In this article, I am not gonna be talking about what a leader is and not; you might have read a lot of books that would have explained that to you and I am not here to contradict what you might have read.
Some people would tell you leaders are born while others would tell you that they are made. A friend once told me that everybody cannot be a leader because we must have followers.
We are all born to lead but in different ways and styles, the general commander who leads his army to war and the peace maker who wants everybody to live in peace are all leaders but with different cause. Anyone can be a leader if he/she is suitably driven to a particular cause.
I have made researches over time and found out 13 highly significant leadership qualities; ranging from INTEGRITY to SENSITIVITY which I am going to discuss with you next week.
Today we are going to be discussing what you need to know about good leadership and how to unlock the leader in you. One thing you need to know is that in every individual, there lies unlimited potentials waiting to be unleashed and until these potentials are utilized, you can never live that fulfilled life you want for yourself.
Leadership sometimes comes to people later in life, and this is no bad thing. Humanity tends to be generational characteristic. There is no real obstacle to seek to become a leader if leadership is approached with proper integrity.
As a leader your responsibility extends beyond leading the people. True leadership also includes as far as your situation allows- the responsibility to protect or refine fundamental purpose and philosophy.
A leader should be brave enough to talk when lesser people want to fight. Anyone can resort to threats and aggression. Being aggressive is not leading. It might have been a couple of thousands years ago but it is not now.
As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen.
Before you can even become a leader, you must know yourself.
There comes a time in every life when one must search out his or her life’s purpose. Once you become clear about your purpose then strive daily to invest time and energy toward its fulfillment. You cannot afford to spend an entire day without doing something directly related to accomplishing your purpose.
Know your own strength and weakness so that you can build the best team around you. Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do and think, and how they think improvement can be made.
If I continue telling you what good leadership is and what it takes to be a good leader, we might remain here till the coming of Jesus Christ. But the important thing is developing yourself, that way you can unlock the ‘sleeping giant’ in you.
Whether you believe it or not, you are a genius. But you will never learn to develop and control your genius unless you believe you possess it. Everyday more than 2,000 ideas pass through your mind and each time you act upon an idea you are exercising your powers of genius.
Every action produces a reaction and these reactions eventually produce results. In other words, by acting upon ideas, you awaken the leader in you, hence producing and creating results in your life.
NOTE: Your purpose will not somehow miraculously fulfill itself, and every day you neglect to work toward it represent a day longer that it will take you to reach your desired destination. The fastest route to good LEADERSHIP is SELF DEVELOPMENT.
Sadiq Daniel
