Have you ever tried to follow someone who lacked a sense of authority and direction and needed to fit in with everyone else? Perhaps you have had leaders who shied away from the risks and challenges of leading. It is difficult to follow someone who does not want the responsibilities of leadership and is not inspiring.

One of the attributes of a strong leader that we usually recognize right away is what we call “leadership presence”. Leadership presence is someones:

self-confidence
sense of authority
appearance of competence
ability to enjoy being in charge

These leaders inspire people to follow them and they lead by example. This attribute is important. People in positions of influence need to own and show a presence of competence and confidence. When other leaders and followers do not see these traits, it can lead to mistrust, fear, frustration, and confusion.

To develop into a strong leader, there are some desired Behaviors. Strong leaders:

Possess and show a sense of authority and direction
Attract and inspire people to follow them
Like the risks and challenges of leading
Understand and own the responsibility of leading well
Have a way about them that others recognize as leadership

These are all attributes that we can and need to develop if we either want to lead. They are important if we want the kind of success in life that requires being able to lead.

If you have low levels of this skill, then your leadership success will suffer. So will and the performance of any group you lead. If you want to be a great or even good leader, you need to be skilled in this area.

Leadership presence is one of the attributes included in The Lions Leader Manager Assessment. Ray Hoskins and Associates uses this assessment. It helps our clients assess their leadership competencies. We then work with clients to help them identify which changes they can make to lead, and indeed, live more effectively.