Smart - Leadership Gain Confidence to Influence as a Leader Through Communication Skills and Coaching

Leadership

Gain Confidence to Influence as a Leader Through Communication Skills and Coaching

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Introduction

W hat is a leader? In its simplest form, a leader is someone who leads others he (or she) may be a community leader, a political leader, a leader in the work place there are all types of leaders, and thats where it can get confusing. A leader is not necessarily someone who is in charge, although the best leaders have an air of authority that sits naturally on their shoulders. A leader is, first and foremost, an inspiration to those he leads. You can be inspiring without having formal qualifications, but all the qualifications in the world wont make you an inspiration to others. A leader is a motivator, and the best leaders can encourage their teams to step out of their comfort zone to produce outstanding results on a consistent basis.

If all this sounds complicated, thats because it is. Its very difficult to define leadership, although you will know it when you see it. So, can anyone be a leader? Yes and no. Some people are born leaders, but leaders can be made too, and that is the aim of this book to make you a leader, whatever your professional qualifications, life experiences or personality traits. The skills you need to be an effective leader can be learned, as long as you have the motivation to learn them and the wish to inspire others to perform to their best capabilities.

Good leadership starts with confidence if you dont have confidence in yourself, you can hardly expect others to have confidence in you or in your abilities to lead the team. Then you need to channel this confidence into influencing others so they are happy to follow your lead. For this, youll need excellent communication skills, and the ability to coach your followers so that they achieve what you expect of them. Leadership is not about issuing orders, its about leading by example.

To be a good leader, you have to be someone worth following someone others are happy to follow. That means you need to cultivate certain leadership skills, then channel them appropriately. This book will help you to build on the leadership skills you already have, and develop the ones you will need. Youll learn about the value of communication, coaching and leading by example. You will learn to listen as well as talk, to use encouragement rather than sanctions to get results, and to identify problems as they arise and deal with them without affecting productivity or denting morale.

The skills you will learn here will help you to stand out as a leader in any situation you find yourself in, whether its professional, personal or anything else at all. You can become a leader wherever you are, whatever your situation. Just follow the advice in this book, and get ready to be a leader!

Chapter 1:
Qualities Exhibited by Leaders

L eaders are not born to lead, but they can learn the skills that make them leaders. Kings may be born to rule, but that doesnt automatically equip them to be leaders, so birth and genetics have no bearing on whether or not someone can be a leader whom others will respect and follow. Certain life skills go towards creating a leader, and before moving on to the lessons this book will provide, take some time to take an inventory of your leadership skills and qualities, and work on your weak points as well as embellishing your strengths.

Its not about intelligence, charisma, or an imposing and attractive physique although these things cant hurt and may help others to identify the leader in you. Its more about the kind of things that are difficult to recognize and quantify in others. These are the qualities that the best leaders exhibit. Work on them before you move on to the skills you will need to be an effective leader.

I NTEGRITY IS SOMETHING everyone should strive for, but its an essential quality in a leader, and if its something you lack, you shouldnt even be reading this, because you, sir or madam are not leadership material. What is integrity? People tend to think of it in a moral sense, but its much more than that its a life choice.

At its heart, integrity means being true to yourself and your beliefs, whether they are personal, religious or professional, or a combination of all three. Your actions should always coincide with your beliefs, even when it might be more convenient to go against them, however briefly. Expediency should never win at the cost of ethics. Integrity fosters trust in colleagues and acquaintances, and if you aspire to leadership, you need to earn that trust, so that your followers will work with you and for you, even when things arent going to plan. If they can see that you are consistent in your beliefs and actions, they will trust in your judgement and work with you to achieve your separate and collective goals.