Communication one key to being a good leader Published Oct. 5, 2011 By Chief Master Sgt. Terry Kirkbride 349th Maintenance Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- It goes without saying that good leadership is crucial to any successful business. But, what makes a good leader and how can you become one? There are many factors that contribute to good leadership and whether someone is naturally a good leader or not. Anyone can become a good leader. Here are a few thoughts to help you along the way. Get to talking. One of the factors of good leadership is communication. Communication is one of the key elements. Good communication skills need to be learned to become a good leader or manager. With good communication, you are able to accurately convey your ideas and thoughts to those that work for you. In fact, simply being able to convey these things in the first place, much less accurately, puts you in the right direction for leadership. If employees have no idea what is on your mind, your leadership is going to falter. Employees are not typically mind readers. If there is a problem a certain employee is experiencing, good communication can filter the problem out. You can dissect the problem and offer solutions in various ways. Ideas that are given to employees work both ways, as well. Employees can give helpful feedback and generate new ideas to you that help the company as well, when good communication is present. Get something moving. Motivation is another variable that plays into good leadership. Employees tend to stagnate without motivation. Without good leadership, you lose motivation. Many leaders try to motivate the old-fashioned way through fear-do what I say or something bad will happen. This is not advisable, since it tends to only deliver short-term results and cause even less competent work in the long run, due to resentment from the fear tactics. Instead, try adding challenges for employees. A fresh challenge always adds excitement and spawns creativity. Challenge your employees with tasks that may be slightly out of their range and let them have at it. This increases motivation. If they run into a snag, guide them toward a solution but don't offer the actual solution outright. Coach them into discovering the solution themselves. Once they have, their self-esteem will rise, thereby raising their motivation level. Two heads are better than one. Teamwork is always something to consider when striving to become a good leader. This means not only teaching your employees to work together but to be part of the team yourself. Use others potential. Many times, employee's potential is wasted. A good leader recognizes that his or her employees are people too. These people have lives outside of work, where they have to make decisions on a daily basis, from how to deal with house payments, car bills, raising children and uncountable tasks in everyday lives. Yet, at work, their decision-making skills are not trusted enough to choose what type of toner needs to be ordered for a set of printers. The point is, employees need to be trusted to do more. A good leader doesn't manage every single detail. Use others' potential to your benefit. You will find that you have become a better leader for it. Back to school. As always, continuing your education is definitely a good thing when trying to improve leadership skills. I'm not talking about a school where you earn a diploma, or higher degree. I'm talking about the school outside the classroom. Take the time to learn as much about your position of being a leader as possible. Do some reading at the nearest bookstore. Talk to other leaders and see how they do things; trade notes. The more you continually evaluate yourself and your practices and search for as much information on leadership as possible, the more you will be able to keep up with changing times and the better leader you will be for it.