You have the potential to be a great leader! | Source: Shutterstock

I know from experience that the thought of being a leader can be scary. However, it turns out that you may already have more leadership qualities than you know!

Some researchers found that women are actually more effective leaders than men, highlighting skills that women were more likely to excel at – listening, collaboration, relationship-building – and noted that these are the kinds of traits that work better in the modern “collaborative model” of leadership. You know, people willing to work together toward a common goal. That’s definitely less scary that thinking of a leader as a super strict taskmaster.

It took me a while to become someone who felt comfortable being a leader. Let me start by saying that I am an awesome follower. I always pulled my weight in a group. However, I never saw myself as that one person who could tie everybody together. I just wanted to be responsible for me, not everybody else.

Part of it was just that I was pretty shy. I didn’t like the idea of having to speak up in meetings or make an opinion on things. What if people hated my ideas? What if my plan didn’t work and everything fell apart? It would totally be my fault. Cue intense stress out.

Well, I started broaching the waters with very “safe” leadership positions. These were ones that required a little more responsibility, but nothing that far from my usual conduct. For example, I was captain of my lacrosse team in high school. I let people know when team dinners were and made sure nobody forgot their backpacks at games. Hey, being a leader didn’t have to be all that scary, even for a shy girl like me!

After college, I had the opportunity to become a camp director for elementary school kids. This was going to be the biggest leadership role I’d ever taken on, so I started to feel some of that old nervousness creeping back. However, this position taught me a ton about leadership.

First, when you’re a leader, you aren’t all alone. You don’t just tell people what to do, but they also support you and offer new ideas. You just help give everyone that push into action, but being a leader is less daunting when you realize it’s not actually all on you.

You also learn about tackling your fears head on. I was scared to share my ideas, but when I did, people not only liked them, but helped me make them even better. And yes, we did run into some planning issues I was worried about, but instead of the whole camp collapsing, I made sure they were worked out.

This reinforced my confidence in my own leadership qualities going forward. For a long time, I was focused on the “it’s my fault if it goes bad,” but on the flip side, I could take some credit for when things went really well. It was cool to see my ideas coming to life for once, rather than just carrying out the plans of others. It made me want to do it more!

By starting small, I was able to build up a little confidence that allowed me to tackle the big things. You probably already have those skills that the researchers consider good leadership qualities, so embrace them! Being a leader isn’t always easy, but it’s rewarding and super valuable. I know you all have the potential to lead like a champ!

Have you ever held a leadership position? What was it? What qualities do you think make a good leader? Tell me in the comments!

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