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8 Essential Qualities of Successful Leaders

by Rebecca Knight

Summary .   

Becoming a great leader is a journey of continuous learning and growth. It’s a process — one that thrives on embracing challenges, seeking feedback, fostering connections, and cultivating understanding. In this article, the author outlines the eight most essential leadership qualities, according to Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill, one of the world’s top experts on leadership. Star leaders aren’t born with superhuman capabilities, Linda explains. Rather, they tend to have intentionally put themselves in situations where they have to learn, adapt, and grow — a crucible for developing the tenacity and fortitude to motivate and guide others.

Do you have what it takes to be a great leader ?

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10 Tips for Leading Like a Boss

How to Become a Great Leader Even If You Don't Feel Confident

• Find Out Your Leadership Style

Encourage Creativity

Serve as a role model, be passionate, listen and communicate effectively, have a positive attitude, encourage people to make contributions, motivate your followers, offer rewards and recognition, keep trying new things.

How would you describe a strong leader? One study cited leadership qualities such as assertiveness, adaptability, intelligence, and conscientiousness as the most important.

Transformational leaders are positive, empowering, and inspiring. They value followers and inspire them to perform better. So, what can we do to embrace these valued leadership qualities and become stronger and more effective leaders?

Transformational leaders are usually described as enthusiastic, passionate, genuine and energetic. These leaders are not just concerned about helping the group achieve its goals; they also care about helping each member of the group reach his or her full potential. 

Start by Understanding Your Leadership Style

Understanding your current leadership style is essential. What are your strengths? Which areas need some improvement? One way to start assessing your skills is to take this leadership style quiz to get a general idea of how you lead.

Once you have completed the quiz, read about the major characteristics of your dominant style. Are these qualities helping or hindering your leadership? Once you've determined which areas need work, you can look for ways to improve your leadership abilities.

Intellectual stimulation is one of the leadership qualities that define transformational leadership. Followers need to be encouraged to express their creativity . Effective leaders should offer new challenges with ample support to achieve these goals.  

One way to foster creativity is to offer challenges to group members, making sure that the goals are within the grasp of their abilities. The purpose of this type of exercise is to get people to stretch their limits but not become discouraged by barriers to success.

Idealized influence is another of the four key components of transformational leadership. Transformational leaders embody the behaviors and characteristics that they encourage in their followers. They walk the walk and talk the talk. As a result, group members admire these leaders and work to emulate these behaviors.

Research suggests that leaders are able to foster a specific belief and then transmit that inspiration to their followers. As a result, followers are optimistic and have high standards for performance and achievement.

If you want to become a better leader, work on modeling the qualities that you would like to see in your team members.

Would you look to someone for guidance and leadership if they did not truly care about the goals of the group? Of course not! Great leaders are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks; they have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the projects they work on.  

You can develop this leadership quality by thinking of different ways that you can express your zeal. Let people know that you care about their progress. When one person shares something with the rest of the group, be sure to tell them how much you appreciate such contributions.

Another important quality of transformational leadership involves a focus on providing one-on-one communication with group members. Transformational leadership is effective when leaders are able to communicate their vision to followers, who then feel inspired and motivated by this vision.  

Good leaders should express sincere care and concern for the members of their group both verbally and nonverbally .

By keeping the lines of communication open, these leaders can ensure that group members can make contributions and receive recognition for their achievements.

Transformational leaders have an upbeat, optimistic attitude that serves as a source of inspiration for followers. If leaders seem discouraged or apathetic, members of the group are likely to also become uninspired.

Even when things look bleak, and your followers start to feel disheartened, try to stay positive. This does not mean viewing things through rose-colored glasses. It simply means maintaining a sense of optimism and hope in the face of challenges.

Let the members of your team know that you welcome their ideas. Leaders who encourage involvement from group members are often referred to as democratic or participative leaders . While they retain the final say over all decisions, they encourage team members to take an active role in coming up with ideas and plans.

Research has shown that using a democratic leadership style leads to greater commitment, more creative problem-solving and improved productivity.  

Transformational leaders also provide inspirational motivation to encourage their followers to get into action.   Of course, being inspirational isn't always easy. Fortunately, you don't need motivational speeches to rouse your group members.

Some ideas for leadership​ inspiration include being genuinely passionate about ideas or goals, helping followers feel included in the process and offering recognition, praise, and rewards for people's accomplishments.

