Winning hearts is as tough as winning a war. One does need weapons to win a war, in the same way some qualities are needed to win over hearts. A ruler can influence people only when he is in power, but a leader can influence even if he don’t have any power.

What are those qualities one should possess to become a leader? These are some of the qualities that differs a leader from a follower:

• Confidence
• Positive attitude
• Empathy
  

Confidence:

“If you think you can, you’re true. If you think you can’t, you’re true. It depends on your mind.”

One should be highly-confident, if he wants to be a leader. If the leader is confident, group will automatically gain confidence. For example, if Gandhi himself is not confident in his methods of getting independence, would anyone have followed him?

So, how to be confident? A lower self-esteem always results in lower confidence levels. To be confident, one should have trust in their abilities. If a person can’t trust his own abilities, who else can? Confidence lies in the mind of a person. So, getting rid of illusionary fears is one more important aspect for gaining confidence. Never lose a hope on positive outcome till the end, even if the situation is getting worse.

Positive Attitude:

“A thought can be compared with fire. It can either show you the path in dark forest or destroy the same; it depends on how a person uses it.”

There is a story that I always love to say when I have to tell about positive attitude.

Once, a king cut his finger while cutting an apple. On knowing the same, minister went to his chamber and said, “That’s great, you lost only one finger.” Since the king is already in grief, he got irritated with minister’s words and ordered his soldiers to arrest him. After two days, king went for a hunt and lost his way in the forest. Then, some tribal people caught him and thought of slaughtering him for their goddess. According to their beliefs, they have to slaughter someone who is completely fine. But, after examining his hand, they left him as he doesn’t have a finger. Immediately he ran into the forest and at last found his way back. After reaching his palace, he ordered his soldiers to bring the minister. On seeing the minister, king apologized for sending him to prison and told the complete thing that happened in the forest. Also, agreed that it’s really good to lose a finger or else he could have died. On hearing king’s story, minister laughed and said, “That’s great, I was in prison.” King got confused with his words and asked for reason. “Dear king, if I was not sent to prison, I could have been with you in the forest. In that case, they could have killed me as I am fine.”

Positive attitude is nothing but looking at the positive side in everything in any situation. It also helps in boosting confidence. How to develop positive attitude? To get a positive attitude, try to find a positive aspect in one person a day and acknowledge him for the same, from heart. After some practice, one can feel easy to find positive in everything. Empathy:

“Never come to a conclusion that a person is happy on seeing his smile. Instead step into their shoes; you will understand the real pain that they hide behind their smile.”

Empathy is nothing but stepping into the shoes of others. Being a leader is not just a task of leading someone; in fact a leader should be able to touch the inner feelings of every member. One should be empathetic to understand others emotions. A person who shows empathy to everyone will automatically earn respect. How to be empathetic? Start maintaining a smile when dealing with others; make them feel that you are interested in dealing with them. If we are going to deal with some person, just try to deal in a way that you would love to be dealt with. One has to practice this while dealing with every person, till it becomes a habit.

Gaining these qualities will definitely improve leadership qualities of person.