From my experiences in workplaces so far, leaders seem to have the following qualities:

-when they speak, it attracts people's attention. its either the choice of words they use, how they express their ideas, or just the strength of their personality or combinations of these three.

- a can-do attitude where if something goes wrong, they do not panic and can think of the most practical solution

- has a natural ability to read people and know their strengths and weaknesses and can exploit them for their strengths and limit their weaknesses

I think the mainstream public sees leaders in the business world as the attractive, well dressed guy who speaks well. That's not always the case. There are some exceptional leaders who are socially awkward but when it comes to the job at hand, they have a knack for knowing how to organize and lead people to get the job done in the most efficient manner.

So what is leadership? It seems it takes a special breed of people to be leaders. They have to have the right combination of vision, confidence, natural affinity with people, creativity and temperment. Take away any of these and it won't work.

Can these qualities be developed over time? Are they also specific to the company and your specific circumstance? Perhaps some people can only be good leaders in certain circumstances and settings.

Which qualities does someone with leadership potentail exhibit? Which qualities can be developed over time and experience?

Discuss please.

I agree with you. Some people just have that x-factor that make them inspiring as leaders. But I think it can be developed as well. For one, if you're not comfy with public speaking, practice it.

Leaders have this carisma when they speak...it feels like they're talking directly to you despite being in a room full of tons of people. They look at people in the eye when they talk and never loose their cool (you hit those points right on the mark).

It can be developed if you really want it.

The first book my professor (who I did respect at the time) recommended to me was Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power. It's not a 'nice' guy type of book...but I think you'll find it interesting (assuming you haven't read it already).

Actually I plan on following in the footsteps of the leader I've observed thru the years...plan on taking over a few corps...

both. a bit of instinct and a bit of learning. the instinct part brings you halfway home.

im quite good in leading. im just too nice to be a leader though. no sarcasm intended here.

sounds like an interesting read. I'll have to pick it up. But I'm scared that by reading it, I'll take it to much to heart and become paranoid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_48_Laws_of_Power



oh I am sooo reading this now.

I don't mean to brag, but my co-workers seem to look up to me as their leader. They run everything by me and they think that everything I do or say is worth rembering and practicing. Well, some of my co-workers work better when they get ordered around. I'm known as "the principle" at my workplace.

But I think that everyone is a leader in their own way, on certain things. Some people just have more confidence to act out on it. Sometimes, the right situation arises and brings the leader out of a person.

I hope so. I'm pretty aloof most of the time. I don't really like to lead people and tell them what to do. I just sort of look for a way to do the best job I can that will fit into puzzle. I don't really try to influence what other people do. And I've never been in a situation yet where I've had to lead others. My boss or someone more experienced is usually always around in these high pressure situations. So I'm curious as to how I will react if I need to step it up.

I usually don't like bossing my friends or coworkers around. But if I don't, the work won't get done and I would have to fix everything later.

I'm sure that when it comes down to you having to pay for another person's mistake, you'll take the leadership role to prevent it from happening. OR If you could do something to help someone else, taking the initiative to do something for them is also leadership material.

me, me, I do. but most people at my uni are stupid though, so I have to condense and reformat information so it's understandable to them.

I don't think I have leadership skills but I can't stand being a follower.

Leadership is simple - It's helping people
That's natural leadership, they assume leadership and automatically become annointed into that role.

Charm, authority, presence, organization, experience and example are important but these skills are gained as long as one has the heart to lead.

have you ever run into those types that can't help but be a leader? people just naturally look towards them for answers and guidance in most situations?

i first noticed that quality in my bf and that made me want to be more outgoing and the 'go-to' person as well. that's why i think some of it is instinct and some of it you can learn

BlueAway- I hope you do pick it up. Let me know what you think of it!

Practice speaking in front of a mirror

ah so leadership qualities are attractive to girls too. Damn it!! I need to work on it then. Do you find your boyfriend sexy cause of his leadership qualities? Does it turn you on when he takes command of the situation?

dont mix up the differences between charisma and leadership.

i think a lot of good leaders have charisma as well.

Agreed.

But, I also believe that some are born to be leaders. It's not something that can be taught.

Leadership is more about a particular type of mentality, a mixture of assertiveness, decisiveness and pro-active thinking.

I beg to differ - no one is born a leader
After one year encouraging my mate, he has become a supervisor at his workplace - so if he has learnt leadership - anyone can learn.

of course...it's always wonderful to know that regardless of what happens, he can take charge of a situation and get results. and it's the whole package that makes him sexy; he's very charming and charasmatic, but not the type to sit back. i think he's definetely something of a born leader.

Keep your gun holstered Blue - this is Career / Job Chat

Cool. Is he dominating in bed too?

Maybe it was in him all along and it took you to get him to realize that potential and use it.

You can say that about almost everyone for as long as the leadership skills kick in then they must have got it inside them all along. But if they don't try the experience then they don't have it.

I believe everyone has potential for anything
As a counsellor - that theory has proven true for most cases - the difference lies in determination

I have to agree with the determination theory as well. I started out incredibly shy and reserved, but after some practice and realizing that I really did like being in charge of situations, AND being around the bf (you can't help it when some of that attitude rubes off on you), there are some very interesting and exciting opportunities coming my way. Senior positions are fine, but now I'm being recommended for a management level position and I just can't get over the fact that almost all of the people around me are easily twice my age or more.

When you're put in certain situations, I think it's very easy to determine who will succeed and who can't handle it.

It could be partly because of your education and all those books like 48 laws of powers you read eh eh? You said you were a computer science major? That could be one reason, I hear they often go straight to administrative positions, but I think only if they acquire an MBA as well. I thought you were some Human Resource manager at first or something, cause you said you interviewed people.

They'll look more to experience then education

It's HR and recruitment for IT positions. I basically work with companies looking for the right people well directing the grads who are looking for positions. Actually despite the messages in the 48 law of power, I really didn't have to do anything 'underhanded' to succeed.

There are rules that you should look at and know just in case someone's using them against you. the most helpful one would be law 1, Never outshine the master. I did a lot of extra work in the beginning and that rule kept me from trying to overshadow my boss who really wasn't as all 'there' towards the end. but he was a nice guy and we were all honest with him as his team. after he left the responsibility fell on my shoulders and i had to prove that i could handle it despite being so young.

I don't know about going 'straight to admin positions'...they do move on (at least the ones with the right skills) to management positions. who wants to sit behind a desk and code for 8 hours everday? i have friends like that and i'd go insane if that were me.

education is really important, but it all comes down to if you can actually perform and do it under pressure while having an effortless veneer. it can be pretty complicated considering the diff personalities you're around...touch n go and learn along the way.

kiss my @$$ deeme i'm your boss

dave...is that really you?

Programmers eventually get into administrative/management capacity. In fact, they are usually better at operating and managing a business than people who graduate with business degrees. The only people who code for an entire career are immigrant fobs who have language barrier which makes it difficult for them to communicate effectively with others. Or those people who have a strong passion for programming but those are very few.

Very few people last as programmers for more than 10 years. That seems to be the standard. It's not cause they hate it or whatever. It's just cause you get burnt out. That's why they companies prefer hiring young people to do this kind of work. They know they have to make the best use of you while they still can. And there is no better training for being a manager than being a programmer because you know all the inner workings of a company and the technicalities. Having this kind of hands-on approach automatically makes you more qualified to make business decisions. All the big consulting firms in this world, most of their management staff were previously software engineers or something like that.

However, there are losers in the game. Some programmers never get promoted because they are not good at what they do. At the same time, they cannot compete with immigrant fobs who can code like crazy. So they are in a difficult position. I hope not to fall into that trap.