Another important quality of a good leader involves knowing that offering effective recognition and rewards is one of the best ways to help followers feel appreciated and happy.   It may also come as no surprise that happy people tend to perform better at work.

Who says leadership is a one-way relationship? As you work toward developing some of these leadership qualities, don't forget to look to your followers for feedback and inspiration. Pay attention to the things that have been effective in the past and always be on the lookout for new ways to inspire, motivate, and reward group members.

Cekmecelioglu, HG, Ozbag, GK. Leadership and creativity: the impact of transformational leadership on individual creativity. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences . 2016;235(24):243-249. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.020

Hayati D, Charkhabi M, Naami A. The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study .  Springerplus . 2014;3:25. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-25

Steinmann B, Klug HJP, Maier GW. The path is the goal: how transformational leaders enhance followers' job attitudes and proactive behavior .  Front Psychol . 2018;9:2338. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338

Amanchukwu RN, Stanley GJ, Ololube NP. A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management . Management . 2015;5(1):6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02

Riggio, RE. The 4 elements of transformational leaders . Psychology Today . November 15, 2014.

Gillbert SL, Kelloway, EK. Leadership, recognition and well-being: a moderated mediational model . Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences . 2018;35(4):523-524. doi:10.1002/cjas.1477

Bass BM, Riggio, RE. Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Erlbaum; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Writing an Effective Leadership Essay: Tips and Examples

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Whether you’ve led a horse to water or led your team to a victorious championship, you’re probably more of a leader than you give yourself credit for. It turns out, college admissions officers want to hear about that horse and/or championship in your application essay. The leadership essay is one of the hallmarks of college essays, but what’s the right way to do it?

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a subset of college application essays that help college admissions officers understand your previous experiences as a leader. While that might seem extremely specific, it comes with the understanding that leadership looks and feels different based on the person and situation.

To give you a real world example: The president is ostensibly the leader of the United States. However, the president has a whole cabinet of other leaders for every other aspect of running a country. You might not be a leader of foreign policy, but you might be a leader on the football field or within your community volunteer group.

Leadership Essay Ideas and Topics

While you might see a few variations, almost all leadership essays go back to two main forms:

• What is your leadership style?
• Describe a moment when you showed leadership.

There’s inherently a bit of overlap with both of these. You’ll likely give an example of a leadership moment when talking about your leadership style, and you’ll probably talk about your leadership style when talking about a leadership moment.

In either case, the school will want you to use anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the idea. Go with what feels right, whether that’s leading a club or team in school or leading some ducklings across a busy highway. Even if your experience sounds cliché, it’s unique because it involves you.

How To Write a Leadership Essay

Probably the biggest trap that people fall into is “Well, I’ve never been a leader.” Even if you’ve never held some sort of leadership position at school or had an official title, chances are pretty high that you have exhibited some form of leadership at some point in your life. Beyond that, the actual writing of the leadership essay is fairly straightforward.

Formatting Your Leadership Essay

Your leadership essay will include an introduction paragraph, one or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Depending on the word or page limits, you can almost treat this like a five-paragraph essay .

• Introduction - Capture the reader’s interest, define good leadership in relation to you, and directly address the given prompt
• Body paragraphs - Give some background information using anecdotes to describe your leadership style or moment
• Conclusion - End with a compelling statement about your leadership qualities and how you hope to apply them to your education, career, and the world in general

How Long Should a Leadership Essay Be?

The length of the leadership essay depends on what the college or application system says. Thankfully, this is the one part of the essay that you don’t need to question. Nearly every school will provide a word limit, typically ranging from 250 words (for supplemental essays) potentially all the way up to 1,000 words.

In the rare event that you don’t see an obvious word limit, stick to a maximum of about 500 to 600 words.

Tips for Writing a Leadership Essay

Unfortunately, we don’t know your personal life, and we certainly don’t know moments where you exhibited leadership. So we can’t write your essay for you, but we can give you some tips to at least guide your writing process.

Define Good Leadership Before You Start

Before you begin writing your essay, think about what qualities make someone a good leader, at least in your opinion. What great leadership qualities do you have? What makes a “good leader”? Make a list before you begin writing your essay. 

Leadership qualities can include:

• The ability to motivate others
• Personal integrity
• Placing a value on relationships with team members
• Prioritizing the larger good over any individual

Review your list and choose the qualities you want to highlight. Write your own definition of what makes someone a great leader as it relates to the quality you chose. It should be one or two sentences long. Use that definition as the backbone of your essay.

