Whether it is to lead a company, a committee, a family, or a nation, one requires good leadership skills to get things done and to channelize the creative energy of people towards success. So, what defines a true leader? Can these skills be learned? Well, given below are a few traits that all leaders have, which can be defined as leadership skills. 6 Essential Leadership Traits Leadership is not some esoteric quality that only a chosen few are born with. Rather, it is a set of skills that both potential and experienced leaders can develop and hone, and utilize to transform challenging tasks into spectacular successes. Here are some of the most essential qualities of a leader. 1. Leaders are Emotionally Mature Workplaces, and other areas in life, can often be fraught with stressful situations. Facing tough situations is an inevitable factor of life. Usually, most people react to a tough situation either by displaying frustration or by bursting out in anger or an emotional flare-up. However, leaders always display emotional maturity in every kind of situation they face. They have the skill of holding in their feelings of anger and frustration, and instead displaying calmness and emotional maturity. 2. Leaders Display Assertiveness Leaders are characterized by their firmness and strength of purpose. They know what they want and need, and go about achieving it assertively. They are never daunted by the challenges that they have to overcome on the path to achieving their goals. They have an unwavering attitude towards the obstacles that come their way. A leader has the skill to demand and get the cooperation of his/her team assertively in order to achieve the goals set. 3. Leaders have Self-Confidence One of the characteristic traits that define leadership skills is being self-assured and having self-confidence. Leaders almost always, never require the approval of others about the decisions they take and the actions they carry out. They do not act in order to get other people's acceptance. They are very secure about themselves and do not hesitate to accept any mistakes that they may have made. This kind of self-confidence is often the result of facing and overcoming challenges as they occur. 4. Capacity to Work Hard Hard work does not daunt leaders. Fueled by their passion, they have high levels of energy that keeps them going on seemingly forever. They get the job done no matter how many long hours they have to spend on it. This is a particularly important leadership skill as only when the leader shows by example how hard he/she can work will the team follow the leader likewise. 5. Leaders have Self-Awareness This implies that leaders are conscious of their priorities, motivations, weaknesses, and strengths. They are aware of what they need to do in order to improve and exactly what is driving them to achieve what they have set out to do. Since they are aware of who they are it helps in making leading other people easier. 6. Leadership Skills involve Building Relationships Indeed, leaders have the skill of empathizing with each member of the team, thus building a relationship with them. Leaders have the inherent ability of earning respect from their team members and building their trust. This is a vital contributory factor of the productivity of teams. Leadership skills involve setting an example and being a model. It is about having a certain charisma - qualities that other people are drawn towards, trust, look up to, and feel comfortable with. Leadership involves taking inputs from everybody and deciding how it all fits according to the vision. It involves providing a path for others to follow. It means having the ability to think ahead. It is about inspiring and motivating people to achieve their full potential. Leadership means getting everybody to comprehend the goal and then work towards achieving it. leadership skills, remember, can always be cultivated in oneself.