My Opinion About Good Political Leaders

A good political leader is the person who will be honest and morally accountable for their behavior, for their own actions and decisions and who is willing to confess to be true when they have made a mistake. They will concentrate their energies and time on representing the people rather than exhaust all the time “covering their backs” and criticizing others.

To come to a decision about which candidate to vote into office is most often, simply a matter of party affiliation for many people. For others, however, they cast their votes based on specific characteristics that they look for in their candidate of choice. So what are the distinctive attributes or characteristics good political leaders should possess?

Here are my 5 most important characteristics of some of the world’s most successful political leaders in history. What they have in common - Honesty, Compassion, Integrity, Confidence and Flexibility.

Honesty - Being honest can occasionally be difficult for the reason that, it makes a person susceptible to emotional attack or harm. It makes known to others who we really are and allow to be seen, especially by uncovering our mistakes, which gives others the chance to criticize or reject openly. Notwithstanding, "honesty" develops character and builds the quality of being trusted and believed in; which are the underlying basis to draw out a feeling of self-assurance, arising from one's appreciation and of one's own abilities or qualities; and respect from those around you, and in the case of political leaders, fellow members and constituents.

An aspect of good political leader is compassion. Compassion is the human interface and of the quality of understanding about the suffering of others, and wanting to do something to alleviate that suffering. There are some people who see compassion as a weakness. Such a stance is a misconception because true compassion is the innate characteristic that causes change of knowledge to wisdom. Good political leaders use compassion to see the needs of those he or she leads, and to firmly decide the course of action that would be of a very good or a satisfactory benefit to all those involved.

A look at "Integrity". The word integrity is defined as ‘the quality of being honest and having a strong moral principles; moral uprightness.’ It is a word or phrase that means nearly same for honesty and uprightness, and this attribute is an absolutely necessary and important characteristic for those in political leadership. The fact of the matter is that, political leaders possessing integrity can be trusted because he or she never suddenly change an opinion from inborn values, even when it might benefit them to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and as this requires the highest standard of integrity.

One of the cardinal attribute or prerequisite necessary for political office is "confidence". Having confidence in a political leader is about having faith or belief that he or she will act in a right, proper, or effective way. A good political leader needs to be both confident in himself or herself as well in their ability to lead. Leaders who possess this quality inspire others, drawing on a level of trust which sparks the motivation to get others on board and get the job done.

A great asset in governance management is "flexibility" or the ability to easily modify. Flexibility for a political leader should always be about the willingness to change or compromise. That is the give-and-take aspects of politics, and the ability to find the common ground. Good politicians listen carefully to all sides, to not only hear their arguments but to especially learn what it will take on behalf of all parties involved to reach a consensus. In the end this characteristic allows political leaders to acknowledge the existence of setbacks and criticism, to learn from them and move forward.

In my opinion, great political leaders have all of these qualities - and more. Each aspires to respect different views, analyze problems, and identify the best solutions - not based on loyalty to political party, but rather based on what is good and right and in the best interest of the nation as a whole.