What is a Leader

At the most basic level, a leader is someone who leads other. But what makes someone a leader? What is it about being a leader that some people understand and use to their advantage? What can you do to be a leader?

A leader is a person who has a vision, a drive and a commitment to achieve that vision, and the skills to make it happen. Let's look at each of those in detail.

The Leader's Vision

A leader has a vision. Leaders see a problem that needs to be fixed or a goal that needs to be achieved. It may be something that no one else sees or simply something that no one else wnats to tackle. Whatever it is, it is the focus of the leaders attention and they attack it with a single-minded determination.

Leadership Skills

Beyond the personal traits of a leader, there are specific skills someone must master if they wan to be a leader.

• Effective communication - it's more that just being able to speak and write. A leader's communication must move people to work toward the goal the leader has chosen.


• Motivation - a leader has to be able to motivate everyone to contribute. Each of us has different "buttons". A leader knows how to push the right buttons on everyone to make them really want to do their best to achieve the leader's goal.


• Planning - the leader has a plan to achieve the goal. He/she doesn't get too bogged down in the details, that's what managers are for, but rather uses a high level plan to keep everyone moving together toward the goal.