Everyday is a struggle and to shine personally and professionally, you need to spend time in building your personality, step by step. Deep inside, everyone has some unique traits and qualities that would make him or her really stand out, and it is all about discovering that special quality that would let you excel, out perform and eventually, make people look up to you. Being a leader isn’t about hierarchy or even about being the face of something, it is more to do with how you feel inside and how people perceive you as an individual. Everything else, be it the name, fame or even the aura, come in later. So here are 50 simple things you can do to be a real leader.
1. Make Mistakes: As crazy at it sounds, leaders aren’t born as they say, they are made. And you can only learn when you make mistakes. This is the first step towards being a leader, to know that it is okay if you’ve made a mistake.
2. Don’t Make The Same Mistake Twice: Just as important as making mistakes is the fact that you shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. If something you know hasn’t worked out, try it differently and keep learning.
3. It Is Okay To Ask: It is okay to ask if you aren’t getting something right. Share your thoughts and try to learn from people who do it better.
4. Share Your Fears: There is nothing wrong in sharing your fears with friends, family or colleagues. It will make them understand you better and may be give everyone an opportunity to sit together and find solutions.
5. Be Honest: You’ve to be honest in everything, with everybody including yourself. Don’t cheat yourself or others intentionally or unintentionally because in the long run, you will be ruining your chances of being a real leader.
6. Work On Yourself, Everyday: You’ve go to work on yourself – the way you are, how you work and even how you interact with people at home or at office. It is a never-ending process but do it everyday, be aware of the rights and the not-so-rights you’ve done the previous day and try to correct.
7. Be On Time: This is one trait that is common amongst all men and women who’ve made it big in life. You have to be on time, every time.
8. Be Fearless: It could be in dealing with trouble at work or standing up for what is right; you have to learn to be fearless, and it doesn’t happen in right away. It will take years before you think of yourself as absolutely fearless, but like everything else, start today.
9. Respect Everyone: There are no small and big people in this world. Everyone is the same and everyone deserves the same amount of respect. Treat younger people with just as much respect as you would treat older or more experienced ones in life.
10. Keep a Tab On Expenses: A leader is one who doesn’t go unprepared, it could be a meeting or a holiday or just going out for work, but keeping a tab on your daily spends will always let you be in control over your money. Never being in need of personal support, financially or otherwise, is a virtue every leader inculcates.
11. Know Yourself: Ask yourself this question every day, and find new answers to rediscover yourself. It helps to know what you really are, deep inside.
12. Hear People Out: Listen to people like a pro, they could be bashing you, praising you or just sharing their feelings but it is always important to listen, and to let others think of you as a great listener.
13. Talk Softly: Talk softly, you don’t need to shout to let people hear you out. Talk sense and over time, they will start listening to you; you don’t need to be aggressive in your expressions, you just need to be aggressive in your thoughts.
14. Find A Purpose: Know exactly why you are doing something or doing it in a certain way. Find a purpose in everything you do, don’t waste time on something that’s not really helping you grow as an individual.
15. Love Yourself: It isn’t like being self-centered, but to understand yourself and make people like you for what you are. It only happens if you completely understand and love who you really are and then you will be able to respect people as they are, igniting a cycle that will come back to you in a million pleasant ways.
16. Don’t Flinch: If you’ve a great idea or a view you think people should hear about, just do it. Don’t think about the consequences if you think what you are doing is the right thing.
17. Remember To Notice and Wish: You don’t have to remember their names, but nod when you make an eye contact and say ‘hello’ when you walk by. It could be the doorman, the driver or a colleague or somebody from the apartment; make people smile or at least acknowledge every time they see you.
18. Be A Sport: Take things sportively, don’t make a fuss when there is no need to. People like people who don’t take silly things to heart and you can be that person who’s always a sport.
19. Multi-Task: Learn to juggle between things, projects and professional and personal life. It is very important that you don’t mix up things but it is also important to multi-task.
20. Learn New Things: It is important to hone your skills as much as it is necessary to learn new stuff. Always keep learning, even if it is something as simple as how to cook a new recipe.
21. Be Dynamic: Don’t give your mind the scope to decide on your abilities and create mental boundaries. Always be dynamic, never stagnate – mentally, physically or psychologically.
22. Think Like A Winner: Fight daily battles like a winner, tackle problems thinking you’re already going to solve. It helps to be positive and imagining yourself as a winner will make even uphill tasks easy to pass.
23. Don’t Be Over-Confident: It isn’t a contradiction to thinking like a winner, thinking is different from considering yourself as a winner already. That’s all the difference there is between confidence and over-confidence.
24. Make Friends: Make friends everywhere, these are the ones who will support you in times of need. But as they say, help without expectations and friends will follow.
25. Never Consider Anyone Your Enemy: As much as it is important to make friends, it is also important to not have enemies or people who hate you. Haters will hate, but don’t consider them as your enemies and never give fodder to that line of thought.
