Leadership is about inspiring, stimulating, and influencing others to have a more satisfying life through who we are, what we say, and what we do. But do you ever question if you have what it takes to lead?

Here are the three traits that will make you stand out as a leader. Check yourself if you possess these:

Secret #1: Learn to Express Love

This is not talking about romantic love here. You cannot influence others if they don’t relate to you or if they don’t like you. It is the number one rule of relationship building. This relates to the love of your work, love of helping others, and love of who you are.

To be a leader to others, you have to create a connection with them. You have to show them that you care about who they are. That means you have to be vulnerable and show that you trust them. It means being empathetic and working to see their views and perspectives, i.e. ‘walking in their shoes.’

If people feel safe with you, and this feeling cannot be improved, it has to be genuine, and it has to come from the bottom of your heart.

Expressing love means showing people that you are not the leader, but that you are like them, and that your greatest wish is that they succeed in life. To express love is to be available for people when they need you.

Secret #2: Be Excellent

You cannot influence people if you are mediocre in what you do. You cannot inspire people in an area in which they excel more than you do; you cannot bring people where you have not been.

To be excellent is to do things to the point where people say to themselves, “This man or woman is great, I want to be like him or her. It means that you can become the best version of yourself in what you do.”

That means you can excel in your work, in your family life, and in your relationship with others (already if you have passed the first level, you are good). And this is precisely the most challenging part for the leader. It’s the work the leader has to do on himself to be the type of person people want to follow. Leadership is a skill that needs to be developed daily.

Secret #3: Support Excellence

Make people look good. You do not influence people if they know you can’t help them grow and be. If you are not a mentor to them, they will not see you as a leader. Good leaders are not afraid to let their team shine and guide them along the way.

So did your question get answered as to whether you have what it takes to be a leader? If so, keep honing these traits; if not, work on them to be the best leader you can be.

“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.” – (Unknown)