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Winning is hard. It takes a combination of factors that need to come together perfectly in order for something hoped for can occur Although some of these factors are out of our control, there are many that fall directly within our abilities. A few of these have to do with how we function as a leader on a team seeking to win. If you talk with Marc Leder, a proven leader and an expert on identifying leadership qualities, you will often hear that leaders are made and not born. With this in mind, here are some qualities you can adopt to make yourself into a great leader.

Pick the Right Team

A part of any success story is the team that got the job done. A leader understands this and picks team members with a winning set of skills that are critical to getting the performance needed for any job. A quick list of the skills that key team members must possess are:

• Problem Solver:Can face challenges and bring them to a good conclusion.
• Great Communication Skills:An ability to communicate clearly to others about the job.
• Past Performance: A proven history of accomplishments.
• Understands of the Job: Fully understands the relevant elements of the job.
• Highly Organized:Can locate any critical element of the job at any time.
• Strong Ability to Motivate People:Able to create a vision for and inspire others.
• Accurate at Estimating:Can correctly tell you what is needed to get the job done.

Don’t Micro-manage

As mentioned above, a leader knows the importance of picking the right people. Because you have picked good people, who have the skills and abilities required and are trustworthy, you need to trust them to do their jobs. This entails giving them their marching orders and then giving them room to operate. You are still the leader and you should never be totally hands-off, but doing the opposite which is micro-managing skilled people creates all sorts of problems for you, them and the job to be accomplished.

Remember, one of your goals as a leader is to never become a stop-point for progress. Being in-line to have to approve every e-mail or small detail of something places you directly in that role.  Further, it makes competent people feel constricted. Good leaders work with their team to create a system for communicating and keeping key people informed, and then they manage this process, not the details relating to the project. If the team member does not adhere to the agreed upon process for how things will occur, then the leader steps in.

Compliments Successes

When your team is in the trenches with their heads down and a myopic focus on the big win, small victories often get overlooked. Great leaders make sure that this never happens. They set milestones and as one is achieved, there is recognition of that the milestone and a celebration whether about it. The celebration could be something small but what is important is the team seeing you recognize their hard work and its outcomes.

Stay Committed

In order to accomplish anything valuable, it will take struggle and there will be times when things are not going well. If you expect your team to work hard and produce during the good and the rough times, you’re going to need to lead by example and stay as firmly committed to your goals throughout the journey. There is no greater motivator than seeing the leader pushing along with everyone else when things get tough. By proving your commitment to the goal, you will not only earn your team’s respect, you will also instill that same energy among them. Your commitments should also include any promises you make. If you say the team will have a half-day off on Tuesday and on Monday a huge order comes in that needs to be filled, keep your promise about Tuesday. When you show that you keep your word, people will become even more committed to working hard for you.

So there you have it. A list of the important skills you need to be a great leader and get great results. Try them and remember that each situation has a specific se