Do you want to become a respected leader but don't know where to start? Do you work in a company and ask how to be a good leader? If you answered any of the 2 questions with a yes, this article interests you.

With this post not only we want to offer an overview of what are the main characteristics of a leader, but also a guide so you know how to start your career to leadership.

I am Willing to climb to the top?
Let's go!

What does being a good leader?

Although it may seem obvious, it is not much. If now we did a survey of randomly sure we would hear answers like this:

• A person who rules over others. 
• A very charismatic person. 
• A person who has the ability to be able to convince others. 
• A person who is listening reverentially.
  

You see, what it means to be a good leader is not the same for everyone.

In a book I saw the following definition: "A leader is a person who is a reference to a group. He is a person who leads a movement, group or institution that has earned the respect of other people who follow and support their actions or decisions. "

Why do we find this definition interesting ?

First, the concept of "referent". We find the most appropriate word to describe the leader's relationship with the group.

This person is the brand the way or leads the team that has earned the respect of each component in various facets:

• With his knowledge. 
• With their way of communicating with others. 
• By being able to make decisions. 
• By knowing how to manage a crisis. 
• To support and understand each member.
  

We could name many more, but these are the most relevant and which best reflect that a leader can be considered good must have strengths in many areas.

You want to do an x-ray of the perfect leader?

Let's go there.
The 13 characteristics that define a good leader
As mentioned earlier, many people assimilate a leader can have very different attributes.
While some see as a good trait to have the ability to give orders, others consider it more decisive than either charismatic or communicative.

What then are the defining features of a true leader?

A person can have many qualities, but to become a reference must have a very different attributes.
Specifically you must have at least these 13 characteristics:

• Confidence: this does not imply a lack of humility. But if a crisis situation arises, the leader should have enough self-confidence to make decisions without hesitation. 
• Ability to make decisions: linked indissolubly to the above. It is not just be able to decide, should also have discretion to do so. Many heads make arbitrary decisions that the team does not share or respect. 
• Communicative: it is impossible to have a good leader who is not communicative. The leader is due to your computer, you need to contact them to know everything that happens. You also need to know the motivations that has transmitted when making certain decisions. 
• Emotional self: it is a pity, but many people never become good leaders for this reason. A leader can not unhinged or losing control of himself. No matter how the situation should be able to perform under pressure. 
• Work more than the others: it is curious that point because many people visualize the leader as a person who works little while his team diploma. The reality is that it should be the opposite. The leader must always be the hardest working and most helpful to others when they are overwhelmed. 
• Planning and organization: managing a team means having skills to coordinate people. You should control the entire process at all times. 
• Charismatic: perhaps it is the characteristic of a known leader. All we imagine the leader as a smiling and persuasive person. 
• Nice and polite: it is the person who represents the team and all your work, so it is important to have mood and be able to relate with ease. 
• Empathetic: also essential, especially in understanding the members of his team. In order to get the full potential of the group you must always know the mood of each member. 
• Cooperative: should always be there, ready to lend a hand or lend a shoulder. 
• Right: This point is related to what we mentioned before judgment. In any situation or problem you should be able to interpret what is happening and take the right decision you can. 
• Responsible: if a person becomes leader is because he has earned the trust of others. This means taking responsibility for your decisions and actions of his team. 
• Optimist: One of the responsibilities of the leader, although not exclusive to it, is to maintain high team motivation. To achieve this, it is certainly imperative that you always keep a positive attitude.
  

Examples of how to be a good leader

If we look at our society, we can detect leaders in many areas: vindictive, sports, political, business ...
Many of them have made big changes, or even change the history of our time.

Let's look at several examples of great leaders:

Nelson Mandela
A great example of a leader for his fight against apartheid. After 27 years in prison, he becomes president of South Africa. and patient charismatic leader who gave a lesson to the world when he said he had forgiven those who had imprisoned him.

Gandhi
When talking of peace it is impossible not to think of Gandhi. A leader who showed the world that could do things differently, their resistance to achieve independence of India was based on conduct hunger strikes. It will always be a symbol for preaching nonviolence.

Martin Luther King
Another example of a leader committed by their struggle for human rights of all races. If anything stood out was his ability King with oratory. His speech entitled "I have a dream" as quoted in all history books.

Steve Jobs
Another example of how to be a good leader in another field, in the company. The founder of Apple has passed into history as a visionary, a rebel and a tireless worker. His speeches are played over and over on YouTube as a source of inspiration.

How to be a good business leader

A very common question on this topic is whether the leader born or made. Certainly a person can be born with certain natural talents, but as we have seen makes strategy needed to be a leader.

What are the steps to become a good leader?

We have focused on how to be a leader in the business, but do not forget what we have seen with the examples. Leaders there are many many different areas.

In this case, we will define five steps:

1. Start from the bottom

It is not a mandatory step, but often the most respected. The person has gone through all levels and positions which gives you an understanding of the incredible company. Also, it is very important for the rest of companions as they feel it is a person who has won and who can understand having lived at all.

2. Look around you

Chances are that you will not be lucky enough to work with someone like Mandela or Jobs, but that does not mean that no leaders around you. Or even people who emphasize only some of the features.

Strive to locate the most admired people in your company and study them to learn from them.

3. Share time with your classmates

A good leader must know by heart who works and thinks. At the end one of his greatest challenges will be able to work together in an optimal way.

Spend time with people who work and take time to know them. Not only as workers but also as people.

4. Strive to be better every day

We insist on the idea: the leader is made, not born. This implies a road or a process that will go growing gradually. Do not give up, no wonder one of the traits of the leader who most often define them is their spirit of excellence.

5. Don't pretend to be who you are not

One of the biggest mistakes of many people is to want to imitate others to become referents. We all want to be charismatic and well falling around us, but the reality is that they are qualities that can not be copied.
You must find your own personality and essence. There is nothing that generates more rejection than inauthentic one person.

Dynamic on how to be a good leader

We will not get much at this point because we have this other specific article on it.
Just remember this phrase: "the hardest part is not reached, it is maintained".

By this we mean that you don't forget to put in motion dynamic leadership that strengthen the group. You must strive constantly to strengthen confidence and team communication.

3 Tips to be a good leader

To complement this section, we want to give you 3 tips to help you on your way to reach the top.

• Patience: both with yourself and with colleagues or the company. Be positive and enjoy the process. 
• Humility: Be tolerant of others' mistakes. Never forget that you are very leading depend on your computer. Without them you will not achieve your goals. It is also important to have in mind that no matter how good you are, sooner or later make a mistake. If you aspire to others to be sympathetic with you, you should be too. 
• Do not stop learning: you consider that you are in a process of infinite growth. You do not have limit. Do not let never listen to others, it is one of the most common weaknesses of a leader. At a certain level they fail to assess the advice of others and only listen to themselves.
  

Will you be the next Steve Jobs?

Find out how to be a good leader is not easy, but with all the information you now know you closer to achieving your goal.

Do not forget, the most important for achieving any dream is to never give surrendered. Or as Jobs himself: "stay hungry, stay foolish" (I know insatiable, do not settle).