Being a leader is not always the easiest thing to do especially if you have been thrust into the role because someone else thinks that you are perfect for leading others.
However, there had to be traits that you exhibited that helped someone decide that you were the right person to be leading others.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, you might find the following steps helpful for you to be a good leader.
The most important thing to understand is that you are now in charge of the people around you and it has now become your job description to be their leader.
So, it's important that you learn to work with these people and never against them.
Understand that everyone has faults including yourself and that they also have abilities that can be utilized to get the most out of their skills.
A good leader is one that will work with each person's abilities and help them utilize their skills in order to benefit the entire team.
Each person is a unique individual and leaders need to be able to guide each individual in a manner in which they will be able to work together closely with others on the team.
A good thing to do as a leader is to offer your people some sort of reward or incentive in order to encourage them to get a task done and done correctly.
There is nothing wrong with giving out compliments and rewards for a job well done.
This is one of the best ways to encourage the people around you to continue to want to strive for their very best.
Make sure that no matter what that you treat everyone with fairness but at the same time remember there is always going to be that one person that might stand out in your group and this person may deserve to be promoted or uplifted in some manner.
Listening is also key to a good leader.
Never be accusing nor yell at someone when they are trying to explain their side of the story or why they did what they did.
You also need to be willing to listen to others ideas and opinions, they might have a better way of doing something than the way it's being done now.
You need to care about what they think and what their concerns are.
Remember the people you work with are not children.
If you treat them unfairly or talk down to them they are going to react badly to that kind of treatment.
They will just get angry as well as frustrated.
If you find that you have behaved in this manner, you best bet is to apologize or at least accept them for who they are as a person and let it go at that.
Never get angry or yell at someone in front of others.
You should never yell at them in the first place but especially not in public.
This is totally unprofessional, wrong and frankly most people simply do not deserve to be treated in this kind of fashion.
Understand the real reason for rules are to have some sort of guideline for everyone to follow.
However, they are not there for the sole purpose of picking out people for breaking the rules and then dishing out punishment to them.
If a person is generally mindful of the rules most of the time, which most people are, and something happens that they break a rule and it's not something they've done before, there is no reason for any kind of harsh punishment.
Just explain to them what they did wrong and ask them not to repeat the action again.
You need to realize that no matter who the people are and how serious they are about there jobs, they simply are not always going to act serious.
Humor is a way to relieve their tensions at work and it sometimes is a good way for people to feel better about themselves and the work they need to complete.
Let them have fun, just make sure it doesn't get out of hand or unprofessional.
Show the people around you that you are concerned about them and that you care about any issues that they might have.
A good way of showing you are sincere is to take time out and put yourself in their place.
Ask yourself how you would react to a certain situation or how you would feel if a certain thing happened to you.
Most importantly is to be real, be human and the rest should fall into place.