"Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”

Leading is all about optimizing information,talent and resources available to make the maximum impact in a business segment. All Leaders have varying degrees of talent or resources available to them,but these don't vary by extremes. A team with resources doesn;t go anywhere if their leaders don't have clear goals and a map showing how they intend to achieve them. Because if you don't know where to go,it doesn;t matter where you reach.

I have listed a few traits really critical to be a successful Leader :

Motivation 

A leader has to motivate the team by word,deed and thinking. Motivation is not about giving feel good talks or sugar coated speeches,It is about inspiring and influencing with your actions thereby making people feel empowered and accomplished.Every team comprise of people having different characteristics - overenthusiastic ,the less enthusiastic, the self obsessed and the shirkers. The leader should have the ability to steer these diverse perspectives towards achieving a common goal. Also,A true leader is somebody who has the ability to create leaders and lead them to their highest potential. Hence a quality of a leader is never judged by the way he performs,but how the people around him perform.

Trust & Being Fair

I think that just as doubt and lack of trust ruins relationships,so is the case with teams and missions. A Leader has to be not only fair but also seen to be fair,so as to not to give the impression that he is playing favourites. Hence he should treat every individual in his team with dignity,empathy and compassion irrespective of performances or results. Fairness keeps the team together and makes each individual believe that it is worth each ones's while to attempt the goal together.

Communication & Focus

Effective leadership communication is the essential ingredient to success because it builds relationships, solve problems and facilitates in establishing a connection between you and your team. It is important a leader takes continuous feedback and listens to his team to make them feel more engaged and involved in the daily routine.Also, It is imperative for a leader to never let the focus and discipline deplete from his work ethic.Things will happen that will need your time and intelligence,but the chaff must be removed on a daily basis.The world’s greatest leaders have been those who have always stayed focused on their goals and have been consistent in their efforts.

Courage

A leader always needs to possess a strength to act for the sake of a greater cause. He should have the courage to make bold decisions and take a stand in the face of adversity. He should be brave and fearless to take those risks required for moving forward. As Napoleon Bonaparte rightly said - “Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.”

Humility

Great Leaders are catalysts, and though tasks will never turn out to be successful without them,they never take credit for the same. As they never take any credit,credit never leaves them. A classic example of this is MS Dhoni - If you have ever noticed MSD (Former Indian Cricket Captain) going on the podium to collect Championship Trophies (ODI,Tests,IPL) He shall collect the trophy on behalf of the team and quickly hand it over to one of the younger team mates and fade in the background during the celebration and photoshoots. It does two things - Not only it makes the teammates more involved in the success of the team,it drives their confidence to perform to the best of their abilities the next time to go out on the field to play.

Lastly, I firmly believe that if you are able to enjoy being a Leader,it is half the work done.

Pl. share your views about Leadership and how it has impacted your lives.