How to be a Good Leader

1.  Solve problems. The first step towards becoming a leader is to look around and find ways to make the world a better place. Observe your surroundings and listen to people. How can you help? Discover what your talents are, develop them, and focus on applying them towards making a difference. Think of problems in the broader sense - they're not always easy to define. Look for needs, niches, conflicts, gaps that need to be filled, and inefficiencies. The solutions won't always be creative or cutting edge; sometimes they're the simplest things.

2. Think of the big picture. As you're solving problems, you might notice patterns, and wonder if many of those problems are symptoms of a deeper, bigger problem. Thoreau once said, "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, one is hacking at the root." Take a step back and try to find the root. The thing about the deeper problem is that it's not something anybody can solve alone; it'll require a group effort, which is where your role as a leader comes into play.

3. Be proactive. If you've got these ideas in your mind about what the deeper issues are, you can probably predict the problems that'll crop up as a result. Instead of waiting for those problems to appear, take steps to prevent them. If you can't prevent them, then you can at least prepare. That's the core difference between a leader and a manager. A good manager responds well to a variety of situations; a good leader takes effective action to prevent and create situations before they actually happen.

4. Make decisions, and take responsibility for the consequences. In order to exert influence and tackle bigger problems, you're going to need decision-making power, and those decisions will affect the people who grant you that power. This is as much a responsibility as it is an honor. Not only do you need to be able to make sound decisions, but you also need to be willing to be held accountable to them. If things go wrong, people will assume it's your fault (whether it is or not). Think of yourself as the captain of a ship; the fate of the ship is essentially in your hands, and it's up to you to steer everyone in the right direction. So exercise wisdom when calling the shots; hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If you're not prepared to take responsibility for your decisions - if you struggle with hesitation and self-doubt - it might be a good idea to step down. An insecure leader often becomes a tyrant.

5. Share your vision. As a leader, you can see the bigger issues at hand, but you can also see how things could be so much better if we could just remove those obstacles. To get people to help you in changing things, you need to share that positive vision with them. Inspire them. Motivate them. Guide them. Show them how their actions are bringing everyone closer to that dream. "Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts."^[1]

6. Remember that it's not all about you. The greatest leaders saw their role as a means to an end, and themselves as an instrument of a deeper purpose; any glory, prestige, or wealth was a side effect rather than a motivation. If you want to realize a vision, the most effective way to do it is not with an army of drones; that army will only last as long as you do. For the most long-lasting results, share your vision and let people adopt it as their own, and let it spread like wildfire. Think of yourself as the beginning of a chain reaction--once it's begun, you can step away and it'll continue to happen without any effort on your part. "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."^[2]