Tell a Story About Your Leadership

It’s time to turn that list of potential leadership qualities into something meaningful and interesting. The best way to do that is with an engaging narrative.

You should obviously state good leadership qualities, but that shouldn’t be your entire essay. Tell a story about your leadership.

• Did you face a specific challenge?
• How did you overcome that challenge?
• How has your leadership style changed over the years?
• Was there a specific moment or experience that caused that change?

Really ask yourself questions and dig into the concept of leadership as a real thing that has had real effects on your life.

Write With Your Own Voice and Style

Although you shouldn’t be super informal in college application essays, they are also designed to help you display your own voice and personality. College admissions officers want to learn about you, and your writing style is inherently a big part of that, whether that means using humor or puns, maintaining a unique level of sincerity throughout the essay, or being invitingly verbose.

Don’t Be Down On Yourself

Whether it’s your personal statement , a supplemental essay, or this leadership essay, avoid being too down on yourself. Admissions officers want to hear about all your successes, trophies, and kittens saved from trees. They really don’t want to read a whole essay about you saying you’re a bad leader.

Humility is definitely an important leadership trait, but there’s a fine line between being humble and being hurtful to yourself. Even if you’re normally prone to some self-deprecation, try to keep it at a minimum for this essay.

Leadership Essay Example

If you’re not sure where to start, take some time to brainstorm ideas. Even the weirdest idea can blossom into something neat. If you need inspiration, one of the best things is to look at other examples of leadership. That could be from your favorite show, a good nonfiction book about sailors, or the essay below.

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Leadership Essay Introduction Example

The introduction should pull the reader in while directly answering the prompt. When in doubt, try to start with something concrete over something abstract. Or as writers and writing teachers like to say: Show, don’t tell.

The room was filled with the gentle hum of microphones and video cameras, cut only by the occasional cough or cleared throat. It was easy to feel out of place in this room full of wood furniture, leather seats, and powerful men capable of changing not just my life, but an entire sector of television programming as we knew it. I had never thought of myself as a leader, but I also knew that this was about something bigger than me, something that I could actually influence.

Leadership Essay Body Example

The body is where you’ll get more into the details of your narrative and connect it to ideas of leadership. Try not to get too hung up on the exact wording of what makes a leader. That can get far too abstract. Let your story speak for you.

I took a deep breath and began to talk. I wasn’t known to have a particularly commanding or powerful voice, but people always seemed to listen, including these men with their name placards and tall seats. They had been ready to cut funding for public broadcasting, which included programming that they had never seen. I was simply someone who lived in a neighborhood and cared about children’s education, beyond just math and reading. All I could do was be honest.

Leadership Essay Conclusion Example

Your conclusion considers the broader effects of your leadership. How might your leadership evolve or change? How can you apply that leadership to your education, job, or community?

To me, leadership is about connection. I know that I have a voice and an immense dedication to emotional intelligence in children. My ability to focus on other people goes hand-in-hand with my ability to speak through a tiger puppet. Both are about closing gaps and bringing people closer to a basic understanding. I hope to use my leadership abilities within the field of psychology to build more connections between people and communities.

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A guide to becoming an effective leader

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Are effective leaders born or made?

Differentiating managers from leaders, what makes an effective leader, 4 signs that you are not an effective leader, tips to become a more effective leader at work, be the first to know.

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If you’ve ever worked with a leader who wasn’t very effective, you know that poor leadership comes at a cost.

Working with an ineffective leader can be demotivating or demoralizing, which may hamper your productivity and ability to reach your goals. This, in turn, can adversely impact business results. 

Effective leadership , on the other hand, results in increased employee happiness, engagement, and retention rates. But that’s not all. An engaged workforce leads to 17% higher productivity, a 10% increase in customer ratings, a 20% increase in sales, and 21% greater profitability.

While few would argue with the importance of effective leadership, it can often seem like an elusive idea. What is effective leadership? What are the most important leadership qualities?  Can anyone learn how to become an effective leader and, if so, how?

This article will dive into these questions, and more.

Let’s begin by addressing this commonly asked question about whether it makes sense to invest one’s time and energy in trying to become a more effective leader. Because if leaders are born with inherent qualities that can’t be developed, why waste time in fighting a battle that’s already been lost? 

Fortunately, research indicates that leaders are “mostly made.” This means that while there are aspects of leadership that come more naturally to some people than to others, a majority of leadership qualities can be developed . In other words, anyone can learn how to be an effective leader. It requires commitment and hard work, but it is possible.

