The opportunity to step up into a leadership role is one of life's most exciting transitions, but developing leadership skills to fulfill that role can be daunting.
There are countless leadership training resources, including books, podcasts, and other media. So, where does a person begin to develop their leadership ability?
One of your core responsibilities is coordinating people, events, and solutions. Without the ability to communicate effectively, you will likely fail before you begin.
Great leaders are in touch with the emotions of the people around them. They consider others' feelings so they can better support their teams when making decisions.
A good leader needs to have a can-do attitude. That means focusing on positives over negatives whenever possible, showing optimism about future possibilities, and even staying upbeat when things turn for the worst.
One of the primary reasons leaders exist is that orchestrating solutions to large-scale problems work best when a few people create a plan for a larger number of people to follow. If everyone tried to make big decisions all at once, you'd have conflict, confusion, and chaos.
Not every organization or leadership style requires a high level of expertise in the underlying work, but understanding your team's core functions is almost always a beneficial leadership trait.