The Art of Leading

1. Common good-By being a leader you're able to contribute to society as a whole. Our expertise and abilities are put to good use by others.

2. Change- Most of you believe something is wrong or that it can be done in a better way. The best way to achieve change is by leading it yourself.

3. Personal growth- A person who fails will learn from failure. Likewise, success will do wonders for self-confidence and growth.

4. Necessity- You may find yourself in a situation which thrusts you into a position where you are expected to be a leader. Maybe you got promoted or start a family.

5. Money- Part of starting a business venture is the aspect of making money. In order to make money from your business, you need to lead the organization you have created.

6. Recognition- This in itself should not be the main reason for becoming a leader. Nevertheless, it is perhaps a positive motivation factor when becoming a leader.

7. Personal goals- Personal goals may also act as strong motivators to become a leader. Their attainment is dependent, in a large degree, on the leadership that you exert.

1. Set a goal or purpose- If you don't know what you want, you will never have self-confidence. Self-confidence is all about believing that you are capable of achieving something. But you have to know what that something is.

2. Prepare- Simply, you should know what you're talking about. Knowing that you dominate your area will give you the feeling that you have the power to talk authoritatively about anything that involves your scope of influence.

3. Practice- You have multiple scopes of influence. You influence your family, your classmates, your work buddies, your students, your mentors, your bosses, and even complete strangers that you meet in the street. In other words, you have many opportunities to develop your leadership skills.Take advantage of all those opportunities and use them to consciously practice being a leader.

4. Achieve small victories- The impact that small victories may have on my confidence levels is astounding.when you raise your first $50, you feel like you are capable of finding $100, and so on.

5. Talk to yourself- Many positive and confident people do this. After having a solo pep talk, that 'fake' or 'built-up' confidence carries on to the street. It goes without saying that this should be a positive talk, not a negative one.

6. Act confident- A variation of the 'solo pep talk' is to act confident. Physical actions and emotions go hand in hand. If you feel sad, smile. Maybe you feel weird at first, but that simple act may put you on your way to a more positive attitude. If you feel unsure about yourself, act as if you were confident. Stand up, put your shoulders back, smile, and talk authoritatively.

7. TRUST YOURSELF- If you have done everything that I described, there is absolutely no reason at all to feel down on yourself. Simply let go of all mental barriers and go on with your mission!

By now the importance of self-confidence should be obvious. Do you want to project confidence? Do you want to gain a loyal following? Then you should start by gaining self-confidence.