This is also good news because the most critical skills for leaders have changed over time.

What comes to mind when you hear the words “manager” and “leader”? Would you say they mean the same thing? If not, what is the important difference between leader versus manager ? While these words are sometimes used interchangeably, they point to different functions a person might perform. 

It was once believed that effectively managing an organization was mainly a matter of managing its structures and processes. In 1977, Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik challenged this view, arguing that there was another aspect to management. That is, the one concerned with vision, inspiration, and the human side of things. 

Building on Zaleznik’s work, John P. Kotter argued that effectively managing organizations required a balance between management and leadership , which are two different things. 

Here are some of the key differences between a manager and an effective leader: 

Managers follow processes and prioritize stability and control. Leaders are more willing to challenge the status quo and tend to be more patient with chaos and a lack of structure. 

Managers are focused on specific processes, including planning, budgeting, organizing, and staffing. Leaders are concerned with creating a vision and effectively guiding people through change .

Managers usually have positional authority in organizational hierarchy. Leaders may have authority, but it’s not a necessary condition for demonstrating leadership. People at any level in the organization can be great leaders .

Managers exercise control to get their teams to deliver the desired results. Leaders encourage autonomy so that team members are self-motivated to do what is needed.

It is important to note that these differences don't make one approach better than the other. Organizations need strong managers as well as effective leaders. However, it has been argued that many organizations today are over-managed and under-led . This makes it important for more people to develop effective leadership skills.

There isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach to effective leadership. Research suggests that leading from one’s unique strengths yields better results than trying to emulate other leaders. 

This makes sense, as effective leaders come in diverse forms, and fit the needs of diverse organizations. Retired general Colin Powell’s leadership style was undoubtedly very different from wellness advocate Arianna Huffington’s style. Each is effective because they know and embrace their strengths, while also acknowledging and managing their weaknesses, within a culture that suits them.

In its quest to find what makes the most effective leaders, Gallup analyzed decades of data gathered from thousands of leaders as well as their “followers.” They found that the most effective leaders exhibit three key qualities : 

• Focusing on strengths. The most effective leaders consistently focus on the strengths of their team members. This can help each team member feel empowered to do their best work and contribute to achieving the team’s goals. In turn, focusing on strengths usually leads to higher employee engagement and well-being, and gains in the organization’s bottom line.
• Forming well-rounded teams. Effective leaders recognize that they can’t excel at everything. To overcome this challenge, they surround themselves with people who have complementary strengths, qualities, and skill sets. This results in well-rounded, high-performing teams.
• Understanding their followers’ needs. Effective leaders understand and honor four basic needs that followers have: trust, compassion, stability, and hope. People are motivated to work with leaders they can depend on, and who genuinely care about them, provide a solid and reliable foundation, and inspire hope for the future.

A combination of these qualities, along with self-awareness, are important factors that make an effective leader. 

Some other traits effective leaders have in common include:

• Excellent communication skills. An effective leader can clearly communicate their vision, provide constructive feedback to team members, and negotiate with other company leaders for things their team needs.
• High emotional intelligence. Great leaders develop their emotional regulation skills . They must be able to identify, control, and express their emotions in a productive manner, and guide their team members toward doing the same.
• Empathy. The best leaders are able to empathize, or understand and share feelings, with their team members.
• Integrity. Effective leaders live by strong values that guide their decisions and behaviors. They know right from wrong, are honest in their interactions with others, and practice ethical leadership .
• Creativity. Effective leaders think outside the box to come up with innovative solutions to business problems and creative ways to reach business goals. They know that creativity is for everyone .

Every leader always has room for improvement, though some may need more development than others. Some signs that you may not be an effective leader include:

• Your team members are disengaged. If your team is simply going through the motions, completing their assigned tasks, and nothing more, you may have a disengaged team on your hands. This could be a sign that you’re not properly inspiring, motivating, and enabling them to do their best work.
• Your team is consistently failing to meet goals. It’s normal not to meet all of your goals, all of the time, but it is a problem when it happens consistently. This could be a sign that you need to communicate better with company leaders around more attainable goals or additional resources you need. Or, it could be a signal that your team is disengaged and that you need to lead them more effectively.
• Nobody speaks up with feedback during meetings. Effective leaders encourage team members to share their opinions and ideas. If your team holds back during meetings, they might not feel comfortable doing so. This can hinder your team’s ability to solve business problems in a more efficient, productive way.
• Your team has a low promotion rate. Great leaders develop their team members, help them build career paths, and sponsor them for promotions when the time is right. If your team has a low promotion rate, high time to promotion, or a high turnover rate due to lack of career progression, you may need to work on employee development.

