10 Characteristics of a Good Leader

                 
           
                   A leader must not only have an in-depth knowledge about the thing he/she is leading for, but must also possess special characteristics that will help him/her become a great leader and produce a winning team. In some people, these characteristics are naturally found in them; however, these characteristics can also be developed and strengthened.

Here are the ten foundational characteristics to good leadership:

(1) Great Communicator
     A good leader has effective communication skills. He/She is a great orator and persuader. A good leader is very comfortable with public speaking, and is able to clearly articulate himself/herself.

(2) Enthusiastic
     A good leader is enthusiastic about his/her work, and also about his/her role as a leader. Leader needs to be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action. Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be a part of team working as hard as others, towards the goal. Leaders should not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. 
   
(3) Believes in Excellency
    A good leader is committed to excellence. He/She not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar to achieve excellence in all areas.

(4)Passionate
    A good leader is passionate about whatever he/she is focused on and believe in taking action.
 
(5) Observant
    A good leader, as well as keeping the main goal in focus, is able to think analytically. Not only does a good leader view situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. Not only keeps the goal in view, but a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it.

(6) Respectful to others
    A good leader values and respects the views of the team members. A good leader listens to all ideas presented by the group and gives everyone a fair chance to express ideas.

(7) Bold and daring
    A good leader needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. People look to the leader during the times of uncertainty, and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and positive demeanor. A good leader need to be tolerant of ambiguity, and remain calm, composed, and steadfast to the main purpose.


(8) Trust worthy
    The most successful leader is the one that is able to gain the trust of colleagues, employees, and stakeholders. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live his/her life with honesty and integrity. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.


(9) Confident
    A good leader is confident. In order to lead and set direction, a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a person inspires confidence in others, and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task as well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from the team members.


(10) Responsible
     A good leader will take responsibility when things do not go according to plan or when a project fails. Good leader always acknowledges the team members.

Anuradha Koirala: A hand out of horror

Some facts on Girl's trafficking:

(1) Nepal and Bangladesh are the main source countries in South Asia for trafficked children.(Masako Iijima, "S. Asia urged to unite against child prostitution," Reuters, 19 June 1998) 

(2)The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for the purpose of prostitution is probably the busiest 'slave traffic' of its kind anywhere in the world. (Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods," Nepal/India: News, 27 January 1997)

 

(3) Every year between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red light districts in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10 years old. 200,000 to over 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are already in Indian brothels. The girls are sold by poor parents, tricked into fraudulent marriages, or promised employment in towns only to find themselves in Hindustan's brothels. They're locked up for days, starved, beaten, and burned with cigarettes until they learn how to service up to 25 clients a day. Some girls go through 'training' before being initiated into prostitution, which can include constant exposure to pornographic films, tutorials in how to 'please' customers, repeated rapes.(Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998) 

(4) Trafficking in Nepalese women and girls is less risky than smuggling narcotics and electronic equipment into India. Traffickers ferry large groups of girls at a time without the hassle of paperwork or threats of police checks. The procurer-pimp-police network makes the process even smoother. Bought for as little as Rs (Nepalese) 1,000, girls have been known to fetch up to Rs 30,000 in later transactions. Police are paid by brothel owners to ignore the situation. Girls may not leave the brothels until they have repaid their debt, at which time they are sick, with HIV and/or tuberculosis, and often have children of their own. The girls are abandoned when they become infected with HIV. 

             

          While there are many organizations, working to abolish child-sex slavery, none of them are as dedicated as Maiti Nepal. Many NGO's are registered with aims and objectives to help the poor but the poor become poorer and ultimately dies in scarcity when those supposedly working for their benefit get fat and fatter. 

         Anuradha Koirala is a social activist, and the founder and director of Maiti Nepal --a non-profit organization in Nepal, dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking, which has rescued more than 12,000 women and girls from sex slavery. She was named the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year. Working with Nepalese police, Maiti Nepal assists in intercepting young women at border crossings before they are taken into India, by providing surveillance at the border points. Maiti Nepal staff members rescue trafficked girls and women in Indian brothels, repatriate them to Nepal, and rehabilitate them. Maiti provides food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and a hospice. For the young women whose physical health can be restored, Maiti provides vocational education and micro-loans to help them start small businesses. In addition Maiti provides legal and psychological counseling, public awareness campaigns, and it lobbies for tougher trafficking laws in Nepal. 

 

 Anuradha Koirala's work

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A new member!!

Hello frens!!
I have a new member in my house. My new fish "B"!!...I decided to keep his name B because he is blue, he is a betta fish, and my name starts with letter "b". So, i thought it would be a good combination. I was not crazy about fishes before meeting B, and i never thought of having one. You might be thinking, then why do i have a fish? Let me tell you the story of my first meeting with B. It was thanksgiving holiday week, and my friend Sadhana had invited me for sleepover at her apartment because all of her roommates had left to spend their holidays with their family. As we were cooking, i saw little blue B in a little glass pot filled with water behind the kitchen sink. It looked like the water had not been changed for a long time. I asked my friend, whose fish it was. My friend said, her roommate, who graduated and moved out already, had abandoned him, and my friend did not want to keep him. I felt bad for the little fish. So, i decided to bring it home with me. Now, he is a little happy fish with a proud to be mom, which is me.