What is leadership? What makes a person a leader?

[Poetic Silence]

Let me say this, all my life I knew I had the heart of a leader. I'm not very charismatic, but I'm personable. I'm often not assertive enough, but I'm seeing improvements the more I volunteer.
I have a problem. I'm in a position to step up provide direction for a group of people with good intentions, but lousy strategy. In the end, it's not about putting myself on a pedestal above others, but about seeing progress and significant improvement in this particular group's mission. The problem is, I'm afraid to take the reign from the current unofficial chief. Even more, I'm afraid of causing conflict with them and I fear they may not respect me enough to follow my lead?

Any advice?

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[lobo.solo]

All your concerns are perfectly normal. You will encounter resistance from people in terms of following your directions or whatnot, but that is part of being a leader. As a leader you have to prove to those under your direction that you know what you're doing and that will be difficult, but it will also be rewarding when you get the hang of it. I was in your position a couple of years ago and confronted resistance, distrust, dislike towards me from those under my supervision, but eventually I was able to show them that I was able to do the job. You will make mistakes, but you will learn from your mistakes. Leadership is an innate ability, that gets refined with experience. Good luck!

 

[oohhii]

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[NickNaylor]

Let me say this, all my life I knew I had the heart of a leader. I'm not very charismatic, but I'm personable. I'm often not assertive enough, but I'm seeing improvements the more I volunteer.
I have a problem. I'm in a position to step up provide direction for a group of people with good intentions, but lousy strategy. In the end, it's not about putting myself on a pedestal above others, but about seeing progress and significant improvement in this particular group's mission. The problem is, I'm afraid to take the reign from the current unofficial chief. Even more, I'm afraid of causing conflict with them and I fear they may not respect me enough to follow my lead?

Any advice?

People tend to come around once you demonstrate your competence. Change is hard, especially in larger groups, and until you show people that what you're doing is "worth it" in the long run, they will likely remain skeptical. As far as managing conflict, that's part of the job; if you have the "heart of a leader" as you claim, you shouldn't have any problems.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos)

 

[Poetic Silence]

I'd like to thank the three posters who responded in this thread. Your comments and advice has given me the much needed push I was seeking to do what I was fearing to do: lead.

I'm gonna give it my best shot, keep an open mind and hope that I can inspire some change.

Wish me luck.