Leadership Attributes

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is defined as being able to direct others to do what is expected of him/her to accomplish.  A leader should be able to plan, organize, delegate and control. Without these four basic attributes of managing people it will be impossible for a good leader to succeed. A leader is considered  a model for whatever has to be accomplished. He cannot put up a policy and then be the first one to break it. He should be able to lead through example.

The four basic attributes of a leader are:

1.       Planning – this means that a leader should be able to have answers to the following questions: “What has to be done?” “Who has to do it?” “Why should this be done?” “When should this be done?”

2.       Organizing – once the four questions on planning have been answered then the final question to answer is “How should it be done?” In this second attribute the leader should be able to prepare all the necessary materials, program or schedule in order to be ready for the next step.

3.       Delegating – means to be able to assign tasks or authority to others.

4.       Control and Measurement - being able to ensure that the task is done according to the set plan where the five questions were accomplished without flaws.

Things to remember about leadership

1.       Be a role model to your subordinate and others.

2.       Always be consistent and firm when leading people.  Use flexibility with caution.

3.       Be fair and balance with your decision.

4.       Not all bad behavior can be summoned to bad attitude.  A person’s behavior varies according to individual impulses sent to the brain and has a physical reaction to the behavior. An attitude is an ingrained or molded behavior. (Say for example, a subordinate suddenly became rude to the supervisor and after talking to the subordinate, it was revealed that she was rude because the supervisor forgot to invite her to the supervisor’s birthday party. This is an example of bad behavior but not considered bad attitude since the subordinate had good relationship with the supervisor after airing out her grudges.)

5.       Avoid listening to second hand information from others about your colleague or subordinate.

6.       Always bear in mind the saying “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.”

7.       Listen to others opinion without being rude.

8.       Try to empower your subordinate.

9.       Not all good workers are good leader.

10.   Never demean subordinates in the eyes of others.

A person cannot be called leader without a follower. A leader is only as good as the people he leads.