Discover the Leader Within You

The question of the ages is whether you’re born a leader or if you can become a leader with the
right training. The quick and true answer is that the skills needed for good leadership are borne from
education, experience, and access to information, along with a willingness to improve. If that
describes you, you can discover the leader within you.

Personally, I never thought of myself as a leader until I began having children and homeschooling. In 1999, I remember the day I decided to pull my kids out of the local school and bring them home. Without any training, I became their teacher, music director, referee and school nurse. In any given day, I wore most of those hats. I had to think on the fly and keep the day moving. Eventually, I added two more kids to the mix and really started getting the hang of leading.

One of my goals in our homeschool experience was to teach my kids to work and create their own business. So I decided to start a raw food gourmet business. I had the kids peel garlic and chop veggies and I paid them for their productivity. To this day, we laugh about our kitchen being a mess with dehydrators filling the counters. I discovered that a leader was living inside me and got to impart those skills and insights to my kids.

Some of the skills that I attained, I learned from parenting books, counseling and self help books that I read when a problem arose. Effective leadership requires a host of skills that you can learn, such as:

• Accountability – Not only do you need to understand how to take responsibility when needed, but
  you also, as a leader, need to understand how to hold others accountable too ethically and fairly.
• Assertiveness – You must learn how to say no, or yes when it’s the right thing to do and express
  your fact-based opinions confidently. Part of being a leader is other people’s perception of you as a
  leader. If the people around you believe you and know you’ll stand up for them and your causes, the
  perception is you’re a good leader.
• Communication – Knowing how to talk, listen, and when to do both is a skill a good leader processes
  and a skill you can learn. The more you learn about the process of communication, the more you can
  add to your leadership skill set.
• Ethical – Doing the right thing, regardless of what others think, is what a strong leader does. They
  have a strong awareness of their morals, values, and principles and make decisions that
  demonstrate them.
• Focused – A good leader knows when and how to get things done. They pay close attention to
  details and don’t allow distractions to lower the quality of their work or slow them down.
  Honesty – Despite how it sometimes seems in the media, a good leader knows how to be truthful
  and doesn’t try to hide the truth from their audience.
• Open-Mindedness – A good leader knows that they don’t know what they don’t know and may not
  even know what questions to ask about what they don’t know. Therefore, they keep an open mind
  and pay close attention to facts as they reveal themselves to change course if needed.
• Organized – Don’t worry. Even if you aren’t naturally organized, you really can learn to improve your
  organizational skills. But even if you can’t keep your home uncluttered, you can learn how to
  manage all your work using the tools of the trade.
• Relationship Builder – Due to their understanding of themselves, human nature, and conflict
  resolution, a good leader is an effective relationship builder both at work and personally.
• Reliable – If a good leader tells you they will do something, they always do. You can trust them at
  their word. But this is also why they are not afraid to say no because they’re not saying yes to things
  they don’t want to do or don’t need to do.
• Result-Oriented – A good leader knows that intentions and goals are not worth much if the impact is not what
  you were shooting for. Measuring impact and results will always be a superior measure to success.
• Self-Awareness – Practicing introspection to allow you to improve your life is a great skill of a
  leader. If you are willing to learn who you are and why you are the way you are and how to build
  yourself into the person you want to become while loving who you are, you’re a great leader in the
  making.
• Self-Belief – A good leader must believe in themselves, but part of self-belief is the ability to believe
  in others too. Studies show that folks who have low self-belief tend to have a lack of belief in others
  too.
• Strategic Thinking – An effective leader can analyze current information and use it to make choices
  that help them create the long-term success they seek to position themselves to win the future
  essentially. (Here is a Blog Post that may help, Getting Past the Mind)
• To become a well-respected leader is to embark on a path of self-education to assess what you need
  to improve on to become the leader you desire to be and where you shine so you can focus on what
  you are naturally good at doing as you improve yourself.

Action Steps: In which areas of your life do you naturally excel? How can you utilize your gifts, talents,
and interests in a way that will position you as a leader? Once you identify these areas, what will the
next step be in your life going forward?

About the Author

I am Kathy Denise Hicks, Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist and author and I would love to connect with you to help you achieve your fitness and health goals.  If you are looking to get moving, feel more energy, get out of pain, and lose a few pounds, I have a program that can help. My 14 Day Workout Trial, will give you an idea of the classes I offer.