One of the chio-est member in the Management Committee (J) had a casual conversation with me over the MSN about leaders, as her boss was so damn irritating and had to turn to me (I'm being labelled as a VP who listens to my men whining). So her views were:

1) leaders dont take sides.. they are impartial to all their members
2) leaders who build up and raise other leaders are what makes them remarkable
3) leaders always are willing to listen to others
4) it's a leaders job to maintain harmony in a group
5) action speaks louder than words. walk the talk and show you're worth the respect
6) a leader, stands up for her members all the time, and relates to them not only as a leader during work, but outside as a friend

It is only during this conversation that I realised how shitty J's boss is, up to the extent that she has to come and whine to the no. 2 (yours truly). Of course, with her chio looks and everything, I listened to her whinings and gave her practical solutions to her problems.

Ultimately, my advice was, "be answerable to yourself and your sub committee, because once you achieve that, you will have a clear conscience and tell yourself that you've tried your very best. In this way, no one can fault you."