Leaders are a lot of things and have many amazing traits at once. Three traits you can work on to become a better leader are: confidence, inspiring others, and motivating others. These traits can both be innate and/or learned.

Not only are the best leaders confident, but their confidence is contagious. There may be days where the future of your organization or event is worrisome and things aren’t going according to plan. This is true with anything, large or small, and an important thing is not to panic. Part of your job as a leader is to put out fires and maintain the team morale. Keep up your confidence level, and assure everyone that setbacks are natural and the important thing is to focus on the larger goal. As the leader, by staying calm and confident, you will help keep the team feeling the same. Remember, your team will take cues from you, so if you exude a level of calm damage control, your team will pick up on that feeling. The key objective is to keep everyone working and moving ahead. Here’s a little secret that I live by: fake it till you make and one day you will make it.

When leaders lack confidence, followers lack commitment. Let me give you an example of what I mean. I was in a club a few years ago and our president questioned everything she ever did. She would always look over to her vice president or our adviser for confirmation on nearly every sentence she said. I almost never believed her. She stood up in the front of the room clearly lacking eye contact. After that one year the participation in our organization dropped in half. I personally did not prepare for my event because I did not care. I felt uninspired and lackadaisical about the whole thing.

Which leads me to my next key quality: inspiration. Being able to inspire people is often considered a major strength. Being able to inspire others is not only good for your future goals but is important for current issues. Acknowledge the work that everyone has dedicated and commend the team on each of their efforts. It is your job to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the hard work.

Make sure you motivate your members. Motivation is not the same as incentivizing. Incentivizing is often what professors do. If you do not turn in your homework then you will get a bad grade. Therefore the incentive for doing your work is a good grade. Incentives are often instant rewards that give instant gratification. While, there is a time and place for incentives. Leaders, no matter their position, should motivate others. Motivation is giving others a reason to do something. The best way to motivate is by inspiring. Inspiring is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something.

Being inspiring is usually just a matter of communicating clearly and with passion! Being inspiring means telling people how your organization is going to achieve its goal. Whether that goal is to raise money for THON, win a cheer competition or teach other students about math. Learning how to be inspiring is not always easy, particularly for individuals lacking in charisma. However like any skill, it can be learned. Take note of people who inspire you and analyze the way they communicate. Look for ways to passionately express your vision, beliefs and goals.