From Sun Tzu art of war: THE MYTHS OF LEADERSHIP

You Don't Need to Look Like a Leader

1. A Leader Must Be Tough. Softness doesn't mean not effective, and sometimes being tough will alienate followers instead.

2. You Must Be The Best. The best may not lead because they prefer to be led. That doesn't mean that the leader is mediocre and incompetent.

3. A Leader Must Behave Like a Leader at All Times. This is called fake leadership because ultimately a leader is just a normal human being like anyone. A leader is not God or a representative of God. In fact, if you behave weak at times you will touch more people's hearts and get more loyal followers

4. You Must Have A Strong Team In Order to Lead Well. This is the most daunting and untrue requirement that frightens most people. In fact a leader builds his own team. Even if he already has a strong team, he still must turn the strong team into strong followers or he is just an ineffective leader.

5. A Leader Cannot Fail. Even The Buddha fails, so why can't a leader fail? In fact, failure often makes the leader stronger. You just look at the many failed war attempts by Sir Winston Churchill of Britain and China's Mao Ze Dong and you'll know how true is this point.

6. You Must Be Ready to Lead. No one is ever ready for anything in life, what is more important than readiness to lead is the will and commitment to lead.

7. A Leader is a Good Talker. What is more important than talking is listening. True leaders don't talk much and give credit to his team. But he practices deep listening, as what Thict Niat Hanh, the famous Vietnamese monk, does all the time.

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