Developing your leadership qualities

It’s been said that great leaders are born.  Like they come into the world fully formed like when Athena sprung from Zeus. Meaning either you are a leader or you are not.  What if I told you it is far from it.  Especially in our world where the young genealogist amongst us are the future.  Those fresh faces are out there hungry and eager to do more.  Would you be interested in learning how to hone those leadership traits and why it is important to our community of volunteers?

If you do not think you are a born leader those skills can be developed.  The best way is through volunteering.  For the genealogy community, volunteering comes in many forms from in-person to virtual.  Trying your hand at a variety of tasks for different groups is a great way to learn your strengths and weaknesses.  From that knowledge, you can hone in and develop the skills you need to further the mission of your group and your ability to be a great leader. 

For example, if you are a whiz at marketing maybe you take on the advertising and publicity for your group.  Your panache and way with words could be a great boon to a group who needs to attract new membership.  Or, if you are an approachable person take the lead for those in-person communications for seminars, conferences, or group outings.  Successfully leading committees like these can help show your community that your society is thriving!

So, what qualities should you develop and nurture to become a successful leader?  I bet you already have many inside of you but you just didn’t know what to do with them!

·        Respect: is not given blindly but earned by both parties.  As a leader, you will need to learn how to show people simple courtesy at times no matter what your personal feelings are.  This may be one of the more difficult things to do, pulling yourself above a fray, but it is a trait that will set you apart from others.

·        Confidence: while not a trait many come to easy, confidence comes with experience and can even be faked.  A good leader is like a duck on water.  Cool and calm above water but paddling frantically below.  You need to be confident on your decisions, ideas, and thoughts.  If something happens in the group you are leading people will look to you for reassurance.

·        Focus:  as the head of a team you need to keep the group on track and focused on the objective in front of them.  While it may feel like herding cats at times being the one who can set, and stick to, an agenda is an art in of itself.  Keep that focus together for organizational tasks (meetings, presentations, events) that need to be tackled.  Through focus and clarity, you also can break large projects down into manageable goals which are the best way to tackle large problems. 

·        Communication:  the fastest way to strife and turmoil in a group is poor communication.  Develop your communication skill in two ways: in-person and online.  Each is very different but true leaders know when a phone call trumps an email.  Being known as someone who is open to communication and interested in others feedback will be an asset to you as a leader.  Communication keeps everyone in the loop, projects on track, special interest groups flowing, and chaos from poor interpersonal interactions at bay.

·        Delegation:  so….no one can do everything, not even you.  This skill can be the hardest to grasp and take the longest to use.  Sure, you might be the fastest at doing an item, but you also have a life.  Keeping a good life/work/volunteer balance is a struggle but by simply dividing up the tasks you can keep a handle on it.  Plus, you are allowing others to contribute and hone their skills too.

·        Creativity / Intuition: while this may not seem like a skill a leader should have many of the greatest will tell you that often they use their gut and out of the box thinking to solve problems or bring new ideas to fruition.  As a leader you involve your team in the thinking process to choose the best way or develop new ways to do things.  Contrary to popular belief just because you ALWAYS do something one way does not mean it ALWAYS has to be done that way.  Change can be very good.