A True Leader Has...

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." A true leader makes difficult situations less painful.

A leader has wisdom to give and guidance to give. He understands the specific dynamics of situations. In his life and work, he has learned that decision-making is rarely simple or straight-forward. It involves a conscious balancing of multiple considerations in a dialogue between conflicting values. Some people’s values become evident to them. Others are not aware of them until the situation is challenging enough to cause them to confront them. True leaders have the wisdom to give and guidance and understand how situations must be applied to existing strengths in a way that allows each person to make adjustments, negotiate effectively, and bring the best possible outcome to the table. These principles apply to all situations, and no situation is as complex as it seems. A leader must make the effort to explain what happened, to express a conscious set of objectives and understandings, so that everyone involved can go forward.

In a debate, you will hear some people debating how the correct answer is defined. Sometimes someone will explain why they believe the current definition is correct and explain what situation is supported. Sometimes someone will be explaining an alternative definition and what situations are supported by this. Then others will be explaining why they think their definition is the right one and expressing their knowledge. This is a debate. It is a discussion, a series of reasoning moves and arguments, and it is a debate where evidence is presented to support one’s side or the other. A debate is something like that, where evidence is presented to support different perspectives on a topic.

Coaches and training professionals can provide situations and interactions in which these techniques can be applied. Sometimes you will have a situation where there are decisions to be made and many individuals must be evaluated and valued. The true leader explains the situation, walks people through the decision-making process, values each person’s input, provides guidance, and allows each person to make the appropriate decision based on the variables present. After a decision is made, the leaders can explain to those who still need convincing why they believe it was the right decision. This creates an environment in which a true leader makes decisions, explains what happened, and explains the rationale. It creates a space where a decision is presented for understanding, evaluation, discussion, and feedback. It is a space where true leaders demonstrate their expertise and cognitive skills by articulating their opinions. This kind of dialogue increases cognitive understanding and teaches individuals the appropriate roles in debates. It provides reasons for the actions. It describes situations and conditions, which clearly communicate why certain decisions have to be made and help the conversation move forward. It allows individuals to debate issues, explore possibilities, express their perspectives, and make accurate assessments of other people’s viewpoints and decision-making.

A true leader has developed a range of cognitive skills and examples in which to practice. When you try to apply these techniques to a situation in which you are involved, you can have a clearer understanding of the environment, situations, and decisions. This increases your cognitive skills and understanding, which increases your abilities to be more effective in any decision-making situation. When you understand a situation’s dynamics, you can understand how it influences people, how people respond to situations and decision-making, and how cognitive abilities are used in the interactions. This increases your understanding of situations and increases your ability to make effective decisions. When you understand and apply these techniques to new situations, you increase your cognitive skills. When you build new mental models or use new environments, you will be creating new cognitive environments. You will be using more of what you already have.

Of course, life is not always so clear-cut. There are situations where you cannot always apply these techniques. Sometimes there are situations in which there are situations in which one cannot explain why certain actions were made and there are disagreements over the validity of the reasoning and outcomes. That is a situation where one might need to explain certain situations and evaluate the validity of a situation. This is a scenario in which one needs to focus on different situations and situations and how different scenarios can be described and evaluated. This is an environment in which one needs to explain situations, concepts, and relationships. This increases cognitive skills, provides clarification, and allows you to understand what is being discussed and who supports it. This increases your understanding of situations and processes, and increases your ability to make decisions.

If we apply ourselves to begin learning more about our cognitive and decision-making processes.