Leadership skills and traits can — and should — be learned and developed. The skills needed to be an effective leader adapt with the times. BetterUp research has shown that being an inclusive leader has a positive ripple effect on the entire team . Hybrid work has changed how leaders lead inclusively across a hybrid team . Here are some areas you may want to work on:

• Know thyself. One of the most important steps you can take to be an effective leader is to become more aware of your strengths, weaknesses, values, behaviors, and the impact you have on other people. Self-reflection is a good place to start becoming more self-aware, but it’s not enough. Actively seeking feedback from your team and your colleagues is also an important aspect of self-awareness . Many organizations use 360 assessments, which can be a great tool to have at your disposal. 
• Demonstrate honesty and integrity. Trustworthiness is an important quality in leaders. It’s crucial that you maintain the highest levels of integrity and remain open and honest in your interactions with your team. Can you think of leaders you find easy to trust? What makes them trustworthy? What can you learn from them?
• Invest time in coaching and developing others. Effective leaders take a genuine interest in the growth and development of the people they work with. Take interest in learning about the goals and aspirations of your team members and play an active role in helping them grow and develop. This will help you better understand their needs and support them more effectively. 
• Develop and demonstrate emotional intelligence. Being able to effectively manage your own emotions—and those of the people around you—is an important skill known as emotional intelligence . This is a necessary skill if you want to offer stability and hope to your team, especially during challenging times. If you feel you are not particularly good at emotional intelligence, it might be worthwhile to invest time in developing this skill.
• Learn how to have difficult conversations. As a leader, you will inevitably find yourself in situations where you need to share unpleasant news with someone or where you need to disagree with someone without offending them. Being able to have difficult conversations while maintaining—and even building—trust is an important aspect of effective leadership.
• Focus on the whole person. People like to work for leaders who care about them as human beings—not just as human resources. Spend time getting to know your team members on a personal level and build relationships with them. If you are compassionate and care for their overall well-being, they are more likely to go above and beyond for what you ask of them.

Final thoughts on how to be an effective leader

Leadership is not a mystical quality and anyone can become a more effective leader by developing some important skills. Managing managers can also be more complex and complicated. But with coaching, you can develop thriving leaders that lead to a thriving workforce. 

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Yashi Srivastava, MAPP, CPCC

Yashi Srivastava is a BetterUp Coach. She helps people find calm, clarity, and courage amidst the chaos, uncertainty, and stresses of everyday life. She is at her best when she is helping people grow — as professionals, but also as human beings. After spending most of her life in India and a few years in the US, Yashi currently lives in Canada with her wonderfully geeky husband and two delightful daughters. Yashi's latest aspiration in life is to find a sense of calm balance between cherishing the joys and challenges of motherhood while continuing to live her life’s calling to help others flourish.

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How to Write a Leadership Essay That Takes the Lead

Every year millions of high school students apply for college. And every year, at least one of those colleges requires a leadership essay.

While you may have never served as a manager, fought against injustice, or led a rebellion, you have at least some inklings of leadership inside you. After all, one of the greatest fictional leaders, Daenerys Targaryen, didn’t think she was much of a leader at first either.

The point of the leadership essay is to bring those qualities out and show you—and your readers—how you can be a mother of dragons, breaker of chains, and master of essays.

So it’s time to stop looking up to other people—at least for a little while—and start seeing yourself in a new light. If you’re not totally convinced, I’ll help you dig deep and write a leadership essay that’s bound to lead the pack of other applications.

What Is a Leadership Essay Anyway?

In short, a leadership essay seeks to do two things:

• Define leadership
• Show how you are a leader

The best way to do this is to list characteristics that successful leaders have and show your reader how you exemplify these traits.

Leadership essays, in general, are going to be pretty different than the essays you’re used to writing for class. Instead of focusing on literature , authors, or literary devices, leadership essays focus on your personal qualities.

More likely than not, the first (and possibly only) time you’ll encounter a leadership essay is when applying to a university or for a scholarship. It seems a little unfair because you don’t have a whole lot of practice writing these types of essays, but that’s why I’m here.

Let’s dive a little deeper into how to write your leadership essay.

Elements to Consider When Writing a Leadership Essay

Now that you have a rough idea about what a leadership essay is, you can start writing it, right?

