Every person can benefit from developing leadership skills. Whether you are just starting to apply to colleges, trying to participate more in your college clubs or looking for a job – they will look good on your resume.
Yet, leadership skills are only an umbrella term. In reality, there’s no single solution to hone leadership skills. It’s a complex of attitudes, qualities and capabilities that make you a good leader. You can develop them by collaborating with peers, participating in campus events, organizing your study routine, knowing when to delegate your tasks to an online paper writing service, and, in general, being proactive during college. In this article, we’ll give you tips on how to become a better leader as a student.
Extroverts vs. Introverts
There’s a popular idea that extroverted people tend to make better leaders. But we consider this to be harmful and discriminatory. In reality, it all boils down to communication skills.
Certainly, introverted people may need more time alone or in silence to recharge their batteries. But this doesn’t mean that an introverted person can’t be a good leader. The truth is introverted people tend to be better listeners, and listening is the cornerstone of good communication skills.
Reflecting on what the other person says and choosing the right words to convey an idea are qualities that can be prevalent in both types of personalities. So, whether you’re introverted or extroverted, you can be a good leader.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s talk about some other skills that you can work on to become a leader.
Responsibility
Leaders tend to take responsibility for other people to help them get to a mutual goal. But before you can take responsibility for others, you should learn to do that for yourself. Your student years are perfect for that.
College is a time for growth and self-development, finding out who you truly are and who you want to be. This is also a time to make mistakes, work on them and reflect on your experiences. You will mess up. Sometimes, you will want to go out rather than stay home and do your tasks. And once or twice, you will ditch your friend for a date.
It’s essential to stay accountable for your actions, learn to accept the consequences and deal with them. Apologize to the people you hurt, fix the mistakes you made in your homework while rushing through it, and so on. It’s also vital that an apology is not just words but also a change in behavior. You can’t mess up, apologize and then repeat this action expecting to be forgiven. If this becomes a pattern, people will start to pull away.
Discipline
Discipline makes it easier to take responsibility for your actions and avoid repeating the same mistakes. Intelligent, responsible people can prioritize and set certain limits for themselves.
Take smoking or vaping, for example. It’s a nasty habit that drains lots and lots of money out of your pocket, not to mention the health risks. But quitting requires a lot of discipline.
You can’t be a good leader and expect your team to be disciplined if you can’t lead by example. Yes, quitting a bad habit, whether it be smoking, excessive partying or even littering, is hard. But once you do it, you become stronger.
After that, a choice between partying with your friends or studying for a test is not as much of a dilemma. If you see the bigger goal ahead of you (i.e., attending a prestigious college, landing a good job, making partner at a law firm, etc.), these choices are a lot easier to make.
(Self-)Motivation
Learning to motivate others starts with motivating yourself. Some people are motivated by money, some are driven by passion, some chase new experiences and others run from the past. Find your inner source of motivation and keep it in mind.
If you were raised in poverty, you might want to have a good job to be able to support your parents. If your parents made you feel inferior, you will probably want to reach for the stars to prove them wrong. Sure, this is not the healthiest path, but we’re not here to judge.
Once you find your own source of motivation, you can start helping others to find theirs. Remember communication skills? Listen to what people say, really care about their experiences and how they react to happy moments and approach challenges. Once you know enough, you will be able to push their buttons to motivate them to reach higher.
Time Management
You can’t expect your team to show up on time or follow deadlines if you don’t do that yourself. Prioritizing what’s best for your main goal is not always easy. We are often tempted by small things. Instagram and TikTok notifications, your food delivery app trying to get your attention with discounts, Booking.com offering you a deal for your next trip – all of those are distractions.
Gen Z tends to have severe FOMO, and your phone buzzing (even from another room) may trigger that reaction. When you are doing homework, preparing for a presentation or working on your independent project, make it a habit to put your phone away and set it to flight mode. It might seem drastic, but it works.
Keeping a schedule is vital if you want to hand in your projects by the deadline and have time for a social life. Planning and only planning can help you beat the habit of procrastination and become a good leader.
Problem-Solving/Conflict Resolution
In every team, there is conflict. Some people are more competitive than others, there can be jealousy or romantic involvement. A good leader has to spot those conflicts and help the people involved resolve them before the team breaks apart.
This requires strong emotional intelligence, empathy, and a whole lot of creativity. Not all conflicts can be resolved in a way where everybody wins. Some people may be less open to compromise than others. To be a person others trust and want to follow, you must be able to negotiate, communicate clearly and search for common ground. That often requires creative decision-making and thinking out of the box. Here are some basic steps to resolving a conflict:
- Identify the source. Sometimes, one small inconvenience may trigger lots of negative emotions. Find out where this negativity stems from and handle the source of the problem.
- Listen to both sides. You may be surprised how often people in conflict want the same thing. In this case, your job is to help them see each other’s perspective.
- Don’t take sides. A good leader is impartial. Try to be unbiased while listening and conveying information.
Confidence
To some people, confidence comes naturally. Others have to really look deep inside themselves to find it. Whatever the case may be, if you are not persuasive enough, people won’t follow you. Find your strong and weak sides. Embrace the strong traits and work on the weak ones. However, it’s important not to paint certain qualities as intrinsically good or bad. Every emotion, response or quality serves a purpose (or did at some point in your life and then stayed).
If you feel like a lack of confidence is a permanent issue, you might want to look into therapy options or read self-help books. While the former may be unaffordable for many people, the latter is an easy solution that can benefit you greatly.
We all have those days when we feel a bit off. Remember that it’s normal to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect all the time. But practice does make perfect, and sometimes, you just have to fake it till you make it.
Wrapping Up
Leadership skills are extremely important if you want to have a lucrative job and a solid career. But, like any other skill, leadership requires practice. If you just deem yourself an unfit leader, you will never become one. But if you take responsibility for your own and sometimes others’ actions, learn how to motivate yourself and other people and build your confidence, you might not even notice how people will start following you and listening to your opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I become a leader?
Becoming a leader is not one simple step. To make others want to follow you, you must show yourself as one worthy of that. Be confident but not cocky. Show discipline, but not tyranny. Be organized and learn how to motivate yourself and, of course, others. Communicate your ideas clearly and learn to be a good listener.
Are leaders born or made?
It really depends. Some people are born outgoing, communicative and creative. Others learn those skills as adults. It doesn’t matter at what age you decide you want to become a good leader. What’s important is that developing your skills will help you be a better friend, partner and colleague, even if you don’t become a CEO.
How do I know if I’m a good leader?
Being able to listen and grow from objective critique is a good skill for a leader. Sometimes, you just have to ask for feedback, and people will tell you about your strengths and what requires working on. But generally, you can be considered a good leader if people naturally follow you or seek your opinion. Being willing to take responsibility for yourself and help others is another trait of a good leader. Also, a leader is able to communicate their ideas clearly and empower others.
