Reading leadership literature, you'd sometimes think that everyone has the ___1___ to be an effective leader. I don't believe that to be true. In fact, I see way fewer truly effective leaders than I see people stuck in positions of leadership who are sadly incompetent and seriously misguided about about their own abilities. Part of the reason this happens is a lack of honest self-assessment by those who aspire to leadership in the first place. We've all met the type of ___2___ who simply must take charge. Whether it's a decision-making session, a basketball game, or a family outing, they can't help grabbing the lead dog position and clinging on to it for dear life. They believe they're natural born leaders. Truth is, they're nothing of the sort. True leaders don't ___3___ that it's their divine right to take charge every time two or more people get together. Quite the ___4___ . A great leader will ___5___ each situation on its merits, and will only take charge when their position, the situation, and/or the moment demand it. Many business executives confuse leadership with action. They believe that constant motion somehow ___6___ leadership as a byproduct. Faced with any situation that can't be solved by the sheer force of activity, they generate a dust cloud of impatience. Their one leadership tool is volume: if they think you aren't working as hard as they think you should, their ___7___ become increasingly louder and harsher. True leaders understand the ___8___ of action, of course, but it isn't their only tool. In fact, it isn't even their primary tool. Great leaders see more that everyone else: answers, solutions, patterns, problems, opportunities. They know it's vitally important to do, but they also know that thinking, understanding, ___9___ and interpretation are equally important. If you're too concerned with outcomes to the extent that you manipulate and intimidate others to achieve those outcomes, then you aren't leading at all, you're dictating. A true leader is someone who develops his or her team so her team so that they can and do hit their targets and ___10___ their goals.