As a student, you\u2019ll be familiar with many different examples of leaders. From history books to current affairs to the classroom to the workplace, you\u2019ll have learned by now that there\u2019s no such thing as \u201cone size fits all.\u201d When it comes to leadership, it looks different every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientific studies<\/a> have even suggested that leadership is 30% genetic and 70% learned, which discredits the idea that people are born leaders. In fact, it flips it and proposes that leaders (in whatever capacity they exist) are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, some people have more natural leadership qualities than others, while some learn how to be good leaders out in the real world. Regardless of how you obtain these skills, there\u2019s always room to grow, and isn\u2019t now the perfect time to hone in on these abilities and develop leadership competency for your future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When stripped down to its source, leadership is when one has the aptitude to lead and <\/em>generate a following. Which means there are no fancy titles needed to consider someone a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, in a school setting, you don\u2019t need to be the Prefect for people to respect you. All you need is a passion for a cause, and the motivation and confidence to ask others to join you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it be in a business climate<\/a>, an activist one, or any other area, you\u2019ll notice that great leaders have extraordinary communication skills (which we\u2019ll touch on later). Fully mastering this non-negotiable plus the following ones is what sets them apart from others, and allows them to articulately share and execute their <\/em>visions with others:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of whether you plan on running for Prime Minister, running your own business or taking whatever you\u2019re passionate about in life to the next level, developing the below skills will play an integral part in shaping your overall leadership ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, it doesn\u2019t matter what capacity you wish to use them in – just having them readily available in your personal toolkit is vital for personal growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the start of every year, establish your individual goals, whether they\u2019re physical or emotional. Check-in with yourself periodically every month to assess your progression, and document it as you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if your goal is to improve your confidence, set yourself social tasks that slowly break you out of your comfort zone. Whether it’s speaking up more in class when you have an opinion or know the answer, or it\u2019s joining an after or out-of-school activity, the more you push yourself to do things, the easier they become. (This obviously applies to any target.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Educational settings are great places to talk about honesty – especially in subjects like history or literature. During your lectures or seminars, if you\u2019re studying a notable historical figure or character, start a discussion with your peers, exploring the life of the person and the decisions they made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examine which of their actions were honest and dishonest (if there were any), and discuss the outcomes of them. Plus, take it into the 21st century and deliberate what you can learn (or do better) from the person\u2019s experience as a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing in life comes easy(ish). Remember that. It\u2019s important to always value hard work and success but to also value failure, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where perseverance comes in. It\u2019s instrumental to continue working hard regardless of the obstacles you face. There will be periods when even after investing hours of your time and effort, you won\u2019t get the results you want. A successful leader won\u2019t lose hope or give up – instead, they\u2019ll persevere, remain consistent and not lose sight of the end goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Big thanks to Ben Dracup for writing this blog!<\/strong>Ben is the SEO manager at Minty Digital<\/a>, a digital marketing company primarily focusing on SEO, Digital PR and Google Ads.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please be reminded that if you need careers support, your Careers Team is only an email \/ a message away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n E:<\/strong> careers@westminster.ac.uk<\/a>| Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> |Careers Blog<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a student, you\u2019ll be familiar with many different examples of leaders. From history books to current affairs to the classroom to the workplace, you\u2019ll have learned by now that there\u2019s no such thing as \u201cone size fits all.\u201d When…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":12841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employability","category-employer-guest-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12843,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions\/12843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is the *idea* of leadership?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
What does effective leadership look like?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
How can you develop your <\/em>leadership skills?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
1. Make goals<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
2. Practice honesty<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
3. Instil hard work and perseverance<\/h5>\n\n\n\n