Our ride leaders have the confidence in their own abilities and the experience in cycling to be role models for our members. They try and demonstrate best practice when leading the group, whether that be consideration to other road or trail users, or road positioning and bike handling.
They can provide answers to questions about bikes, upgrades, bike set-up, courses and events, or know where to point people for further information.
They encourage and congratulate members when appropriate.
And hopefully they inspire more club-mates to become ride leaders.
A few other thoughts
Everyone has their own style of leadership – there is no right or wrong way
If there is a mismatch in abilities within a group, consider splitting into smaller groups if appropriate, or acknowledge that the group will compromise and lower the pace.
Look behind regularly and ease off if someone is dropping off, eventually the whole group will be riding at the pace that is comfortable for the whole group.
When riding offroad, consider more frequent stops to allow briefing of upcoming hazards or to instruct where to regroup at the top/bottom of the next section
Leading other people makes you reassess and work on your own riding - it's definitely helped me improve.
Thanks for reading, please add any more thoughts in the comments below.