-show people something can be done even if they say it can't
-plan ahead, produce results
-be part of the people you are leading, not superior towards them
-through your example, show them they can do things they never thought they could (not only done by you but by them, after you've done it)
-be a winner (basically the same as produce results, put in another way)
-be passionate about what you do (and are trying to get others to do)
-be very very strong and ready to make unsertain decision and sacrifices.
You can be a leader, but you need that spark, you can't just do something and present yourself as the leader of what's going to happen. You need to really DO it. You have to be able to say to yourself "i'm going to do this because i know and you know, it's what has to be DONE, and if i have to do it by myself so BE it".
But it's kind of strange that you would have to ask this question...
Most of the time, being a leader only means you will be the one doing most of the work, you will be the one walking through a minefield first and everyone else just steps where they already saw you step and know it's 'safe'. Being a good leader is also about not letting people down! There are lots of people who can frenzy thousands of people into following their tail....right in to their doom! It's also about responsibilities...
But i do believe every man has it within himself to be a leader. How good a leader you are, or if you will ever establish yourself as one, is entirely dependant on your own personality and inner fortitude. Be prepared to harvest only little respect for all your efforts... and the full extent of the sh1t people are going to give you when something doesn't work out as planned!
Like some of the previous posters already said... most of the time, the desire to BE a leader, rather then just one day comparing what you've been doing to what other leaders in the past have been doing and going like "oh hey, that sounds like me!", is mostly counter productive to being a good leader.
The reason for this is because you are trying to get something 'out of it'. You want to be a leader because you realize it has certain benefits, maybe you feel it brings you glory, whatever the reason. You are trying to reap benefits from it. And that by itself is counter productive to being a good leader!
If you are a leader, and people RESPECT you as a leader (i don't care if you lead a nation or if all your drinking buddies come to YOU for advice = same thing), then you will have earned every freaking INCH of that respect with your blood, sweat and tears!
And if you haven't... better wear that steel plate on your back 24/7, because sooner or later someone is going to put a stiletto in to it ;-)
But i'm not going to sit here and tell you it's all about work and no fun. Sometimes, someone will open up to you and tell you something from their heart like "I'm really happy i know you, all the stuff you've shown me i could do, if you go to hell, i'll be right there next to you"... Well i've had people say this to me, and i'm usually always ready to punch some comic relief in to stuff like this.. but it makes you go quiet for a little bit.
But this would mean nothing if i had been consciously 'working' for this all these years, just to have someone i care about say this to me... the only reason it really means something, is because i never expected it and was never waiting for it.
Phoenix_of_the_ashes said:
You totally hit the nail on the head here imho. The best way i could describe being a leader is 'lonely'. I've thought about this often and at some point i always come to the conclusion that in everything i do I'm alone, I'm the first guy in, the last guy out etc.
Even when i first started playing the game... It was just me, and all my drinking buddies hanging back watching me, waiting for me to fall on my face so they could laugh their butt off (and i did, so many times). Things changed of course, as they started picking up on it (soon as i produced some results) and i did get some company in the end.