When people ask how they can gain leadership skills, I
always say the same thing: “Volunteer more”. In most organizations, it is hard
to find people who actually want to lead. More people just hide in the corner
hoping no one will call on them. I tell them, “At your church, volunteer to
take on projects. At work, volunteer to lead projects.” Now, volunteering alone
will not necessarily make you a leader, but if you accept the feedback and
correct yourself well, you can grow into a great leader.
Through volunteering, you can get feedback on your real-life
leadership skills. If you volunteer to lead and no one follows, you have some
real-life learning and correcting to do. If you volunteer to lead and no one
follows, ask for feedback and corrective support. Doing so is one of the
greatest traits of a leader. I see many business that struggle or fail because the
leader will not accept feedback from peers or the workers un the company. My
squadron’s commanding officer in the Marine Corp would often say, “True leaders
are not born leaders. True leaders want to be leaders and are willing to be
trained to be leaders, and training means being big enough to take corrective
feedback.”
