12 point checklist: Are you ready to lead?

It's not a good situation where you have n't got chance to do much as the leader of a community or an association, and your tenure coming to an end.

I was in that position, I had learnt a few lessons and felt like sharing the same may benefit many. Armed with these, any one can serve better & be a better individual.

Before taking any responsible leadership position :

1. You must ensure you already are well off in your current business/job: if your business is in red, or if you job is stinking, you will n't be in a position to be active in the group, not to talk about the leading part.
2. Think ahead about how much time you can spare per day/week for the community : and discuss this with someone whoever already was in the that position.
3. Ensure you have at least a few people from that community, with whom you can feel free to share your weaknesses, apart from being able to have a lot of fun comfortably.
4. Promise only a little, deliver much more than you promise.
5. Along with time, you must budget some money for some expenses as you go along. Whether you make a ROI or not, it depends on you, but you must be willing to spend some.
6. Be ready to do what is right, for right things you can always get support. But don't expect a pat on your back, even when you really think you deserve.
7. Communication is the most important, and go extra-mile in communicating. Your team has to know what you are up to, and what your intentions are.
8. Don't expect you have to do all by yourself, nor you can. Most of your team is willing to help you by volunteering to contribute significantly.
9. As leader, you are supposed to set a direction, and involve enough of the team from the initial stage, so that they can feel & take ownership of the cause.
10. Your team will have good deal of expectation about you, you must target to improve the existing standards.
11. Enthusiasm is contagious, for the team to be enthusiastic, leader must be very enthusiastic, and also must be able to poke fun at himself at times.
12. Lastly, but most importantly have just one or two objectives, that must be met at any cost, ensure that they are done, by end of your tenure.

Please share anything else that deserves to be in this list !