1. According to Alannah E. Rafferty and Mark A. Griffin in an article published by Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (2006), there are a number of characteristics, including but not limited to self-confidence, that characterize leaders. Other characteristics common and possibly even essential to leaders include having a clear vision of the future, consistency, the ability to empower others, a willingness to delegate authority, being a strategic thinker, decisiveness, perseverance, being proactive, leading by example, being creative, the ability to admit mistakes and a willingness to learn from them, being an effective listener, being open-minded, being risk tolerant, and a willingness to make difficult decisions with limited information.
2. There is no single best way to become a leader. Rafferty and Griffin distinguish between developmental leadership and supportive leadership but never claim that one is the defining characteristic of a leader. Based on the characteristics described above, a true leader will have almost certainly have the flexibility necessary to adapt to many different situations in different organizations (Rafferty & Griffin).
3. Leaders exist in many organizations. However, there are more managers than leaders in business. There is a difference between management and leadership. It may be because so many people in positions of authority are managers rather than leaders that it is hard to point to an individual who can quickly and easily be identified as a leader rather than as a manager.
4. A true leader will be able to use a number of different tactics in order to motivate subordinates. If the reference to the carrot versus stick approach is not to suggest that leaders tend to deal with subordinates through fear and intimidation and then this would almost certainly be untrue. If the carrot and stick approach to management is meant to suggest that leaders...