Top TEN qualities needed in an aspirant of SSB to be an effective Leader

As going the saying that leaders are born and not made. This is a conflicting topic but there can be a debate over it and the discussion can continue for hours. But definitely certain traits are there in leaders which make them great leaders. Our officers in defense forces are also true leaders where they have to lead the troop in front and they save our country in different ways.

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That is why 15 officers like qualities are classified and are tested in various means at the SSB. All aspirants who are preparing for SSB should start introspecting their lives to know more about them. That is the only things that need to be done before going to SSB as its nothing but a exam where you have to reflect your true self. There are certain traits that make everyone an effective leadership. One needs to understand the values that are associated with it.

1)      Integrity – Without everyone’s trust it’s difficult to achieve success, so for a leader it becomes essential to be a trustworthy person in the group. Everyone part of the group should be able to think that the decision taken by the leader would be worthy to follow.

2)      Clear Vision – What one needs to do should be clear to him or herself then only one can move ahead. Also there is some portion of dependency on the leader and with trust and clear vision everybody gets the flavor of success. Long term achievements and short terms should all be clear to the person. Time management plays an essential role here where one should manage all the things in one go without leaving anything liked by him .

3)      Ability to develop others – Everyone has some strength and weakness so that should be recognized to develop the next chain of future leaders.

4)      Positivity – Bring positivity in every situation and whatever happens, so one should see the future as positive, predict things accordingly and do the work. Motivation is also essential achieving such things. This quality is essential for our future officers because the situation in which an officer leads is certainly unpredictable and such things can never be taught.

5)      Listening skills – Listening is a skill and it should be present to the fullest and practiced. Everyone should be given a chance to express. Every drop counts and every small idea can be an anchor in the team success. Everyone should be motivated to give idea that should be like fire to achieve the desired result. One should ensure that the self-respect that everyone deserves should be maintained in spite of hierarchy. A leader never keeps on speaking , he or she gives equal opportunity to all to speak and clear the note.

6)      Understanding of Compromise – Choosing a side is not essential but staying grounded is so one should practice it effectively. There are instances in life where one needs to compromise to gain certain other things. The priority list for our future officers should be always ready. One should learn to keep the personal and professional life apart. The decisions should be taken then and there without the personal things impacting the decision. The relationships should also be kept apart while working as that counts in professionalism.

7)      Interpersonal skills – If a personal tone is adopted it becomes more personal and the richness is there in the relationship. Once richness exists everybody becomes a follower and there is no limitation in the relationship, so work hard on it future officers and practice in your life every day. The ability to say no, and to understand what others want to convey and say should be inbuilt. Also one should share a good relationship but should see that the use and throw policy is not used on him neither is used by him on others. Everybody shares a good relation when some work is there but the same tune should continue when there is no work with the others.

8)      Guts to step out of comfort zone – We as humans like to take things easily and develop a comfort zone for our liking's. Then our thinking capacity also becomes limited, though we enjoy this period but we tend to forget that we are not utilizing our self to fullest. A soldier need to utilise themselves fullest always and whenever possible. So be attached to things but don’t start loving them.

9)      Self-assessment – Growth is the need of all, so make contribution to develop yourself. SSB is all about self-understanding and modification. Psychology also changes with time, so never thing that if you are rejected at a certain instance, you will always face rejections. Once rejected you should try to work on the root cause and appear next time with a bang to get recommended. Learning should never be static and should continue lifelong in all forms and from every possible source.

Click here to know all the OLQ's ( officer like qualities)that are looked in SSB

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10)   Gut to function in odds – when you learn to move out of comfort zone it becomes possible to work in every situation and face the odds. Learn this because the path that you have chosen is not only difficult but fill of odd happenings. Nothing is predictable, neither the terrain, nor the people, so one should have this ability to excel in all phases.

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The OLQ’s are essential and these qualities make the real leader in you and that’s why it is said that YOU HAVE IT IN YOU!!! The OLQ list has been published separately in another article. Read it and start working.  Still If you have any confusion or feel to take individual assessment of personality for OLQ’s or prepare from your place itself through one to one interaction through my mentoring / counselling program drop me a mail at jayendrapsingh@gmail.com or add me on Fb and drop in a message. It would be a pleasure to help and resolve queries and clear doubts which are more often myths that are present in the mind of aspirants. Hope you liked our efforts to keep defence aspirants updated and provide sufficient tips to help understanding SSB much better. Also all the latest Lecturette and GD topics are published. Follow us so that you did not miss anything and share it with your friends too. Subscribe for email notification to receive information timely.