Are You Destined to be a Leader?

Not all of us are cut out to be a leader, but some of us show signs early in our careers that leadership is something that we should consider. Researchers have looked at and studied leadership for many years, and over time, they have noticed that there are certain traits that all leaders have. If you look at yourself and your own traits, you may find that you are destined to be a leader. Here are 7 signs of a good leader:

1- A Proven Track Record of Experience

One of the traits that all leaders have is a proven track record of experience. Have you ever had any leadership roles in the past? Were you successful in that role? If so, you could certainly have the traits to be a great leader. Many leaders in business today, such as Clarence Gooden from CSX, have been successful in their jobs for more than a decade, and this is what people should strive for.

2 – Agility in Learning

Another proven sign of a leader is agility in learning. What does this mean? It means that you have taken lessens from previous experiences, even hard lessons, and then applied them to new experiences. You may have heard the expression, “lesson learned,” and this is a good phrase for leaders to keep in mind. If you can look at every situation as a learning experience, you may have the traits to be an amazing leader.

3 – Self-Awareness

Leaders are often self-aware. Are you? Do you ask for feedback? Do you know where your strengths and weaknesses lie? Do you know if you are taking the right steps to improve yourself? If you can say “yes” to all of these questions, you are already self-aware and you have a necessary leadership skill.

4 – The Traits of Leadership

Leaders always tend to stand out, and there are certain traits that all leaders have. For instance, leaders are assertive decisive and honest. If you have these same traits, you are already in a great position to become a talented leader.

5 – The Desire to be a Leader

Sometimes all it takes is the desire to take on the challenge of leadership to be a leader. If you have this desire, and you find yourself always seeking out new challenges both inside and outside of your job, you likely have what it takes to be a leader.

6 – Aptitude for Reasoning and Logic

If you analyze information well or find that it is easy for you to create innovative solutions to problems that are complex, you already have some leadership skills. Leaders also often have focused strategies to improve themselves, their team and of course, their business.

7 – Acceptance of Failure

Finally, you will find that all leaders know how to accept failure. It can be a hard lesson to learn, of course, but when you can accept that you will fail at some point or another, you can easily keep yourself on the track to become a leader.

These are only a few of the many traits of a leader. Fortunately, all of these traits can be learned, so even if you see that you don’t have some of these traits and skills, you can learn them in the future.