LEADER

Leaders must be close [sic] enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. 

- John C. Maxwell - 

I had seen people acting as leaders in my secondary school days and I had been led by some of them. Ah, I admit that I am not qualified (at all) to judge these people. But honestly, not many of them had the so-called 'leadership' aura (or halo), meaning, they were not able to convince people (maybe just me) that they were able leaders.

So, what does it take to be a good leader (not that I am a good leader, though)? Read down...

Lonely - Leaders are meant to be lonely. If they were given the title of 'leader', they shouldn't go around telling people their personal troubles. They keep those problems to themselves to avoid affecting the morale of the people they are leading. Sometimes, it is good to hide...

Esteemed - I am not saying that they should be arrogant, but leaders should nurture high self-esteem. Why? It gives the followers a sense of confidence. When they are confident, they can focus more on the work at hand, instead of worrying about how people look at them.

Affable - I doubt anyone wants a leader with a stern face (or they call it more Stalin than Santa) 24/7. Leaders should be friendly and easy to talk to. This ensures loyalty of the followers. Besides, affable leaders can grow into better leaders since they can easily listen to people's opinions, granting them the ability to be empathetic.

Dree - Yup, leaders are destined to dree more pain than any other people. They have to listen to criticisms, reprimands and chastisements (even if they had done nothing wrong). People tend to expect more from a leader... so they have to dree to survive.

En face - There is no time for leaders to look back to their past and say, "Oh, I should have done this, I should have done that..." It's all about the future. They learn from their mistakes (and be grateful that they have made those mistakes) and forge a better future together with their subordinates.

Responsible - Of course, leaders have to be responsible. They have to be held accountable for their followers' fate (since the followers do as the leaders say) and future. They have to bear in mind that their actions decide how tomorrow looks like.

Voila! These are some of the qualities a leader should have (of course the actual list goes beyond this acronym). Build your leadership skills around these qualities and you will find yourself noted down in everyone's white list.