The world today is overrun by a vast number of enthusiastic individuals, who aspire to become successful leaders, but the question really is who is a leader and what should she put in a bag on the journey towards successful leadership.
Who Is A Leader?
A leader to the lay man and even in the dictionary, simply refers to one who leads or is in charge. While that dictionary meaning is all well and good, it’s only sufficient for a definition, as it only points out who a leader is but does not connote the true interpretation of who a leader should be.
True leadership is not learned. But what does this mean? After all, the books, the podcasts, the seminars, all of them try to teach leadership which in its essence is not an entirely faulty approach. It just doesn’t do justice to this thing they call leadership. Myles Monroe tried to explain that being a genuine leader means imbibing the characteristics of leadership, by making intentional efforts to cultivate leadership as a culture and not mere education. What the man was trying to say is, being a leader should be intuitive and not reactive.
Here are 3 lessons that every aspiring leader must understand, in order to finally break through.
It Begins With You.
Everything you desire or demand from a team of individuals you direct, begins with you. If you want your team or staff to adhere to an instruction or a directive, make bold to lead by showing them that it also applies to you.
Don’t say one thing and then do another. This will only make you seem inconsistent in character and authority. If you are in the wrong, apologize. You won’t seem weak, instead you would have encouraged others to follow suit.
You want your team to listen to you and to each other? Then do same. A leader naturally talks less and listens more. But when you go around talking down everybody in the room like some dictator, you’re clearly missing the point. Instead, learn to listen to understand and not to listen to speak.
Earn Respect, Not Fear.
Being a boss, a director, or just the person in charge, doesn’t make you a leader. If you’ve been harboring that impression, please find somewhere and throw it away. You can’t truly lead or motivate anyone with fear, it’s advisable to lead with respect.
Nobody is saying you shouldn’t act the part, but wouldn’t you rather be a team player? Subordinates or team members naturally want a leader they can get along with. Create a considerate environment and watch productivity increase under your management, not out of fear, but due to mutual respect.
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
The last thing you want to do is to spread yourself thin simply because you can’t delegate. The idea of a workforce is to be able to divide labor efficiently and accordingly to get ‘’work’’ done. If they can’t be counted upon to ‘’work’’, please what are they doing there? Distribute the load and you would be empowering your team in the process.
If you can master these lessons expertly, you would be on your way to achieving successful leadership. Remember to not only learn, but to also adopt as a culture in order to exercise true leadership.
This article was first published on FunmiOmo.com
