When people think of leadership, a wide array of thoughts come to mind. Leadership is a very far-reaching term, and being a leader can mean just as many different things. There are leaders in fields of research, professional employment, college organizations, high school organizations, and a multitude of other roles. Despite these different kinds of leaders, there are a few qualities of leadership that commonly come to mind, such as "inspiring," "dedicated," and "motivational."
But how do we become a better leader? How does an individual go from uninspired, not dedicated, and unmotivated, and flip all of this around to become an effective leader? During my few years at the University of Rochester, I haven't perfected the answer to this, but I have a few suggestions to help aspiring leaders step up their game to the next level.
1. Dare to take the first step. I cannot think of a single instant in all of history where someone pointed to a person and cried "What a great leader!" without that potential leader having done something great. People do not become leaders by idly watching as life goes by. In order to be a strong leader, you have to take an active role in something. Whether you decide to run for president of an organization, take on additional responsibilities at your job, go out of your way to express your opinion for a cause, there is one commonality: you have to take the first step.
2. Don't worry about perfection. The quote "perfection is the enemy of good" hits the nail on the head. If you are forever in the pursuit of perfection, who knows if you will find it. But in this pursuit I'm certain that you will pass up many good opportunities waiting for a better one to come along. Instead, seize the good chances that you have while you have them. You don't have to start out perfect, you just have to start.
3. Good leaders have vision; great leaders follow through. Having a strong vision for an organization is great; some would argue it is essential to being a leader. However, what is that vision worth if it falls through and is never acted upon? Follow through on that vision by inspiring others, by role modeling the change you wish to see, by publicizing it in another way, or a combination of the three—just be sure to follow through!
4. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't—you're right." -Henry Ford. Without the correct internal dialogue (a dialogue that is continually building yourself up and helping see you through the trials and tribulations of effecting change), you're going to be fighting an uphill battle. You want to do your best to shape your thoughts to help you actions. Concerned about how a big event you've been planning is going to go? Assume it is going to go great! This doesn't mean you put anything less than your heart and soul into planning it, but having negative thoughts about the event will, at best, hurt your resolve as an individual, and at worst, trickle down through the rest of the people you are supposedly leading and harm whatever they might have been thinking about the event.
And with those four nuggets of wisdom—take the risky first step, focus on good and not perfect, follow through with your ideas, and have positive thoughts about your projects—you'll be able to become an even more effective leader!
That is, so long as you follow through and act on the advice. 🙂