5 signs you werent meant to be a leader of people

5 signs you werent meant to be a leader of people5 signs you werent meant to be a leader of peopleLeadership is a tricky topic.It requires an immense amount of experience in the trenches to learn the hard lessons.Its common for people to associate leadership with atitle.A CEO is a leader. The creative director is a leader. Even your manager is a leader.But thats not what leadership actually is. Leadership isnt a badge you wear or a hat you put on in certain situations - Time to step up and be a leaderIt goes back to the old clich Leaders lead byexample.They are leaders not because of what they have achieved or what fancy title they have before their name.They are leaders because of how they conduct themselves, and their ability to inspire people to do things they wouldnt do on their own.A lot of people think they are leaders - and thats the problem.Here are five signs you are spending more effort trying to be a leader than actually leading.1. You use your title as leverage.The mome nt you say, Do what I tell you because I am your director, the owner, your CEO, you may win the battle, but youve yperit the war.You are no longer leading by example, and are instead trying to inspire through hierarchy.That may instigate action in the moment, but it will cause resentment down theroad.Just because you are in a certain position commonly associated with being a leader does not automatically result in leadership.2. You point the finger instead of pulling thethumb.A great leader knows that, at the end of the day, it all comes back around.If your employee or your business partner makes a mistake, yes, on some level they are accountable, but on another level their mistake may have been the result of a process or a request that you put forward.The truth is, it really doesnt matter how or why something goes wrong - thingshappen.What matters is how you, as a leader, react and move forward. And if you point out everyone elses mistakes without ever acknowledging your own role in the equation, the people around you will feel alienated.3. You are emotionally inconsistent.As an employee, there is nothing worse than not knowing whether today is a good day or a bad day.What prohibits great work and dramatically increases execution time is having to worry or wonder what sort of emotional reaction you are going to get from your leader.It may be that on some days, a very complicated question is handled with ease, and on other days, the simplest of questions throws the person into a fit of rage.These emotional inconsistencies are what create chaos in an bro or work setting because nobody knows what to expect.As a leader, you are the rock, the foundation upon which it all co-exists and operates.Its a lot to carry, but that is why you are the leader. Deal with it.4. You dont keep yourword.Nothing destroys loyalty and follower-ship faster than saying you will do something and then not doing it.Your employees and associates will begin to question your ability to carr y your own weight, no matter how much else you have on your plate.What you should do instead is be honest and admit, even as the leader of an organization or a small team, when you needhelp.There is no dignity in taking on responsibilities you ultimately cant fulfill.5. You focus on the bad and never highlight thegood.There is a fine line between inspiring greatness and tearing down motivation.If you focus only on the mistakes of the people around you, they will begin to feel as though everything they do is wrong.This is a recipe for disaster, both intrinsically and extrinsically. Yes, point out the mistakes and address them as needed. But do not overlook or devalue what they bring to the table the rest of the time.Hearing what you do well is just as important as hearing what you dopoorly.Otherwise, your employees or associates will be lost in the dark, unsure of how to best navigate themselves within your expectations.This piece originally appeared in Inc Magazine.