What are the qualities you admire about leaders in your life?
While it might seem like some people are naturally great leaders, we can actually break down the qualities that set them apart.
Learn how to incorporate these leadership skills into your own life.
Here are 6 ways to define leadership:
1. Leadership preferences can differ by culture
While leaders have defined qualities across the globe, there can be some details that are considered more important for leadership depending on the culture.
For example, in America, a great leader might be someone who is innovative and guides people towards great ideas. Meanwhile, in a country like Japan, a leader can be defined as someone who is a model worker that follows protocol and sets a good example to the rest of the company.
What qualities do people admire in a leader where you are working?
2. Leaders take ownership
Regardless of cultural background, leaders are known to be people who take ownership and responsibility. This includes of their projects, work tasks, and team.
When times get rough, leaders are the people who are accountable for resolving issues or hold themselves liable even if an issue might have started with someone else in their team.
The best way you can take ownership now is to be proactive in asking for projects and challenges. This will show your managers and team that you can be responsible for larger tasks.
3. Leaders are great negotiators and mediators
When people are working together, there will always be a scenario where disagreements occur. People with strong leadership skills are able to communicate through these disagreements. They help people come together to find a middle ground.
Even if you’re not in a leadership position, you can develop skills in negotiation and mediation by being open.
Consider and be aware of how people think differently in your workplace. Then ask yourself how you’d approach work scenarios from their perspective.
4. Leaders are decision-makers
At the end of the day, someone needs to make a decision about how to resolve an issue or to take action, and the person with the authority to do so is the leader.
While decision-making might come across as easy in some scenarios, the reason why decision-making can be tough in the workplace is because the work processes and outcomes directly affect people working at the company and the company as a whole.
In order to make decisions, develop your problem-solving skills to help you boost confidence and make informed decisions.
5. Great leaders are influential role models
One of the best qualities of great leaders is that they inspire other people to be better. They do this with a confident attitude and a positive energy. Both in how they communicate and how they take action.
Going into work with a positive attitude is a simple action with high-impact. It can directly impact on the motivation of the rest of your team.
When people see that you work hard and take a positive approach to challenges, it inspires them. It makes them feel like stepping up to take on those challenges as well.
6. Anyone can be a leader
Even if you’re focusing on an internship and are not in a leadership position, that doesn’t mean that you can’t show leadership through your actions at work.
Practise honing your skills now. The best thing you can do regardless of workplace role is to take ownership of your work tasks, show a proactive attitude towards challenges, and maintain a positive energy that will inspire fellow employees.
In a nutshell, great leaders are people who have well-developed soft-skills in communication, people management, problem-solving, and taking responsibility.
To learn more about soft skills and how to develop them, check out our article on 6 soft-skills to boost your resume. Already got the skills? Put them into practice on an international internship.
