Being able to lead is an important part of being successful in many facets of life. Not only should we be able to lead others, but we should also be willing to lead ourselves. No one reaches their fullest potential in life by just doing what everyone else does. Sometimes we just have to go in a bold new direction.

Being at the front of the group isn’t enough to make you a good leader. A leader has to move. Too often, we just accept that someone is a leader because they look or sound like one, or they have the title. We don’t look at what they do, which is the real test of leadership.

But if we want to be good leaders ourselves, we need to pay more attention to what we do than how we look. The title of this article says there are eight steps, but you shouldn’t think of them as steps that get progressively harder. Instead, think of these as habits you engage in regularly.

First, keep an eye out for new chances. “Reality” is not a fixed thing; it changes all the time. Think about people who have done great things, like inventors, explorers, and people who have worked to change society. Some might suggest that successful people just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe, but it wouldn’t have mattered if they were in the right place if they hadn’t been looking for the chance.

Second, be open to getting ideas from anyone, even your opponents. The smartest leaders always look at what their rivals are doing. Research and reconnaissance are used all the time in war, politics, and business. Too often, when people look at a competitor to study, they try to find a weakness to take advantage of. Don’t give in to this trend if you want to be a leader of significant change. If you discover a competitive strength, find a way to make yourself, or your team, better so that you can match it.

Third, learn something new every day and share it in new ways. This means that you should always try to grow, both inside and outside of yourself. Feed your mind with new lessons and information, but also keep learning and meeting new people. Find new people to talk to and put yourself in new social situations. You never know when these new things will help you along your path to leadership.

Fourth, look for and use small clues to figure out what to do. Look deeper and ask questions all the time. This is a continuation of the third step, in which you look for new information. But this also means that you won’t be able to learn things the way you always have. Don’t just read books that are in the literary canon or that are popular. Take seminars instead of classes because there is more time to ask questions and talk about things. Look for teachers and writers who are unconventional.

Fifth, improvise if you can’t find a solution. No excuses. Need drives people to come up with new ideas. If you’ve never tried it before, how do you know it won’t work? Don’t forget that not every approach has to come from the front. Look at your problem from every angle and try out different solutions in different ways.

Sixth, do something every day to make at least one person you care about happy. If you make it a point to be kind and thoughtful to one person every day, this will soon become a habit, and this habit will spread to the people around you. Making someone else happy also makes you feel good about yourself. Think about how much better the world would be if we all did a little more to make people happy.

Seven, offer to help even if it doesn’t seem to help you. It’s more than just writing a check. It means giving your time, effort, and even yourself. It could mean helping someone you don’t know, or it could be something very personal.

Lastly, never let something negative be the last thing you say about a subject. If your last words are negative, it doesn’t matter how hopeful you are about a project or action; the last thing people will remember about you is that you are negative. If you focus on the good, you are more likely to see positive outcomes.

If you do these eight things, you’ll not only be a better leader, but you’ll also lead yourself to a more fulfilling experience.

Want to take these insights further? Below is a free self-evaluation tool of your Leadership Qualities? Feel free to click the download button below. This is can be a great tool to self evaluate, and/or to solicit others for peer evaluation. Whatever method your choose, be sure to come back and share any insights you gained 🙂

I was really struck by a paragraph in Ronald Heifetz & Mary Linsky’s article; A Survival Guide for Leaders, published in the Harvard Business Review.

They state, living in leadership- not just register a pulse- but really being alive in leading others there are classic protective devices of a person in authority. In difficult times these individuals tend to use these devices to insulate themselves from the qualities that foster an acute experience of living.

1. Cynicism, often dressed up as realism, undermines creativity and daring.
2. Arrogance, often posing as authoritative knowledge, snuffs out curiosity and the eagerness to question.
3. Callousness, sometimes portrayed as the thick skin of experience, shuts out compassion for others.

The hard truth is that it is not possible to know the rewards and joys of leadership without experiencing the pain as well. But staying in the game and bearing that pain is worth it, not only for the positive changes you can make in the lives of others but also for the meaning it gives your own.