How good a leader are you? Answer the following questions by giving yourself a score of one point for every “inadequate” answer, two points for every “competent” answer, and five points for every “masterful” answer:

1. How well do you know the important secrets of your business?
2. How good are you at sharing that knowledge with your key people?
3. How effective are you at inspiring others to follow your ideas?
4. How demanding are you in terms of getting others to reach their goals and objectives?
5. How good are you at following up?
6. How strong are you at coming up with useful, new ideas?

What does it mean to be an outstanding leader? Leadership, in its simplest definition, is a set of practices. You cannot give what you do not have. An individual must understand him or herself and adopt a proactive approach to life’s challenges before others inspired to follow.  Leadership starts with self.

Knowing the leadership style best suited for your particular personality will not only make you a more effective leader, but it will also help you better understand yourself.

You’ll learn about your strongest qualities and therefore be able to refine and maximize them, while also becoming more aware of the qualities that you need to work on in order to be the best version of yourself you can be.

It’s important to keep in mind that there is no “one-size-fits-all” leadership style. Different situations call for different approaches depending on the needs and challenges of the moment. And sometimes, a problem is best solved by combining different types of leadership styles