Understanding Leadership: Improving Your Leadership Skills to Become Successful At What You Do

In order to become successful in your career, you need to understand that you have to know about the traits of leadership. By knowing how to become a leader, you will see that it will be the key to your career success.

First of all, you need to understand that no leaders are alike. They all come in all shapes and sizes and it is not really their physical appearance that shows people that they are fit to become a leader. For example, Napoleon was just over 5 feet tall and he had a chronic stomachache, but he almost conquered all of Europe. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was bound to a wheelchair but he was considered as one of the greatest leaders in the world. Some leaders are very good at speeches that the words flow out smoothly like JFK but there are also leaders that had trouble getting through a speech such as Gerald Ford.

Some leaders lead by using their charm and candor, while there are also leaders that use force, fear, deception and hatred to get people to follow his or her ideals. For example, millions of people followed Gandhi because of his being the epitome of moral leadership while millions more followed Adolf Hitler through the use of fear, deception, hatred, and force.

People recognize leadership when one person can convince other people to follow his or her ideas and directions in order for them to reach a goal that is deemed to be worthwhile for everyone in the group. In order for you to become a leader and also become successful at what you do in your career, here are the five traits of leadership that you should have or at least develop in order for you to be seen as a leader by your subordinates as well as the people above you.

The first trait is that leaders have zeal, self confidence, and courage. This trait enables the leader to get out in front of the crowd.

The second trait is that leaders are able to see opportunities among the most difficult of challenges. When everything seems to fail, leaders tend to see opportunities in the situation to turn things around.

The third trait is that leaders are able to motivate themselves without waiting for other people to assure them in order for them to act.

The fourth trait is that leaders know how to listen. Leaders show empathy and that they identify with the cravings of the people they are leading. 

Lastly, leaders know how to communicate and also know how to convince their followers. Leaders are able to answer the question in all of his or her followers, which is what's in it for us?

These traits can be learned. All you have to do is study the way different leaders lead and you should try to adapt those traits. Read books about leaders. The more you practice, the more you will be able to improve your leadership skills and your leadership traits.

Always keep in mind that if you want to become a leader, you have to do your best in order to be a good follower.