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“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

John Quincy Adams

 

You have probably already heard of the phrase, ‘a natural born leader’. This is used to described people who naturally fall into leadership roles throughout their life; they show the character and personality traits of a leader (for example: confidence, communication, problem-solving skills etc.) from childhood through to their teenage years and onto adulthood. You might immediately start thinking back to try and remember if anyone has used this phrase to describe you... but don’t worry, anyone can be a leader! At Challenges Abroad, we see leadership as a skill that can be developed over time. Whether you’re a natural born leader or not, there are numerous ways to develop your skills and step up into a leadership role.  

Now is also a good time to point out that there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all' when it comes to leadership. A leader can be defined in so many ways; what we value as a good leader varies too and therefore, various leadership styles are responded to differently depending on the audience or team. To provide a general definition of a leader though, we could think about someone who has the ability to influence, coach, guide and mentor others towards a (common) goal. What we usually value in a good leader is their character, approach and communication as they do so. 

 

Defining great leadership characteristics: 

Our values and opinions are unique, so who we think of as a good leader will therefore vary; whether that’s due to age, political opinions, culture and faith, or it could even depend on our relationships and the people we interact with on a daily basis. A good place to start when thinking about who you look up to as a leader is to ask yourself... Who are your role models? Who inspired change in your life? Who has helped shape your future goals? 

When answering these questions, some people may instantly think of famous leaders, government officials and activists; whereas others might approach these questions from a more personal angle and think of coaches and mentors they had growing up, family members and even friends. No matter who you think of as a great leader though, we can guarantee that they will convey most, if not all, of the following leadership characteristics:  

 

  • Vision 

Strong leaders always have a strong vision. It’s completely natural to have setbacks and failures along your leadership journey, but it is important to stay focused, persist and look forward. Without a strong vision to work towards, it is really easy to become distracted from your overall goal as you work to perfect these small hurdles; when in reality, they are there for you to learn from, not get caught up on.   

  • Courage 

Successful leaders have all shown courage to take risks in order to pursue their goals. This risk comes from proposing ideas that might be outside the box, or perhaps against a popular opinion. By showing an extreme amount of courage, many great leaders are able to take control of a situation as they understand how to utilise this in their favour. This is how you adapt a transformative leadership style*. 

  • Hope 

People need hope, they need something to believe in, and that’s usually that change can be made. Whether that’s relating to political leadership, environmental activists or even a new manager at work, a strong leader is an advocate for hope, knows how to use it to bring people together and inspires them to take action based on what they believe in. 

  • Communication 

This might seem like an obvious one, but one thing that is synonymous amongst all great leaders is their communication skills! This doesn’t necessarily just mean verbal communication either. The ability to have both verbal and non-verbal communication in sync allows all strong leaders to have long-lasting influence on their audiences. Think about political campaigns: images and social media, as just a couple of examples, are now prominent elements of a leadership campaign that can massively influence the people’s vote. 

  • Purpose 

None of the above really matter or make sense unless a leader has a purpose. A strong, successful, great leader has an internal understanding of why they are doing what they are doing. Their purpose is linked to their personal passions, motivations and hopes. It is what drives them to achieve and deliver. 

 

Defining your purpose:  

This is no easy task! Whether in relation to leadership or not, most people across all walks of life are looking for ways to define their purpose. ‘Purpose’ is all about applying your skills to contribute towards a greater good in a way that matters. When linking this to a leadership role, you must not only have a clear idea of what matters to you, but you must have an understanding of what matters to those around you – it is only when you are applying your skills in a way that matters to a wider audience, that you are able to build a strong team because this is what will inspire them to join you.  

When defining your purpose, we suggest that you start with the easy part. As mentioned above, your purpose needs to be linked to your passions, motivations and hopes. Without clearly defining these three areas, you will find that your vision as a leader is blurred and that you will struggle to communicate or build trust with your audience or team. Our recommendation is to think of 3 things you are passionate about, 3 things that motivate you and 3 hopes for the future and write them down. 

 

Now for the harder part: to find a way to combine these things, as this is what will develop your purpose as a leader. This will also help drive you throughout your leadership role; help you stay on track and work towards your vision (now that it is clear). This might not come to you straight away and it might take you some time to be able to put your purpose into words, but this is the foundation of a good leader and your starting point to stepping up as one! 

 

*A transformative leadership style empowers people to achieve positive change through a big vision, inspiration and a call to action. A transformative leader inspires this change by emotionally connecting with their audience, communicating a positive vision for the future, and motivating them to keep looking forward (instilling hope into their audience). This results in a collective action that leads to innovation and massive transformation. 

 

We would love to hear who you think of as a great leader! Get in touch on Instagram to let us know who your role model is. @challengesabroad