You never know when you'll need to become a leader, and when you do, your team needs to know they can follow your direction and trust your decisions. A strong leader effectively communicates, motivates, troubleshoots, and empowers while offering accountability when needed. These attributes make people feel secure, heard and guided (and increases productivity).

If your leadership skills aren't where you want them to be, it's time to seek out opportunities to learn. The more you learn, the more confident you are in an authoritative role, so use these ideas to boost your leadership cred.