31. Develop Positive Leadership Qualities

Now that you are becoming aware of the qualities leaders possess, you have the first draft of your script for self-development. Read the script carefully. You may already possess some of these qualities. You may need to strengthen others. And some you may need to learn completely.

Performance Prompts

• Make a list of the leadership traits you wish to develop. Customer service leaders strive to become ethical, honest, trustful, competent, flexible, goal oriented, energetic, self-confident, loyal, good communicators, and inspirations to others.

• Self-assess your leadership qualities as you see yourself today.

• Make a list of your strengths, areas of improvement, and weaknesses.

• Set goals for each area of improvement and weakness.

• When setting goals, be realistic about your development. For major weaknesses (such as the need to overcome shyness), set step-by-step goals. Start small, but think big.

• As you work toward each goal, think of consistency. To master each of the leadership qualities, you must consistently display the desired behaviors.

• When you reach your goals by consistently displaying the goal behavior, move the quality to your list of strengths.

• Read your list daily as a reminder of the leadership role you are learning and rehearsing.

When This Happens ...

You identified being a good communicator as one of your areas of improvement. For you, this means becoming more outgoing. Occasionally, you move outside of your comfort zone by forcing yourself to be outgoing, but by nature you are quiet and reserved. How do you set goals to change?

Try This

The fact that you occasionally are able to force yourself out of your comfort zone means you have already taken the first step toward changing your behavior. Understanding who you are and who you want to be means you are on the right track to becoming a better communicator. Set a goal to be outgoing and friendly every day. If that seems too daunting, break that goal into smaller, easier-to-reach goals. Your first goal could be to start a conversation with one new person every day. As you become more comfortable, being outgoing will become second nature. Soon your shyness will be a thing of the past and you will find yourself becoming more comfortable when communicating.

Don’t wait for others to set goals for you. Start setting them for yourself.