest for the trees but also recognize the bark on the trees.  They have a willing “can do” attitude and will implement ideas when they have been fully formed and explored.

A leader is willing to ask why. A leader is willing to question why things are done that way and find ways to do them better.  A leader will ask others to join in on the discussion on how to do things better to not brainstorm, but to share different points of view and have others express their own leadership skills.

A leader is willing to take a problem and run with it.  The get excited about the prospect of solving the problem, and they encourage others to work with them to solve the problem.  Sometimes to see whom else exhibits the traits of a leader.  A leader loves a challenge.

A leader is a non-conformist, they want to work to do things better.  They inspire other to do the same.  They don’t want to be part of the status quo, but they also recognize when things don’t always work out and are willing to accept criticism.  They take responsibility for what they are doing and the responsibility carries with them even after the workday is done.

A Leader garners respect from others; this is a quality that makes people listen to them. Potential leaders have a “holding court” quality about them. When they speak, people listen. Other people may talk a great deal, but nobody listens to them. They’re making a speech; they’re not giving leadership.

I am sure that I have missed a few qualities, but these were ones that I related to the best.  Mainly because I recognize them in myself.  I also noticed that much of the research told me that leadership also depends on the organization.  I am sure that is true to a point, but I wanted to explore the universal aspects of leadership.

So what did I conclude in my findings.  I do have the qualities of a good leader; I just need to feel confident that I can do it.  As I always feel that there is more to learn, I will continue on my quest to hone my leadership skills, but as it is today, I am ready for the next challenge.

I have not abandoned the Database series, I simply hit a point where I need to explore where to best break things into pieces.  Plus this topic was weighing heavily on my mind so I thought I would explore it further.

source: wordpress