Leadership

Well this last week has been a long one...too long and I fear the next might be even longer even though there's a holiday somewhere in there.
I've had many things on my mind but I think what occupied me the most was questions about leadership.
Be it a boss or a team captain, all of us have someone above us calling the shots.
So what makes a good leader?
I think its one of the most difficult questions there is so I'm going to try and answer the opposite:

What makes a bad leader?
First up I think everyone would agree that no tyrant will ever be popular.
But is it necessary for a leader to be popular i hear you asking.
Well, if a leader was to make an unpopular decision but the end result was to the liking of most wouldn't that in the end make him popular?
It's all about end results isn't it?
I think so.
So maybe a leader doesn't need to be popular, but I believe its impossible for a good leader not to be popular.
They should be someone that doesn't feel the need to force people to do things but rather inspire them.
Yes, a good leader would be someone that has the ability to inspire the uninspired.
Someone that can make people who have no believe in themselves have self believe.
Someone who can make the value of the people under them as a group or team more than the sum of the capabilities of those people.
A good leader is not one who has the capability to force people follow his/her leadership but rather someone who inspires people to follow him/her even though they may not want to be leaders.
Someone everyone else looks up to no matter how hard they may try just to be one of the crowd.
Above all I believe that a great leader is someone who is a servant to the people not someone the people serves.