{"id":586,"date":"2017-01-25T19:34:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T19:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=586"},"modified":"2017-01-26T13:22:52","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T13:22:52","slug":"honing-leadership-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/01\/honing-leadership-skills.html","title":{"rendered":"Honing Your Leadership Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"woman-girl-dog-animals-9197<\/a><\/p>\n

No matter what you do for a living, there are parts of your life in which you are a leader.\u00a0 If you are a parent, you are a leader to your children.\u00a0 At your job, if you supervise others, you are leading.\u00a0 In your community, you may lead volunteer efforts.\u00a0 Once you become an adult, it is hard to avoid leadership responsibilities.<\/p>\n

So, knowing how to be a good leader is a skill everyone should have. It is important to remember that leadership is a learned<\/em> skill.\u00a0 Lots of people like to say, \u201cSo and so is a natural born leader.\u201d\u00a0 That is nonsense.\u00a0 What they mean to say is that that person is popular or charismatic.\u00a0 Those two qualities are not necessary to be an effective leader.\u00a0 The skills for real leadership are gained over time and with practice.<\/p>\n

I’ve had many bosses over the years and have had the opportunity to observe both good and bad leadership. And I myself have been in positions of leadership.\u00a0 As a result, I\u2019ve had a lot of time to consider what makes a good leader.<\/p>\n

My first real professional leadership position was a disaster. I thought that being extremely nice and hard-working would be sufficient.\u00a0 Certainly, those two qualities are part of what make a good leader.\u00a0 But they aren’t enough.<\/p>\n

What I failed to appreciate at the time was that leaders are decision makers. Leaders make decisions in the best interests of the group, whether or not those decisions are popular.\u00a0 When I first had to lead, I was uncomfortable with decision-making.\u00a0 I constantly was seeking direction instead of providing it.<\/p>\n

As a parent, you have to be comfortable with making decisions.\u00a0 You have to consider what is in the best interests of your child or family, and your decisions may not always be popular.\u00a0 Saying \u201cno\u201d to a child who wants to go to an unsupervised party will not be popular.\u00a0 But leadership requires you to sometimes make unpopular decisions.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve also learned is that leadership requires confidence. Now that isn\u2019t the same thing as arrogance.\u00a0 Arrogance is baseless confidence.\u00a0 True confidence is grounded in knowledge and experience.\u00a0 It is something that can only be gained through hard work.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve gotten older and have gained work and life experience, confidence now comes naturally to me.\u00a0 As a result, being a leader has become easier because I am confident in my judgment and abilities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also learned that leadership isn\u2019t optional. If you are put in a leadership position, you have to rise to the occasion and do it to the best of your ability.\u00a0 You can\u2019t shirk your duty.\u00a0 Lots of parents forget this.\u00a0 They flake out on their kids and stop leading them.\u00a0 They have a midlife crisis and become self-involved.\u00a0\u00a0 They get divorced and blow off their responsibilities.\u00a0 They avoid parenting during the teenage years when kids become more difficult.\u00a0 And then they stop providing their children with the moral and ethical leadership that is required to parent children.\u00a0 Leadership ultimately is a burden and a responsibility.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t simply the privilege to boss other people around.<\/p>\n

This week, think about the areas in your life in which you are a leader. Are you being effective?\u00a0 Are there skills that you need to work on so that you can properly serve those who are looking to you for guidance?\u00a0 Remember that good leaders truly are a blessing in this world.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what you do for a living, there are parts of your life in which you are a leader.\u00a0 If you are a parent, you are a leader to your children.\u00a0 At your job, if you supervise others, you are leading.\u00a0 In your community, you may lead volunteer efforts.\u00a0 Once you become an adult,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-leadership"],"yoast_head":"\nHoning Your Leadership Skills - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/01\/honing-leadership-skills.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honing Your Leadership Skills - 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