First, let’s review a few things you should keep in mind as you write. These elements will help you stay on track and find inspiration so that you can really wow your readers.

• Write about yourself. When some students hear the word “leadership,” they’re inclined to think this kind of essay is similar to or the same as a hero essay . But hero essays focus on other people. Leadership essays are all about you .
• Be honest. The point of any leadership essay is to let the admissions faculty know more about you. Yes, you can (and should) get creative in your essay—but don’t lie about who you are or what you’ve accomplished. If you don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything, just wait until you get to the brainstorming stage. Ideas will just start flowing.
• Don’t list leadership skills you don’t plan on explaining later. Your definition of leadership shouldn’t be one you find in a dictionary. Instead, think about the leadership skills you possess, and list those so that you can explain them later in your essay.
• Leadership essays aren’t like other essays. They don’t have to (though they can) follow the five-paragraph format . They are a little more informal, more like a story. You can either use one story to explain all of your leadership skills or use different examples for each skill. Either way, make sure it all flows together logically.
• It’s okay to write in first person . This isn’t academic writing. Plus, you’re talking about yourself. First-person writing makes it personal.

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Steps to Writing an Awesome Leadership Essay

Okay, I know you’re itching to get to the good stuff. So here are all the details about how to actually write a leadership essay so that you can get started ASAP.

Before you start trying to think of the specifics or the structure of your leadership essay, you need to know a little bit more about the leadership characteristics you have.  Brainstorming techniques are perfect for helping you identify your leadership characteristics.

Think about any leadership situations you’ve been in—the leader of a group project or sports team, any position within a school club, showing leadership among younger siblings. Really anything can be turned into leadership experience as long as you worked with other people.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be someone’s superior to be a leader.

Let’s say for the sake of giving examples that Khaleesi herself was writing a leadership essay. Her brainstorming might include the following traits:

• Stand up for what I believe in
• Kind but tough when I have to be

Having trouble coming up with a list? Try reading what other students have to say about their leadership in these example essays .

Once you have some ideas of what leadership qualities you possess, it’s time to start organizing them and creating the structure of your essay. Do you plan on writing one story or giving several different examples?

Whatever the case may be, you’re going to have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The difference is mainly what you do with the body paragraphs.

Daenerys’s outline might look something like this:

• Thesis statement
• Loyal and stand up for what I believe in
• Punished/killed slavers and vowed to free slaves around the world
• Fearlessness and determination
• Ignored distractions like the Iron Throne and Khal Drogo hallucinations to rescue dragons
• Used diplomacy whenever possible but was stern when needed
• Killed leaders who were talking about harming me and arose from the ashes unburnt—for a second time

Write your introduction

You’ll notice on the outline that I have a hook and thesis statement under the Introduction section.

A hook is a way to get your readers’ attention  and make them want to keep reading. Unlike your teacher who has to read your essay to give you a grade, admissions staff don’t have to read anything they don’t want to. So make sure your intro really hooks them and draws them into your essay.

One of the best ways to write a hook is to start at the climax of your story. This shows readers the excitement of your essay and makes them curious as to how you got to that point. Other types of hooks might be to include quotes or clearly set up your story from the beginning.

A thesis statement  tells the reader what your leadership essay is really about. In this context, it’s just a mini-outline of your leadership essay. You can be more creative here than in other essays, so play around with it a little to see what feels right.

Let’s see how Daenerys may write her introduction:

As I stepped out of the burning hut, I thought this was what I was born to do—lead the Dothraki across oceans and all the way to the Iron Throne, where I would take my rightful place as leader of the Seven Kingdoms. While leaders come in many forms, truly great leaders have loyalty to their subjects, courage and determination in the face of adversity, and the sense to know when to forgive and when to punish. In my rise to Khaleesi and beyond, I have acquired these very traits.

Can you spot the thesis statement?

That’s right, in Daenerys’s thesis statement, she outlines the characteristics of leadership that she’ll address in the body paragraphs (loyalty, courage and determination, and balancing forgiveness and punishment).

Write the body paragraphs

The meat of your essay is all in the body paragraphs. This is where you show your readers what a great leader you are. Use descriptive language and vivid examples .

Don’t just say, “I show courage by doing this.” Instead, your descriptions of events should give the reader a clear picture of how you demonstrate courage, or any other leadership trait you have chosen.

