We all know someone that is a good leader – the type of person that can walk into a group and in a matter of minutes have the respect of everyone, and have everyone willing to support the decisions they make. Wouldn’t it be great if this could be you? If people wanted you to get that promotion, or for you to be the captain of your sports class?

The best thing about this world is that everything is learnable; nobody is born with the ability to set Olympic records, they must train and put in 100%. This is the same with leadership. Nobody is a born leader; leaders have picked up traits and behaviors in their life which have shaped them from followers into leaders. Here are 4 traits that make up leaders, and how you can add them into your everyday life.

1) Confidence. You can tell instantly one’s confidence, the moment you lay eyes on them. Posture, movement, voice tonality. They walk upright, stand up for what they believe in, act as they would own the place. They talk as though they believe what they are saying, and they don’t put themselves down. Confidence also means they aren’t out to seek people’s approval; which is a big turnoff and shows they aren’t a leader, but a follower who is lacking confidence.

2) Humor. Naturally laughing with someone makes you feel more relaxed with them. Leaders have this ability to tell jokes and create a relaxed atmosphere. This doesn’t mean being the class clown who makes everybody laugh all the time. It is more important in the first couple of minutes of meeting someone, that you make them laugh and start to feel more comfortable with you, as this feeling will become stronger over time.

3) Respect. What goes around comes around. Start paying attention to people and what they are saying, genuinely listen to them (even if you don’t want to), and in turn you will find people will be more willing to listen to you.

4) Connection. This is the hardest to both explain and understand. It is a combination of humor, respect and rapport – ultimately creating a connection between you and someone else (whether it be good/bad, strong/weak). The more of a connection you have with someone, the more they will listen to you and follow your leadership.

Be confident, relax and make jokes, respect people and their opinions, and create a connection with them and you will be on your way to becoming a leader people will want to follow (not the type of leader who takes control to everyone’s dislike). It is those who add value to a group that are leaders, they make others feel good and they will follow to keep receiving these good feelings.

So, even if you take just one thing away from what you have read, let it be this: “Make others feel good and want to be around you.”

If you enjoyed this article you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed.