(c) Can Stock Photo / focalpoint
If you are working really hard on becoming a leader and you are in a half way, you may always ask yourself: when will I know that I am a leader? Well, the thing is there won’t be any green light or any other sign to tell you that you are a leader. You shouldn’t wait for that hour or date that you will remember as the date of becoming a leader. Because you don’t really become a leader at a moment or a day, you become one during the long hours of learning and developing, during obtaining skills and caring about people. You become people while you are supporting people and motivating. However, while doing all of these things, you may be interested whether you have the complete list of leadership skills or not? Assessing yourself is a good idea – that will help you prioritize the things you should do and get concentrated on the things that you lack.
If you decided to make that assessment and learn more about your leadership skills, ask yourself the following questions:
- Am I fair in every situation?
Justice and fair are the most important things. But you shouldn’t be fair only to yourself. Being a leader you should have an equal treatment to everyone and that equality is justice. If you are fair both in all of the affairs that you are doing and to the people as well, put a plus to this question.
- Am I confident in my skills?
If you feel like you don’t have enough skills for a certain environment and group of people, start working on that. Confidence is really essential for every leader. Some people would prefer talking a lot, while not knowing a lot, however the base of every business relationship becomes the knowledge. So, if you feel that you lack knowledge, a skill in one sphere, make sure to fill that gap. This will help you become more confidence, thus have better successful results.
- What expectations do I have?
Ask yourself whether you prefer your employees work more than you do, or you work equally even more? Don’t get satisfied with just Yes or No answer. Explain to yourself the reasons you think that way.
- Am I inspiring people?
Analyze your surroundings, community, job, family – whenever you are having a gathering or an event, do you feel like you are caring about people? Do you give much time to saying nice words and inspiring them to new things? Or are you the one who decides to seat in the corner and just follow where the conversation goes?
- Am I creative?
Well, this is difficult to be checked. As everyone may think that he/she is a creative person, however if you go back to the first point you will see it: be fair. So, fairly analyze yourself and your creativity. Are you easily finding a solution out of a situation? Do you blame more or think more? As you are working with many people, you will probably be in many situations where you will be responsible for making decisions, guiding your employees, giving some advice? Do you feel like you are doing all of those things good and your employees always enjoy your guidance?
- Do I respect everyone?
Respect brings respect. If you are not showing enough respect to everyone starting from the office manager to CEO or to the cleaner, you won’t be respected. After all, we all are human beings and work never defines us. Besides, respecting people doesn’t depend on the behavior of others, but on the education that you have.
If in some questions you were hesitant to give an answer, then double think about them. Start working on the parts of your answer where you weren’t satisfied with yourself. Ask these questions once in a while to see the changes and record your success.
