GREAT LEADERSHIP: A KEY TO PROSPECT GROWTH.
The animal kingdom has an order according to nature where species of different kinds know their status, positions and abilities. Some possess rare qualities in form of the skin colour, killer apparatus in their teeth, or even the wit to supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. To this end a leader emerges for every kind.
A cub follows the very style its mother poses to it and is made to know through what it sees that it is a potential predator. The same follows for a lamb, a sheep or an antelope; at the sight of a lion or bear or other predator, their instinct as prey kicks in that there is danger and they hurtle to safety.
With this given example it can be clearly attested that by leadership qualities of the parents, the cub knows what is to be and what isn’t to be! They know their potential ability and how to harness it; that is what leadership establishes.
However, to acquire great leadership is dependent on the willing desire to learn, to be reproved of, to relearn by those around you and by your prospective careers or dreams.
Leadership entails factors that help you channel your abilities and self-development. It is the capacity to translate vision and mission into reality.
However, leadership involves a great deal of responsibility, teamwork, respect for one another, shared opinion, optimism, time management and many other qualities that enhance productivity.
Nonetheless, to lead a group of people will require your apt ability or readiness to understand their different personalities, and be ready to spur them on and lead regardless of these differences.
What you do has far greater impact than what you say. If you are all about taking the bull by the horns, without an example from you to show for others to see, you aren’t ready to lead. People seek to see what you do more than what you say.
According to Brain Tracy, “leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.”
If you want the best from those who follow you, you will have to see the greater good in them and also help challenge them to work out their potential and put in the best for productive work.
Many leaders listen less to their followers and more to themselves. Some even shut down the ideas or work of those who work for them. This can be very frustrating, especially to those under them. Doing this without considering the merits or additions from subordinates isn’t a sign of good leadership, and can mark you as a ruler rather than a leader.
“A true leader always practices the three R’s and these are: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all their actions.” - Anonymous
As a leader, you show respect for self by doing the things you ask others to do. You must lead by example, be considerate and be a role model for others to imitate.
Your respect for others is seen in the aspect of not taking advantage of others. Respect their feelings and opinions and be eager to give an empathetic listening ear to your followers.
You also have to take responsibility for your actions. Don’t ration blame for a mistake when it happens. Instead, sit and discuss the matter and proffer solutions to the problem.
I’ll end by urging you like John Buchan. He said “the task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for greatness is there already.”
Let others see the light in them. Build them up to be what they can be in line with their potential and you will greatly be reminisced about as a person of value and exceptional influence.