One of Daenerys’s body paragraphs could go like this:

I went through a series of rooms, each one more difficult to get through than the last. The first was my true end goal—the Iron Throne. It’s what I dreamt about constantly, and now it was right in front of me. I could see it, feel it, but it wasn’t what was important at that moment. I heard my dragons calling for me, and I knew I had to press on if I was going to get them and myself out alive.

The final step is to write your conclusion. Let the reader know the impact your leadership has had on others or what you’ve learned about yourself in terms of your leadership.

Here’s what Daenerys’ conclusion might look like:

Although I grew up being told my brother was the last dragon, I realized in time that title was meant for me. Slowly, I became bolder and stronger in my convictions, helping to save the lives of thousands and realizing my role as the Mother of Dragons.

See? It’s not that hard to write a leadership essay, is it?

Here at Kibin, we consider our editors to be leaders. They fearlessly fight grammatical errors and work hard to make students’ essays shine. So if you’re not sure that your writing is up to par with that of a leader, we’re happy to take a look and make suggestions .

Now take a good look at yourself and all the awesome leadership qualities lying within, and bring them out on paper. Good luck!

Psst... 98% of Kibin users report better grades! Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays .

About the Author

Eden Meirow is a full-time copywriter and part-time freelance writer. Along with her BS in marketing from Florida State University and MA in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University, she has spent the past 7 years learning how best to reach and teach people using the power of words. When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation.

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A Full Guide On How To Create Good Leadership Essay

Attempting a leadership essay isn’t such a daunting task, provided you have a grasp of the necessary information needed for a leadership paper. To write this special essay, you’ll need to redefine what exactly an essay on leadership is, how to choose the perfect topic, what should be in the content, and how to organize and structure the paper. Let’s delve deeper!

What Is A Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a well-formatted, organized and specialized type of formal writing which elaborates on a generic leadership topic or a superior human figure exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals.

What Makes A Good Leader Essay?

There are some peculiarities needed to infuse in your write-up if, for example, you’re trying to learn how to write a leadership essay about yourself.

Also, if you’re just trying to produce leadership essays for college, then you’d first and foremost, learn  how to structure an essay , among other skills needed for this type of essay. Here are some qualities which can be found in a good essay about leadership.

• Choose a creative topic
• Avoid the passive voice (the active voice sounds stronger)
• Search for and study leadership essay examples
• Follow the appropriate essay style
• Focus on the essay structure
• Review the essay

How To Choose A Topic And Make A Great Title?

To choose a topic for a paper on leadership, you need to do some research on the concept of a leader (whether in the corporate industry, political society or even in the criminal world). You have to know the current leadership tendencies in organizational groups or society. You can choose to make a leader the point of your reference by explaining the consequences of their leadership abilities or inabilities.

In the body of your essay, don’t forget to mention several types of leadership styles and point out which one the subject portrays. Finally, you should not rule out making comparisons of famous leaders in the modern world or in history. An example of a great prompt for a leadership essay that deploys the comparison technique would be the leadership styles of President Trump and The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte as both leadership styles have been subjected to political reviews in recent times since their emergence as president of their respective countries.

Outline For A Leadership Essay

When writing a college or professional essay such as -long and short essays on leadership, planning is the key to perfection. The general outline for any essay, including leadership papers, include an introduction, the body paragraphs (which must be properly linked with transition words and/or phrases) and a recapitulating or finding-based conclusions. Here’s what your outline should look like:

Introduction

Knowing how to start a leadership essay depends on your introduction writing ability. The introduction is the gateway to the essay. Aided by punchy opening words, which are the hook, the purpose of the introduction is to draw the reader’s attention. The introduction presents the thesis statement and leaves the body paragraphs to sustain the reader’s interest.

Body Paragraphs

Having informed the readers of the topic of the essay in the introductory paragraph(s), the body paragraphs follow immediately.

Here, you can elaborate on the concept of leadership and do a meaningful interpretation of the subject – the topic or the thesis statement. Don’t forget to talk about your leadership philosophies and leadership experience in whatever capacity you might have found yourself in. Remember, people are more interested in personal experiences. They are great in helping to sustain readers’ attention.

Remember to state a thesis or hypothesis in the opening paragraphs – which is the intro. In each of the body paragraphs of the essay, try to relate your points to the thesis and use each point to prove its validity.

The conclusion is the end part of any well-structured essay. Its purpose is a no-brainer. You don’t want to leave your reader hanging by ending the essay cold turkey. Any standard essay without a conclusion is just as useless as an essay with no purpose. However, be careful not to present new ideas not mentioned in the body.

