I'm writing an essay on the qualities of a good leader in To Kill a Mockingbird and am using Miss Maudie as my model. I need some...

Perhaps you may wish to first consider what qualities Miss
Maudie has that are those of a leader, and then you can open your essay with a
definition that befits your model character.  Following this motivator, you can then
write your thesis which will state that Miss Maudie exemplifies the qualities of a
leader .....(Here you state at least three reasons that you will support with details
from the novel).  Here are her more sterling
qualities:

Miss Maudie as a leader -
individualism

Since a good leader is a
strong individual who thinks for him/herself. 

Miss
Maudie displays individualism on several occasions.  For instance, when the
fundamentalists ridicule her, she is undaunted and declares her beliefs. Never is she
afraid to express her disapproval of acts of injustice. When other disparage the
Radleys, she tells the children that they have a right to live their lives as they feel
they should; likewise, she defends Atticus's dislike for guns and his not having told
the children that he once was known for his expertise with a
gun.

When public opinion is against Atticus, Miss Maudie
defends him. At the Missionary Tea, as Mrs. Merriweather disparages the "misguided
folks" among whom she counts Atticus Finch, Miss Maudie, whose "grey eyes were as cold
as her voice," catches her in her hypocrisy of demeaning blacks, but allowing one to
cook for them.  For, she quietly asks Mrs. Merriweather if Mr. Merriweather does not
have trouble getting this food down.

Miss
Maudie as leader - integrity

A woman who
lives an exemplary life, Miss Maudie is strong and does not cry about her house which is
destroyed by fire.  She cheerily tells the children that she never liked it much,
anyway.

Whenever she talks with Jem and Scout, she credits
honor in others and is forthright herself, affording the children the opportunity to
question things.  For example, she explains to them that their father is an honorable
man who has had to "our unpleasant jobs for us."  When they question some of his actions
in the trial, Miss Maudie tells them that they will have to address their questions to
him.