I once had this project to deliver while taking my bachelor degree and we were a group of 4. One of the girls just assumed leadership, she was the best student of the class, she divided the project in various tasks and distributed them to the people of the group. She didn’t give any task to herself, instead she would check with everyone on their tasks and help whenever people needed to. One of the guys was having trouble with another class and so he didn’t do his task, instead of yelling or getting mad she helped him with the class that was giving him trouble until the problem was gone and then he was free to the task. She also constantly checked our availability and scheduled weekly meetings for us to take our doubts in the project and to always check its evolution. She was always on top of the project and was always making sure we did our part but she never berated us if we hadn’t done our part. Even though she was the best student and she assumed a leadership position I never felt inferior to her because she never saw like that, we were just colleagues in her eyes but I did see her as our leader.

The best leader I have ever had was my English teacher at high school. He was not numb at all, he had traveled much, he had lived for some time in Canada and the US as a former emigree, and he was very funny. With his natural charisma he was able to attract the students and make the boring learning so far very entertaining. He explained to me the language in a completely different way, and he was able to motivate us very well. The truth is, I never wanted to disappoint him and I was very happy to be able to react quickly and correctly, which made me learn much more. In addition, his lessons always went very fast and I never felt I could not wait for the end of the lesson.

But again, it is confirmed that if you have a natural charisma, you can do everything - capture your followers, you can lead them and get very good results. I think if this were not the case, it would once again be one of those long boring hours that are unfortunately common in some schools.

The best leader I ever had is my father. He doubles up as my mentor. Growing up I had an issue with throwing tantrums whenever I needed something and it became very serious. One day, my father decided that we would operate with a point based system in his house. If you did good, you got a point, if you misbehaved or used swear words or never delivered on your promise you were deducted a point. At the end of the week, the number of points one had determined the type of gift one would 'unlock'. We were 4 in the family and come Sunday everyone was eager for their gift even my dad himself. The point-based system stuck and my behavior changed accordingly and the relationship with my father grows stronger every day.

I have been lucky enough to have had several good leaders (or bosses) but there is one in particular who stands out. I worked for her for 10 years and it was an absolute pleasure. Her knowledge of the business was truly comprehensive so you knew, if you had a question or needed guidance, she would be able to help. She was absolutely professional in every way and a truly excellent role model. It was interesting to see how she employed people to join her team. Yes, she gave every consideration to their professional and / or academic qualifications but, she also paid a great deal of attention to the personality of the person she was interviewing, in part, because she was trying to envisage how well they would interact with members of the existing team. In general, her judgement was spot-on. This meant that she put together a group of people who had a wide range of different talents enabling them to work well together and complement each other's strengths. Inevitably, this made for a happy work environment where individuals pulled together for the good of the team (and thus, ultimately, the company). She encouraged us to work hard and to play hard. I had an enormous amount of respect for this person - she was no pushover and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to cross her but you always knew that she had your back. She was always approachable and ready to listen if / when a member of staff had either personal or professional problems and would always do her very best to help or provide a solution. I am now lucky enought to be able to call her my friend, many years after we stopped working together.

Well, I haven’t found a good boss in my previous jobs which made me changed working places every year, and I’m now settled running my own business. But I realize it’s easy to criticize when you don’t have the same authority or responsibility. I consider my husband as a good leader because he has the warmest heart I’ve ever known. He ‘s a family man, takes care of his parents, and jokes around with the children. He is also quite a good leader as an owner of a small business. He connects with the employees and think of them more as a part of a family, rather than an organization. He listens to them and they feel comfortable around him. Although, some greedy employees have taken advantages of his soft sides, he never ceases to believe there’s good in every person. And I learn a lot from him.

The best leader I had was my elementary school teacher. I did not think she was a good leader at the time, because she seemed strict and pushed us to study hard and not many kids liked that. As the years passed and I got older I was surprised by how much of information she has taught me I could still remember all those years after her lessons. But not only that I gained knowledge, but looking backwards, I remember her as someone who always got the job done and still found the way to talk to us and give us some useful advice. As a leader, she possesed strong organisational skills, she was a very good influencer and her social skills were great.

I have had the pleasure to work with and learn from many inspiring leaders whom I look up to. Here are certain traits I found really great about them:

1. Unconventional Approach: A professor of mine always advocated unconventional approaches to make us think by pushing us outside our comfort zones. He ended up being one of the favourite professors for almost all the students who came after me and were taught by him before me.
2. A Space for Autonomy: Another amazing leader always understood the kind of space I needed to autonomously work from and ensured I received all the support I required in the meanwhile to get things accomplished.
3. Role- modelling: Another leader always inspired me by going beyond his way to support me and push my thinking.

The best leader I've ever had - my student coach and mentor. After initially joining my BsC studies, I've joined student organization that was led by inspirational people who tought the ways of life and thus I've met many of the people in there, some of whom were born leaders already, that helped me to become one as well and tought me many great things, some of which were led purely by their own example of doing things.

Having the ability to study leadership at the university helped a lot to grow as a leader in the future years to come.