To me a leader is a coach. That is one who brings out the best...

To me a leader is a coach. That is one who brings out the best in people. I dont regard a leader as the one who makes all the decisions based on their own convictions as no one person can have all the right answers. The one who makes all the decisions is usually known as a dictator whereas a leader is one who can motivate people or a team to develop and arrive at beneficial outcomes.

When a person in authority says "I will make the hard decisions and not be swayed by public sentiment" that person is not exercising leadership they are exercising authority.A successful leader would have the skills to gain acceptance from most people before implementing decisions. That is the great asset of democratic systems.Prospective leaders need to be able to have the ability to bring together a team of skilled people who can work by consensus to develop policies that meet community expectations. A leader will constantly engender a process of participative communication by stakeholders whether in the home business or government etc.