I came across an interesting Harvard Business Review interview of psychologist Daniel Goleman. He pioneered the study of "social intelligence" and has determined that it makes a significant difference in leadership effectiveness and organization performance. Comprised of characteristics such as empathy, skilled interaction and the ability to develop a rapport with others, social intelligence is a skill that can be developed by anyone.

Do you have a leadership plan? Chances are you have a plan for marketing, finance, human resources, etc. Why not for leadership? One reason many people fail to become good leaders is because they fail to make a leadership plan.Approach your leadership plan as you would any other. Start by defining your leadership goals. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to go? Then develop leadership strategies that accomplish those goals. Finally, come up with tactics that support your strategies and subsequently your leadership goals.

Good leaders have the ability to develop a vision of where their organization should go, how it should get there, and how resources should be aligned to realize that vision. They also have the skills to communicate the vision to other members of the organization in a manner that inspires them to subscribe to the plan in a way that will outlast the emotion of the moment.