8 traits that will make you a better leader

We are in the age of leadership, and it is not easy to be an excellent leader. Leadership doesn't mean to be the boss, it means to achieve goals, initiate and develop a movement and gain transcendence through the effort of a team. Through the years, I have learned from my mistakes and I would like to share some traits that will help you to become a better leader:

1) Be human. Make your team laugh (or cry, depending on the situation...), but don't make them cold and indifferent. I've found that my teams are more creative when we are willing to enjoy and to have fun with the work we are doing.

2) Think always in your client. In business, and I would say in all human endeavors, you have to think like your clients (client in a broader sense can be even your wife!). At the end, you want to create a movement, a change of behavior, a transformation, and thinking only in yourself will not help to achieve that.

3) Recognize the contributions and merits of everyone. Nothing is more pleasant that the praise of someone, and we tend to give us the merit. Remember in such moment of glory, who helped you to achieve it. Give credit, give praise, pamper your team for its big effort. You will feel even better.

4) Lead by the example. Be creative, be bold, behave in the way you want your team should behave. It will be difficult to have a maverick team is you are a turtle. They are eager to replicate you, so make your best effort to transmit your energy clear and loud. Be ethic, be personal, be human and they will be like you.

5) Listen more than talking. As an old saying states, "we have two ears and one mouth, so we should be more able to listen than to speak". But we love to listen to ourselves, we are so in love with our voice that we tend to speak and speak. Take time to listen, take time to comprehend what your team is sharing, and what your client wants. It will help you a lot!

6) Learn everyday, and share your lessons learned. If you think you know everything that is needed, may be you are already dead. Search for new things and new ways of doing your work. Share such new knowledge with your troops. They will appreciate it and they will know better what you want to achieve. And a plus: sharing will let you to reinforce what you have just learnt.

7) Take time to think and strategize. Your time is all crowded with meetings and work, but you need some time alone to think and strategize. I like to do that first thing in the morning sipping a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Find your way to look for that time alone, and take a notepad (or iPad, iPhone, napkin, something!) to capture your ideas. Don't let them fly into the air even if they look crazy at a first sight.

8) Take time to mentor people. Your team loves feedback and they want to hear directly from the source: you. Take time to mentor people. I like to do that in a different environment (may be at lunch time, in a quiet restaurant). Share the good and the bad, share anecdotes, be vulnerable and share your mistakes and how you recovered from them. He/she will work better because you both understand better each other at a human level.