A warm welcome to the leadership basics section of the web site. Unfortunately leadership isn’t basic at all, it’s highly complex. However, that said if you have to look at leadership in its most basic form then the key items that spring to mind are that leadership success is highly dependent on developing a strong relationship between the leader and his or her followers.
Great Leaders
Great leaders look out for and act in the best interests of their followers. They proactively demonstrate this through their actions.
Great leaders inspire loyalty through their positive attitude and behavior. They have respect for others and they earn the respect of their followers.
Great leaders care for their followers. They look out for subtle changes in followers emotions (emotional intelligence) and make an effort to understand and resolve any difficulties. Sincerely acknowledging and resolving others problems increases appreciation, respect and motivation.
(Photo Credit: Pippalou)
Leadership Basics Number One Priority
Without followers leadership doesn’t exist. So followers are a leader’s number one priority. They should be cared for, coached, mentored and guided by the leader. Followers will give leaders greater respect if they believe the leader has their best interests at heart.
Leadership is also about…
Leadership is also about having a vision of some future state and being able to communicate that vision to other in such a way that others (your followers) also want to achieve it. It’s about focusing others attention towards reaching one common purpose. Organizing action that gets you nearer to your ultimate goal.
Leaders need to have confidence in themselves and the ability to encourage others to complete assigned tasks.
It’s about monitoring progress but also about making corrections to get back on track when events or obstacles divert you away from your core objective.
Poor Leadership
This article has focused on leadership basics in terms of best practices and behaviors. However, it needs to be said that there are leaders out there that gain power and try to get things accomplished by bullying or manipulating their followers. Historically this style of leadership has proven to work in the short term only.
Open to Everyone
Leadership isn’t restricted to a select few individuals. Anyone can learn good leadership basics.