This is a great post. Speed ++. I never want the spot light but try to provide input when I can. Since I finished college and held a few positions as president in various organizations and now I'm in the Army as a leader, leadership came with the job. I don't do it because I wanted to be president or in charge of a group, but because someone needs to take charge and give others direction. It's not always glamorous and there are days when you have no one to vent to depending on the size of your organization.

I feed off of input from my team. I don't think I'm the smartest guy but there are others who know more than me on various topics. I just ask them questions so I can make a better decision. So from that, communication is important.

The second part is passion. You have to love what you do. Not everyday is going to smell live roses. There will be some bad days and you have to get through it no matter how bad it is.

Lastly, you have to have a vision on where you want the group to go.
Your vision is the overarching theme for your group. With that you can stay focused and on track.

My two cents,
Tom