Great leaders aren’t always found with title CEO or manager on their business card. Anyone can demonstrate leadership qualities.

It’s not about winning a popularity contest. You don’t have to be liked to be respected. It’s about serving and influencing others regardless of their job title in the effort to achieve a certain goal. More than anything, it’s about creating harmony in an environment where people want to work together. So what does it take for you to become the next great leader?
Leadership can be a struggle to develop, as there are intrinsic qualities that are tough to cultivate.
But if you’re willing to face the challenge, and follow these guidelines, then you’ll be on the right path to becoming the leader your business needs to succeed

• Experience trumps theory

Theory and practice are the same in theory, but they are not the same in practice. For you to become a leader, you need to put yourself in situations which demand leadership. If you are at home trying really hard to think about situations where leadership is required and can’t find a place where that can happen, you are not thinking about the problems in your life and community.
Leadership is about going through uncertainty while showing people a better way. So any area of life where there is uncertainty is an area where there is a possibility for leadership to emerge.
You don’t have to lead a company of 10,000 employees to experience leadership, you can do it in a local community of 5 people or as I did in a leadership organization with 200 people. But leadership doesn’t start with leading other people, it starts with leading yourself.

• To lead others, you must learn to lead yourself

Telling other people what they need to do is “easy.” Showing the way yourself is a hundred times harder. Because what you do speaks so loud that people can’t hear what you’re saying. In other words, leadership is about having personal integrity and practicing what you preach. You would never follow the advice of a fat personal trainer, a broke accountant, or a real estate agent who doesn’t even own a dog house.
You either lead by example or you don’t lead at all. But the thing is that this is easier said than done. I remember when we had a crisis in our team back in 2013. Every single person from the team quit, leaving the president and me alone to fight the battle. My integrity of not quitting didn’t let me walk away and we kept pushing together.
That’s what leadership is about – you need to walk the talk. Because to lead yourself and to lead others, you need to make decisions which follow up your integrity. That leads us to the third point.

• Build trust

When it comes to leading a team, you have to be willing to go out on a limb for your employees to show you have their back. Exhibiting a genuine interest in your team’s well-being shows you care and are willing to protect them when necessary.
When you build trust, it demonstrates that your own interests and actions will never supersede the goals of the organization or your employees.

• 3. Leadership is about making the right, painful decisions

When you undertake the responsibility of leadership, you have to be comfortable making big decisions and sticking to them. You can’t be afraid to be decisive and make tough calls when circumstances require it. It’s critical you understand the many facets of an issue and obtain as much information to make an informed decision. Ensure your choices are not just beneficial to you, but with the organization’s goal in mind.
If you choose easy decisions, your life will be hard. If you choose hard decisions, your life will be easy. And there are numerous decisions which leaders did in the past which have been hard at the moment. But when you’re a leader, you don’t make decisions on a scale of easy-hard, you make them on a scale of right-wrong.

• Take responsibility

We’re all human. Mistakes will happen. But it’s not always easy to own up to mistakes and be receptive to feedback and change. Business growth involves taking risks that don’t always pan out. Be willing to stand up for your employees and their decisions when expectations aren’t met. This will motivate your employees to feel they can accomplish what’s needed to achieve the organization’s goals. You have to support and assist your team. Give them the confidence to take risks and speak up without being punished.
When the mistake is yours, take ownership. Don’t try to blame someone else, the situation or a circumstance.
Be credible – people want to follow an honest leader. Be candid about why things didn’t work out, learn from the mistake and move on. People will trust someone who actively displays honesty.

• Have a mentor

No matter who you are, it’s always helpful when you have someone to look up to who is experienced with strong leadership capabilities. It makes it a lot easier to see someone perform in action than living by words on paper. Rarely will someone offer to be your mentor – you’ll likely have to do the courting. It may be someone in your business area, but a great mentor relationship doesn’t necessarily need to be in your same industry. Identify potential mentors who have similar values, then have casual meetings with them to find the one with whom you have good rapport. Be prepared to explain what you hope to learn, why you value their insight and expertise, and what you bring to the relationship.
When faced with a big decision or obstacle, imagine how your mentor would handle it. Think about what they’ve done to overcome similar situations. This can help point you in the right direction when you find yourself being challenged.

• Leverage your team

As your business grows, you’ll realize that you can’t be around for every decision, and you won’t be fully qualified to perform every position.
That’s why it’s crucial to leverage the strengths of your team. This means finding each employee’s strengths, trusting their expertise and making the most of their abilities. Find out what they’re passionate about and help them lead a project, if they show leadership ability. Empower them to succeed with meaningful work that supports the company’s goals and objectives.
Clear any organizational roadblocks for your team that could limit creativity and innovation. Ask and provide them with what they need to be successful and achieve their work. Don’t get in their way if they’re meeting or exceeding expectations.

• You need to have unyielding faith that you will prevail in the end

You don’t need to know every step of the way, but you need to know how you will react to problems. You need to be sure, absolutely, that you will deal, manage, and handle every single problem that comes your way and that your team and people who you lead are unstoppable on their way to achieving the vision.
This is unquestionable. You have no idea what will attack you, but you are certain that you will handle it. This is how you lead people through everything in life. Because people turn to the leader in face of trouble and that’s when you show your true face. Do you show your weak side, flounder, and run? Or do you stand strong like a supporting rock on which people can lean on?
When you deal with fire, you will learn how to defeat it without having your people get burned. You will sacrifice yourself and gain scars which don’t serve as a sign of victimhood but as a proof of courage. Are you gonna be courageous or are you gonna run away? There is only one way to find out.