What makes a great leader? What makes them so different?

For my psych paper due a few weeks ago, other people chose Oprah. Ghandi. I chose to write about Obama Barack for a great leader.

A few years ago, I applied for the unit supervisor position because my supervisor urged me to do so. Despite my outstanding record as a consultant, I didn\’t get the job. I didn\’t get an interview. I never really figured out why and blamed it on the politics of the way rescomp was ran.

Yet later, I discovered it\’s not that. It\’s because I didn\’t establish concrete relationships with the upper management. In society, people do favors for people they like. They hire people they like, even if the record doesn\’t match. What I liked about my past supervisors were the ability to understand my weaknesses and balance them with my strengths. In leadership literature, they say the most important qualities of a leader are: empathy, motivation, self-regulation, self-awareness and social skill.

There is one person I know who puts a lot of emphasis on performance. He told me once that he wants to be a manager because he likes control. In the real world, he said that people care more about performance than learning. During my internship three years ago, the CEO in the company led the projects. Yet a lot of us, especially the interns, felt disillusioned. He was disconnected with us, preferring to work separately. He attempted to inspire us with speeches that outlined the company vision. But that was it.

This is why they say great leaders can be found in the hall, socializing with people they don\’t even work with. It\’s important to build those strong trusting relationships in the very beginning. Leaders are not born. They are made. They are the ones we trust. They are the ones we believe in. And perhaps that is why they lead us.