Can you learn to becomе a leader?
Who are you?
Possibly you are an (informal) leader but you are not yet aware of that? Think of examples in which you influence others, advise others, guide others… Maybe you are a trainer of a sports team or you were active in a student association. Or are you scaling up your company and are you (or have you) hired staff?
Try to reflect for yourself using the following questions:
- What is your take on leadership?
- Do you ever take the lead? How? In what situation?
- What do you stand for, what are your ideals? What motivates you to take action? Who inspires you?
- Do you have a dream, what is your ambition?
- How well do you know yourself?
- Do you feel that you are in control now, are you at the wheel, do you determine your own course?
- Are you accountable, do you do what you promise?
- How are you seen by others?
- Do you take responsibility for your behaviour?
- What are your experiences with leadership?
- What do you want to learn?
You may learn from leadership tests, read theory, engage in conversations with leaders, sources of inspiration.
Take the lead … Challenge yourself and develop your personal leadership profile.
Leadership, nature or nurture. Part 1
‘To lead’ comes from the word: leath , this literally means; stepping over a threshold, going into the unknown. Essence = take a step forward. Dare to lead …
Charisma and inspiration are important ingredients to be credible which makes people want to follow you.
Born leaders have a good starting position. Then the innate talent must be developed. Finally, good leadership can be realized when the leader gets or knows how to create space in which he or she can thrive. We can call this coincidence, timing or happiness, or a combination thereof. Leadership is therefore not either innate or learned. Excellent leadership requires a promising environment in which talented leaders are willing to learn and reflect (Source: Oscar David/TIAS Senior Executive Program, UvT Nederland. In his book Power from instinct to integrity he describes the workings and dynamics of power).
People differ in their innate characteristics, talents and motives. Still, we can all immerse ourselves in the subject, be inspired by others and learn by looking at others. By daring and doing, by training and coaching, we can also develop ourselves in that area.
Become aware of how you can use your qualities more effectively in a leading role. Various tests will help you on your way to a better understanding of your personality traits and preferred styles.
Practicing includes the acquisition of skills and learning to reflect on one’s own behaviour!
You can also learn through observing others, through gaining experience, acquiring knowledge and insights from literature, research and practical cases.
100 models of leadership… What stands out:
- Leading self -> leading others
- First you need to know yourself well (self awareness) before you can lead others well
- Have clear values (what do you stand for). Having a beacon in the storm of change
- What is often the similarity of leadership-models?
- Where do you recognize a common thread? General principles? What jumps out?