True Leadership

Leadership is communicating people’s worth so clearly and vividly that they begin to see it in themselves – it is empowering, caring and inspiring others to find their own voice (or calling).  It is only a secured leader that empowers others.

The difference between two equally talented team is leadership

-         Personnel determines the quality of a Team

-         Vision determines the direction of the Team

-         Work ethics, passion, discipline, etc, determine the performance of the Team

-         Leadership determines the success of the Team.  “An army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep”.

-         Great leaders touch the heart before the hand.  They know you cannot move people to action unless you first move them with emotions. The heart comes before the hand.

The six (6) ingredients of success in life are:

(a)           Peace of mind – freedom from fear/anger, or guilt

(b)           Healthy living – mental and physical wellness

(c)           Lasting relationships

(d)           Financial freedom

(e)           Worthy goals and ideas

(f)      Self actualization

Leadership is about growing, learning more.  Abraham Lincoln said “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser than he was yesterday”.  To do more is to be more.  You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. 

Leadership is about serving others, it is only a life lived for others, that is a life worthwhile.

“There is no office hours for true leaders”-  Cardinal J. Gibson

Great leaders consider other first, they open themselves to other, never violate people trust, never manipulate people, encourage others, constantly add value to others and lastly, treat people with respect.

The three (3) basic qualities people look for in their leaders are:

1.      Direction            –                 vision/purpose

2.      Trust                     –                 security/safety

3.      Hope                   –                 possibility

Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power and energy in the present.  True leaders know that the meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade they are not likely to sit.

True leaders criticize performance but praise performers.  They also inspect what they expect from their followers. 

Authentic leaders are focused, and committed to excellence at all times.  They don’t give excuses because excuses make you weaker, it makes you focus on story rather than the problem and it limits you horizon.  “True leaders do not inflict pain, they share pain”- Max Depree.

Leadership is VISUAL.  People “do what people see”.  No matter what you teach your kids, they always do what they see their parents do.

Great leaders develop people, not fire them.  True leaders re-produce leaders, not followers.  One of the greatest acts of leadership is mentoring.  No matter how much you may learn, achieve/accomplish or accumulate, if it dies with you, then you are a generational failure.  Growth/development is one of the highest calling of leadership.

Greatest accomplishments of leadership is not attaining it, but releasing it.  Leadership is a relay, not a sprint or marathon.  Leadership is about passing on knowledge, expression, wisdom and achievements to the next generation.  Remember, in a relay, the whole Team wins.  

True leaders are givers, they know that the highest riches are beyond the reach of money and are independent of fortune.  It is the mind that makes the body rich.  No man is rich, however much money or land he possesses, who has a poor heart.  No man has ever become rich without enriching others.  “A genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus, but a moulder of consensus” –  Martin Luther King.

True leaders know the importance of getting along with people.  “No matter how much work you can do, no matter how engaging your personality may be, you will not advance far in life/business if you cannot work through others.

Great leaders are passionate with great love for what they do.  Their job has a higher meaning rather than just a source of livelihood.

Great leadership has a clear thinking perspective, makes complex things simple.  They do not have a scarcity mindset, they share knowledge, information and add value.

They communicate – not just give information, but getting across to people.  Sharing has its own unique magic.  If you share an idea with ten (10) different people, each one of them hears it once, but you hear it 10 times.  True leaders exhibit God mathematics - Joy adds and multiplies, as you divide it to others.

True leaders have high energy level fuelled from love and passion for the job.  They put egoism in check always and have peace of mind, freedom from guilt because decisions are in the interest of the organization, not personnel.  They build on their successes, not sit on it. “There are two (2) ways of spreading light:  to be the candle or the mirror that reflect it”-  Edith Wharton.

Great leaders understand that yesterday’s Team cannot solve today’s challenges except it grows its people.

“A true leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others see” – Leroy Eimes.

There are three (3) types of leaders:

-         Those who make things happen

-         Those who watch while things happen

-         Those who scratch their heads, when things happen.

Which type of leader are you?  We all should be leaders that make things happen.  If circumstances are not favourable, we should create them.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” – Abraham Lincoln.