Although conventional wisdom often says that great leaders are born, not made, history has proven otherwise. Many people in a position of leadership have benefited greatly from learning more about the characteristics and habits of effective leaders. This article contains some tips and suggestions for those who are interested in this topic.

Use a mentor. Find someone whose leadership skills you trust, and model your behavior after theirs. Watch them for a while, and get an idea of how they lead and what makes them a good leader. You don’t want to mimic them completely, but find what works about their style and incorporate it into a style that works for you.

When a leader is setting goals, the goals should be realistic. We all want things done faster in life, but sometimes things take time. If you rush your team, you may find that there are more mistakes, unhappy team members, and a very stressful environment. Make sure that your goals can be achieved in the amount of time that you’ve allotted.

Give people reasons to trust you. As a leader, it’s important that you are trusted. When that happens, people are more likely to follow you and to do what you ask of them. Make sure you keep your word, and say what you truly think. People will respect you, trust you and follow you.

When you’re a business leader, you should be stern but understanding. Make sure that the people working for you understand what you expect out of them. If they don’t meet your expectations immediately, give them a chance to catch on. Everyone has a different learning curve, and the people that may seem slow to catch on could become your greatest workers.

Reward great work. It may be tempting to be a slave to the bottom line, but you’d be amazed what a few rewards can do to help productivity. These rewards don’t have to be big. A bagel breakfast or gift certificates for a team work quite well. The gesture shows that you care, and good leaders really do.

Always remember that there is an inverse relationship between what’s on your mind and your personal productivity right now. If something is on your mind, write it down. If you need to, work on it now. If it can wait or can’t be helped right this minute, set the paper to the side and get to work on something you can do right now.

Read what others have to say about leadership. Even great leaders not inspiration themselves. And there’s a lot of great books, articles, and web posts out there regarding leadership. Take the time to learn something new everyday, and use what you can in practice. You’ll find that it’ll strengthen your leadership skills.

Leaders need to learn to differentiate what is in their mind and what is getting done. It’s an inverse relationship that is present there. If something is bugging you, get it off your mind. Put it down on paper, then your focus can be on the task at hand.

All work-forces, or teams, have issues from time to time. As a leader, it is important that you deal with, and try to solve, these issues in a timely, and satisfactory manner that benefits both you, and your team. Try creating a committee that will help you to identify, and prioritize, team issues. Then, enlist their help in finding solutions for these issues.

A good leader should be friendly and accessible to employees. You can run a successful business without using your authority to intimidate people. If your employees are afraid of you, they are unlikely to report honest mistakes making it difficult for you to manage them effectively. Be friendly but don’t try to make friends with your employees.

An effective leader is one who speaks and acts with authenticity. Authenticity goes beyond truthfulness. To act with authenticity is to lead with both your heart and your head. Not only do you state the truth, but you also act in accordance with the words you’ve spoken. This demonstrates integrity and dedication to ethical, effective leadership.

Be willing to accept feedback. Sometimes employees feel uncomfortable approaching a superior with problems or ideas unless prompted. Make the process more streamlined overall by seeking out opinions and suggestions from your employees. Try to keep an open door policy, and be willing to listen when your employees have something to say, even if you don’t agree with the complaint.

Two qualities that employees should be able to expect from their leaders are trust, and confidentiality. A good leader will make it clear that any employee can confide in him, and not risk information being shared with others. It is unacceptable for anyone in a leadership role to break the confidence of anyone.

Effective leadership does not simply just happen. Effective leaders take the time to learn about traits that successful leaders have and habits that they practice. Good leaders can become great ones by studying these characteristics, and it is an education that should continue throughout the duration of one’s tenure.

Forge Your Own Path Through Life With These Helpful Leadership Tips was originally published on Spring