Leadership is a trait we all wish came to us naturally, and for many of us the well known leaders of our world and in our lives represent some of our most influential role models - our fathers, our bosses, Barack Obama, Winston Churchill, Optimus Prime, Red Ranger… So what are the leadership characteristics we need to adopt if we want to be good at inspiring and leading others? Following are some key aspects of any leader, that can help you make a good manager, become the leader in a crisis, be a better parent, or just play more of a central role in your friendship groups.

Well of all the leadership characteristics, perhaps the most important is knowledge, and specifically knowledge relating to the task in hand. In other words if ten people were lost in a forest and one was previously a scout then the others would turn to them in advance and they would therefore become the leader of the group. Similarly if a group were given a task to build a small structure, they would all defer to the engineer among the group. This is common sense and completely logical as it then serves those individuals well at the time. At the same time if they start coming to you for direction and advice and you start failing to answer, or start giving responses that they suspect to be incorrect, then they will soon lose the respect for you and think that someone else could do a better job of steering the helm. If your manager starts stamping their authority in ways that don’t seem to be in the company’s best interest or are ruining the output, then rather quickly staff are going to start questioning why they’re in charge.

However, no matter how much you know on a topic it won’t help you rise through the ranks unless your potential followers can see that you know what you’re talking about. Confidence then is also incredibly important and these two leadership characteristics should go hand in hand; though if you can fool a group into thinking you hold all the answers then they’ll turn to you for leadership regardless of whether you actually do. To demonstrate this confidence then speak up when you know what the solution is and speak confidently as though there’s no shadow of doubt in your mind. If someone else says something about the situation that you know to bee incorrect then challenge them (leaders are individuals - if you constantly agree or follow another leader then you are giving others nothing to follow. Go your own way occasionally and those who are impressed with your leadership skills will follow). Do not however shoot your mouth off in situations where you may be proven incorrect - if you do then others will quickly recognize what you’re doing and will lose their faith in your knowledge. Only speak up if you know what the answer is and when you do make sure you speak confidently, not apologetically.

Being proactive is also important however. If you don’t know what the solution is to a particular problem or in a particular scenario then you shouldn’t make out that you do, however what you can do is set the wheels in motion to find out what to do to prevent yourself from displaying cracks in your armor. In other words ask the group if they have any ideas and if they don’t, delegate tasks to find out what the solution is - this way even if someone else provides the answer it will have come from you. You don’t know what the answer is but you at least know what to do.

So being knowledgeable, confident and proactive are three highly important leadership characteristics because they make it in their best interest to follow you. At the same time however they have to feel that you have their best interests in mind and for this reason you need to appear generous and thoughtful and not be hypocritical. The old adage goes that you should never send a soldier to do a job you wouldn’t gladly do yourself and this is very true - if you do then they will begin to question whether you’re using that knowledge and confidence to help them or if you’re using your position for selfish ends - at which point they would start to question you as you‘ll seem more like a despot than a fair leader. Another way to make sure your lackeys know you have their best interests at heart is to listen to them, to ask questions and to put them in positions of responsibility. Make sure you’re always fair, and use incentives rather than punishments - remember you can’t force someone to respect you, they have to choose it.

Likewise among leadership characteristics you need to display is emotional stability. There’s no question that emotion affects our ability to make reasonable decisions, and if you’re always shouting or panicking then those beneath you will begin to question whether you’re able to use your knowledge and position effectively or whether you’re becoming a liability. Managers and teachers who are constantly yelling and venting rarely have any respect for this reason (as well as the one above), and likewise in a disaster when everyone’s panicking it’s the person who remains calmest they will turn to as they will obviously be the best equipped to deal with the situation emotionally. At the same time if you’re constantly seeming stressed or angry then it suggests that you’re unable to cope with your position, which is calling for you to be usurped.

Finally though, if you want to make the transition to being a truly great leader then your leadership mustn’t just be situational. If you want to become a cult of personality then you must portray the idea that you have all the answers to everything. Of course if you act like this on purpose then others will quickly see through you, so how can you get them to respect your views on life, relationships and business?

In short the answer is that they have to idolize you and to want to be you. If you appear to have everything up together then it will suggest that you know how to get from life what they want so again you’ll have something to offer them. In other words, you need to be as good looking as you can be, as well turned out at all times, successful in relationships and in business, and popular and well liked. Of course that’s all easier said than done but essentially the things that make great leadership characteristics are things that we strive for anyway. The more you work to improve yourself the more respect you’ll receive. And finally you need to get them to like you which will require charisma and charm - two things that unfortunately are largely genetic, but you can try and adopt the characteristics of your favorite celebrities or film characters to an extent.

Then there are leadership characteristics that make less logical sense and work on the unconscious - these include wearing red (colors effect our psychology in usual ways and red is always associated with leadership, try a red tie), having a deep and clear voice (try speaking more slowly and practice making it slightly deeper when you talk normally) and being larger (where tall shoes and go to the gym to bulk out). So it’s not an easy feet to win the respect of a group or individual and there are a lot of factors to consider. Bare in mind however that you don’t need to be perfect in any of these capacities - you only need to be the best in the group - and if you subtly undermine the opposition you may not even have to be that.

While there are born natural leaders, it’s certainly possible to train yourself to become good at leadership. Try adopting these leadership characteristics and see how others react to you. Tweak and change elements that don’t work and emphasize those that do. It’s a learning curve but that’s the nature of training.

Mack LeMouse

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