Who is a leader?

A leader is a visionary who has the intuition & experience in influencing individuals & groups, directing them towards a common goal or a cause. A leader should be a good motivator, mentor, and mediator. (3Ms of a good leader)

✔✔ Two must-read books on leadership and self-development :

1. You can win ~ Shiv Khera –> Buy / Read
2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ~ R. Stephen Covey –> Buy / Read

List of top qualities a team leader should possess with examples:

1. Mentoring and Motivating skills: A good leader never lets the team down. It is his duty to assess the situation and find the cause of any failure.
   
   Example:
   
   If a team or an individual is underperforming, it is easy to replace with a better option. But, a good leader will always try to analyze the causes and sort out the reasons. It will help to identify the actual cause of the mess.
   
   If it is caused due to lack of knowledge, understanding or training, it can be corrected by properly mentoring the team or individual. If failure is caused only because of wilful negligence and lack of determination, motivation is required.
   
   Properly urging the team with practical goals, plans and projecting the bigger picture of the work will surely help the team stay focused.
   
   
2. Conflict Solver (Mediator): A good leader is tactful while dealing with conflicting situations. Differences in opinions are inevitable in any teamwork, but, can be solved judiciously without undermining anyone’s view(s) or sentiments. It is the task of the team leader to take note of the views of each member and put forward a solution that will help the team as a whole.
   
   Example:
   
   There could be a situation where there are multiple approaches to solve a problem and each one has the solution correctly. But, while implementation, the team leader should take a step back and try to understand the point of view of all the contributors.
   
   Next, while taking the decision, a good team leader should always think of the benefit of the team and explain the same to the team why the decision is been taken. This will project the best out of a team and maintain internal harmony.
   
   
3. Influencer and create impact: A team leader influences people and has the ability to convince. A good team lead projects out the positivity in every action and makes it comfortable for the entire team to embrace.
   
   Example:
   
   There can be difficult situations in any team where some drastic action or changes are to be taken. Management decisions may command – re-alignment, project termination, pay-cut or even temporary out of service for teams and individuals.
   
   Anyone can be deeply disheartened on such an occurrence.
   
   A team lead should be reasonable enough to keep everybody on track and focus only on the positivity in the future aspects and guide the team.

Conclusion: So, becoming a good team leader needs a sense of being connected to the team as a person and have a practical and far-sighted vision for the objectives of the team.

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