As mentioned, the conclusion serves to summarize the developed points, restate the thesis and/or present the findings. It is your last opportunity to create an impression on the reader, and this is where they take the message away. If your conclusion is weak, then we might say the essay’s objectives are not achieved.

What To Include In A Leadership Essay?

Here are some tips on what your leadership essay should include.

Your Definition Of A Good Leader And Why He Or She Is Important

Since your essay revolves around leadership and the traits of a good leader, you’ll need to define what it takes to be one. You may also take this opportunity to trash some common myths on what a leader is (i.e., a manager being confused for a leader).

For reference purposes, the concepts of leadership and being a good leader are explained:

Leadership is the quality of a leader and is that person capable of exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals. A leader is a guide; someone with ideas and goals that can spread to a large group of people who still believe he or she can lead them in the right direction.

There are many types of leaders and therefore, of leadership since people generally always look for a person or group that shows them a direction to follow. You can find religious, political, social, or philosophical leadership. Leadership can be exercised in a traditional way. In many countries, there is a monarchy. The king or queen is a leader with limited political power, at least in western democracies, but still have the respect and consideration of the people. Their words continue to be heard and taken into account, especially in problematic times. There are other types of leadership that are not given by birth, such as legitimate leadership exercised by, for example, political leaders freely chosen by their people, or charismatic leaders.

In a way, charismatic leaders are what many understand as leaders since they are people who, by their way of behavior and characteristics, get many people to follow and adhere to their ideas. Some charismatic leaders can become legitimate leaders if they choose the path of politics. A traditional leader can also be charismatic. There have always been kings loved by his people more than others. But it can also be a person who prefers independent movements outside of power.

Charisma is the personal magnetism a person has. It is something very difficult to define but makes one capable of convincing others without too much effort, making people follow and trust the leading figure. Charisma can be used positively or negatively. The leaders of the most destructive sects are very charismatic people that are capable of convincing their followers of the eeriest ideas, including donating all their belongings or committing collective suicide.

Examples Of Your Leadership Style

In the content of your essay, you may consider giving an interpretation to your (or your chosen leader’s) leadership traits. Below are some examples of leadership qualities that separate a good leader from a bad leader.

What qualities are necessary for leadership

• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Strategic thinking
• Commitment and passion
• Knowledge and experience
• Leading by example
• Active listening
• Ability to enhance talent
• Setting goals and expectations
• People investment
• Discernment
• Concentration
• Positive attitude
• Problem-solving
• Self-discipline

Leadership Essay Example

To know how to do essay fast, you’ll need some ready-made essay examples for the sake of guidance and inspiration. You may find below a leadership essay written by Oliver Smith useful in your leadership paper.

Writing a leadership essay should be easy. A good essay on leadership starts from the hook, and the thesis statement in the introduction. The points developed in the body paragraphs help affirm the hypothesis. Finally, the conclusion offers the reader a summary through the restatement of the essay’s main idea.

As required for every essay type, your essay on leadership has to follow a definite style and format. Examples are MLA, APA, Chicago and AP styles. Take your time in choosing a creative but new topic and also in writing the content. By following this guide, everything should be as perfect as possible.

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The 6 Qualities of a Wise Leader--and How to Cultivate Them

In the age of ai, human wisdom is more valuable than ever. but true wisdom requires these six skills..

When management theorist Peter Drucker coined the term knowledge workers in 1959, most people had no idea what he was talking about. Since then, knowledge workers have come to rule the world. Today, seven of the world's 10 most valuable companies are tech com­panies, the ultimate workplace for knowledge workers.

But now, 65 years after the knowledge economy was born, we're about to be ushered into the wisdom economy. In this landscape, artificial intelligence will be the commodity, and human wisdom will be a valued yet scarce resource.

All those folks who followed the trending advice to become software engineers? My gut tells me they're a dime a dozen now, and research shows 96 percent of those engineers' current skills could be augmented by AI in the next couple of years. But discerning leaders who dive deep into what makes us human will never be rendered obsolete. What is your unique way of communicating, collaborating, and showing compassion? How do you metabolize your experiences and share that wisdom for the common good?

The answers to these questions will vary from person to person, but having started the world's first midlife wisdom school--the Modern Elder Academy --and trained more than 5,000 students to become wisdom workers, I can tell you there are several distinct commonalities among the leaders who have effectively tapped into their wisdom.

1. Pattern recognition.

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

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