Leadership is one of the most important skills for career and business growth today. A question that often arises in people’s minds whenever the subject of leadership is raised and that sometimes prevents people from becoming the leader they aspire to be is “can I really be a leader?” When we think of some of the great leaders who inspire us, it is easy to become intimidated and doubtful of our own leadership capabilities. And then leadership becomes something that seems beyond us—something that we are only meant to admire from a distance but never aspire towards. But the truth is everyone has leadership potential. We just have to develop the traits that lead to effective leadership. Here are some tips to help you activate that leader within you.

Become authentic.

Before you can lead anything or any other person, you must first be able to lead yourself. This requires authenticity. Authenticity is about coming into a true and profound knowledge of who you are and what you stand for. Once you discover your authentic self, the next step is to ensure that you live it on a daily basis. By living an authentic life, you communicate to others exactly who you are and what you stand for.

Become Solution Oriented.

A major factor that differentiates leaders from the pack is their solution-oriented mindset. Having the ability to uncover problems before they are problems is often not enough to develop or sustain leadership ability. But often times this is where most people stop. They either become intimidated by the problem or they feel satisfied with simply announcing problems no one knew about before or cares about. If you always discover problems but have no solutions for them, no matter how important the problems you uncover are, it will only be a matter of time before people begin to perceive you as negative and start to avoid and resent you. In which case it might even be better not to disclose the problems you find. However, leaders don’t just announce problems; they offer solutions for problems they and other people find. Over time, people begin to see and label them as solutions—to both known and unknown problems. Such leaders gain people’s trust and confidence and are effective, because people know they will be safe with them and seen and unseen problems will be adequately addressed.

Develop Empathy.

Empathy is about looking beyond the superficial and understanding the underlying emotions and experiences that drive people’s behaviors and shape their worldview. We admire some leaders because we believe they understand us. They seem to know exactly how we feel at any given moment and they understand why we feel that way. This ability allows them to interact and communicate effectively with different people. Learning to resist and suspend judgment is the key to developing empathy. This requires patience, open and honest communication, curiosity, as well as an ability to not jump into conclusions.

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