As a writer you might be wondering why developing your leadership skills is important. Well, if you’re thinking about self-publishing a book or an ebook then you will need to have the ability to lead, be proactive and work using your own initiative. Believe it or not, you are now a business person. If leadership isn’t something you’ve developed much in the past, or haven’t considered, you can begin now. Read on to learn how you as a writer can develop your leadership skills, and increase your self-confidence in the process.
Start a community project
Getting a community project started can be great way to develop your leadership skills. A community project could involve numerous types of things. Examples could include arranging some workshops in your area on a subject of interest to people, which will help them overcome a problem, or preparing meals to feed homeless people.
Whatever your project idea, in order to implement it and make it a reality, you’ll have to possibly arrange a venue, seek any appropriate permission from local authorities, find volunteers, give instructions, purchase any materials and stock. By driving such activities you are leading and developing your leadership abilities.
Observe other leaders
You most likely come across leaders in your daily life in all types of situations. This could be bosses at work, a pastor at your church, or even your mother! Observing others and the way they lead through their actions and words can be a great way to learn leadership. In particular, pay attention to those leaders around you who have the ability to make things happen, both by getting on with things themselves, and also getting others to take action too.
Model other leaders
Observing leaders is a great start. However, what is even better is to model what you watch. Pick a leader you admire, and spend some time observing the individual for short period of time. After doing this, look for opportunities where you can lead and model the person you’ve observed. Imagine you are the leader you’ve been watching, and imagine having his or her attitudes. Observe the world out of the eyes of this person and act out the behaviours that this individual would do. It will probably feel a bit strange at first, but you’ll be giving yourself a great experience in leadership.
Read books on leadership
Chances are highly likely that not only are you a passionate writer, you’re also an avid reader. An excellent way to learn tips on leadership is to read books on the topic. This could include books on leadership in the workplace. Such books are definitely applicable to you. When reading them, think of how you can apply the concepts to your book and writing business.
Reading the autobiographies of famous leaders (such as Nelson Mandela) can give wonderful insight into the minds of the most influential people of modern times, the difficulties they faced, how they overcame barriers and then went on to create mass change through leading.
Image credit: Pedro Ribeiro Simões on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0