26. Give People Credit: Give people their due credit, it could be your wife or your colleague or anybody. Don’t take credit for something that technically could be yours but morally isn’t.
27. Give Them A Chance: Give people a chance, everyone eventually learns. So be as patient as you can and they’ll be grateful forever (hopefully) but that shouldn’t matter; just give a person a chance to correct their mistakes.
28. Empathize: Have empathy towards everything in life. This makes you a more mature person and slowly even the coldest hearts will have a soft spot for you because you’ve shown them what it is to empathize.
29. Be Stern: You can give them a chance or two but don’t let people take you for granted. Be stern in your actions and stick to your ground, whether its a promise you’ve made or a deadline you’ve set.
30. Plan Everything: Plan everything, your day, your career and how you want life to be. Things rarely go the way we want, but it is important to have a plan and try to stick as closely to it as possible.
31. Know Your Responsibilities: It is necessary to know what people expect you to do and then match them with what your responsibilities really are. Don’t take undue pressure but when you know what’s really your job, get cracking!
32. Know Your Rights: As much as it is needed to know your responsibilities, it is critical know your rights – as an employee at work, as a citizen in the country or as a wife or a husband in the family. Know what you rightfully deserve and don’t let anyone take them away from you.
33. Don’t Judge: Don’t judge anything or anyone too soon. In fact, don’t judge at all. Take things and people and their quirky traits as they are. What matters is to be a good person in everyone’s minds by really trying to be one, and they will start looking up to you.
34. Be Your Biggest Critic: Don’t wait for someone to point it out; if you’ve made a misstep somewhere, realize it, make a mental note, and correct it ASAP.
35. Maintain Dignity: You will not be respected if you are not dignified, in your expressions and in your silence too. So always maintain dignity whatever the situation is.
36. Don’t Get Personal: Don’t get personal, in your critique or when you are criticised. Keep a distance and realise the importance of not doing anything subconsciously.
37. Take It Slow: Don’t rush into anything, be it in a discussion or an argument, a decision or a reaction; take it slow. Think of the consequences before you act.
38. Sleep Well: It is important that your mind and your body gets enough rest. This will make you think better and act quicker, so always sleep well.
39. Take A Break: All work and no play makes you go crazy. Take a break, or even better have a regular holiday schedule. See new places, chill, travel, and have a good time. You need to be happy about your life if you really want to make it big.
40. Avoid Conflicts: It isn’t like showdowns or difference of opinions never happen; they will and they can get ugly at times too. See to it that there isn’t much collateral damage and try to avoid conflicts as much as you can.
41. Be A Little Crazy: It helps to let go of inhibitions sometimes. Relax, chill out and be crazy – some things aren’t logical but could be the best experiences. Go after that big deal you’ve wanted to have a shot at, take your girlfriend or boyfriend on an exotic holiday, spend time with your kids, or do something that makes you feel like a child with wings.
42. Happy To Help: It doesn’t come naturally to all, but adopt the habit of helping. It makes you happy and it is always the right thing to do. Always be happy to help.
43. Believe In A Social Cause: Believe in a social cause that is close to your heart, support it and work towards making the world a better place. You don’t have to do it all, but start with that one thing that always bothered you and one that you wanted to work on, like teaching underprivileged kids or even helping the retired couple down the street with their groceries every weekend.
44. Solve Problems: This isn’t a shot in the air, this is something very specific. There are many issues all around, try to solve one at a time or at least try and build a team or a group that can solve it. Could be something as simple as adopting street dogs in your neighbourhood. But at the end of the day, you should be solving something and making your day better.
45. Apologize When You Need To: This is probably the hardest, but this is a quality that actually would redefine your personality. Be it your partner or your postman, say ‘sorry’ if you’ve messed up or hurt them in some way. It is probably the most surest way to gain respect in the long run; so start today.
46. Give Up A Bad Habit: It isn’t just about smoking or something external, it could even be something internal, like losing your temper easily. Give up a bad habit and that will drive you to bettering yourself by giving up another. And along the way, you are sure to impress and inspire people around you.
47. Stay Fit: This is not about looking lean or having a six-pack, it is more about being fit, having a healthy body and an active mind. And being fit would mean that you are disciplined, as you have to make time for yourself and hence, another reason for people to be inspired.
48. Read Everyday: You don’t need to be a bookworm but set aside time to read everyday. Reading is the only way you can learn new things, gain knowledge and develop a perspective. It could be the newspapers, magazines or anything else. It could be an article like this one too, just keep reading, every day.
49. Thank People: Thank people for all that they’ve done for you. It is a small courtesy that doesn’t cost a thing but is probably the nicest way into people’s memory. Remember to thank!
50. Keep Moving: Keep moving, never stay at one place, never stagnate mentally. It could be at a job, at a place, in a city or a bad relationship; always keep moving if you feel there is scope to improve. Get out of your comfort zone and you sure will be a better person.
Read it all? Now the hard part is putting it in practice. Try your best and we are sure you’ll be writing your success story very soon!
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