The Dynamic Leader

What is a Leader? Leadership definition brought to you by https://www.market-connections.net

Career Counseling December 10, 2019

The Dynamic Leader

11 Principles of Highly Effective Leadership

What Is a Leader? 

A leader motivates others to act toward achieving a common goal. A leader can rally people around a cause and move them to take action toward achieving a particular objective.
 
A good leader inspires people to do something bigger than themselves. To work together to accomplish key objectives. To pool their strengths and resources to achieve great things.
 
A leader is different from an organizer. An organizer gathers resources and deploys them most effectively. Organizers are about efficiency, while leaders are about vision.
 
Here are 7 characteristics of a good leader:
 

• Vision. An effective leader has a clear vision of where they want to go and how they’re going to get there.
• Motivation. The effective leader is highly skilled at motivating people. They know what makes others tick and are able to tap into those emotional triggers.
• Service. The best leaders are those who serve their followers. They seek to serve their team and make their team as effective as possible.
• Empathy. A leader must be able to place themselves in the shoes of others.
• Creativity. The highly effective leader is creative when it comes to achieving their outcomes.
• Demanding. The best leaders demand the best from their teams. They don’t settle for mediocre results or half-hearted efforts.
• Management. A leader must be able to manage those who follow him.

 
It’s important to understand that leadership isn’t about having a particular position, title, or personal attributes. Just because you’re an executive doesn’t mean you’re a leader.
 
If you’re not an effective leader now, you can grow and become an effective leader. You can learn the skills and techniques necessary to have social influence.

The Self-Motivated Leader

First and foremost, a leader is self-motivated. Unlike followers, who must be told what to do, a leader is highly self-driven and motivated.
 
A leader is out in front of the crowd. They are moving forward on their initiative, taking action without being told to do so. A leader isn’t primarily motivated by salary or social perks. They have a fire within them. A powerful desire to make good change happen.
 
How can you grow in self-motivation? The primary way to strengthen self-motivation is by choosing a goal (or set of goals) that resonates with you deeply and stirs you up to want to accomplish great things. Think about your own life and career. What do you really, truly want to accomplish?
 
It’s these kinds of things that create motivation. Focus your attention on them. Assuming your goals involve more than just yourself, you’ll also be motivated to get others on board with your goals.

The Confident Leader

What is “confidence”? It’s an inner belief that you can achieve what you set out to do. It’s the personal assurance that you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to. It’s the feeling that nothing is too big or challenging for you.
 
Confidence is born out of action. The more action you take, the more overall success you’ll have. The more success you have, the more confident you’ll feel, which will lead you to take more action.
 
Yes, there will be times when you fail. There will be times when your ideas don’t pan out and your best efforts fall flat. If you want to be a confident leader, it’s critical that you keep taking action, moving forward, and striving for your goals.
 
It’s the courage to continue taking action that makes for a great, self-confident leader. The best leaders are inherently confident, and they’re confident because they’ve consistently taken action.

The Accountable Leader

You must hold yourself accountable for both your actions and the outcomes that those actions produce. When things go well, you take appropriate credit (and give credit to your team, of course). When things don’t go well, you take the blame.
 
The opposite of the accountable leader is the “victim” leader. The victim leader blames everyone and everything else for their failures.
 
If you’re going to be a powerful, compelling leader, you must accept 100% responsibility for the outcomes of your actions. You must take decisive action to influence specific outcomes and then embrace those outcomes, whatever they may be.
 
The reality is that your followers will never rise higher than you. They will look to you and follow your example. If they see you constantly blaming others and refusing to be accountable, they’ll do the same thing. Work hard to hold yourself accountable, and your team will do the same.

The Passionate Leader

The best leaders have a fire in their bones. They are so passionate about what they’re doing that they’re willing to work long hours to accomplish their goals.
 
They see their vision clearly and are 100% committed to making it a reality. Passion is infectious. When you, as a leader, are passionate about reaching your objectives, it causes others to be passionate as well.
 
If you’re not passionate about the job before you, it means one of two things.

• First, it could mean that you’re doing the wrong job. It’s hard to be passionate about a job that you don’t care about.
• Second, it could mean that you haven’t set ambitious enough goals for yourself. It’s difficult to be passionate about small, mediocre goals.

 
Ultimately, passion flows out of vision. If you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and can see the great good that it will accomplish, you’ll be passionate. If, on the other hand, your vision is blurry and you’re not sure what you want to accomplish, you won’t be passionate at all.

The Courageous Leader

There are few things a leader needs more than courage. The decisions you make as a leader will result in you being evaluated by others. Others will criticize you from time to time. Sometimes you’ll take action, and it simply won’t pan out.
 
If you’re not courageous as a leader, you simply won’t do the other things necessary to be a good leader. You won’t take appropriate risks because you’re afraid of missing the mark. You won’t suggest new ideas because you’re afraid they’ll be shot down.
 
There will be times when you simply don’t know what the outcome of a particular action will be. In those moments, you may be afraid and tempted to hold back. If you display great courage in the face of adversity, others will follow you. They’ll admire and be inspired by your courage and want to emulate you.

The Leader with Integrity

Integrity means always being consistent with your values. It means saying what you’ll do and doing what you say. It means you have strong moral values and that you hold fast to those moral values in every situation.
 
If you don’t have integrity, your followers will quickly abandon you. They’ll see that what you say is different from what you do - that you don’t have any particular morals guiding your actions.
 
Do you want to have a sense of authority with those on your team? Do you want them to respect you? Do you want them to do what you ask without grumbling and arguing? Then be a person of integrity.
 
Without integrity, those under you simply won’t trust you. They won’t have confidence that you’ll do what you say. They won’t be confident that you have their best interests in mind.

The Emotionally Intelligent Leader

​Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage both your own emotions and the emotions of those around you. It’s the ability to understand why you’re feeling a certain way in a particular situation and to understand why others might be feeling a particular way.
 
There will be many times when you find yourself in difficult, stressful, emotionally-laden situations. In those moments, it’s essential that you be able to understand why you’re feeling a particular way and then respond appropriately.
 
In the same way, you must also be able to understand why others are feeling specific emotions. This skill, often called Emotional IQ, allows you to see things through the eyes of others.
 
If you are unable to understand the emotions of others, you won’t be able to effectively navigate highly emotional situations. You’ll make decisions without considering the feelings of others, which can cause significant damage to your relationships.

The Humble Leader

Humility is one of the keys to great leadership. A proud leader is in danger of having blind spots. They are convinced that they are always right. They’re sure that their way is the best. They feel like they don’t need to listen to the opinions of others.
 
A humble leader, on the other hand, is set up for success. What does humble leadership look like?

• Listening. The humble leader listens to the opinions and feedback of others. They don’t assume that their ideas are always the best.
• Asking for feedback. A humble leader asks those around him for constructive feedback.
• Admitting wrongs. Every leader makes mistakes. The best, most humble leaders admit when they’ve made mistakes.
• Respect. The truly humble leader is respectful of others. They value the insights and opinions of others and do everything they can to respect what they bring to the table.

 
Humility is fundamental to success as a leader. Leaders who are humble thrive, while leaders who are proud ultimately falter.

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About the Author

Mandy Fard is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, CMRW) and Recruiter with decades of experience in assisting job seekers, working directly with employers in multiple industries, and writing proven-effective resumes.

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