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By general definition a leader is one who faces challenges, solves problems and is not bogged down by obstacles. Is this not what the true leaders of our age do? People like Mahatma Gandhi, Deepak Chopra, and Mother Theresa. Are they not the true leaders of our society and have they not made their mark on humanity for the betterment of us all?
Every one of us can be a Mahatma (means great soul) or a Mother Theresa in our own right, in our own way. It is not about drawing the masses. It is about our attitude to living. Life is the gift we have been given and what we do with it makes our living into an art.
When we are faced with obstacles whether it be in business or our personal lives we need the passion, inspiration, strength of fortitude to use what we have in our inner potential to overcome what lies ahead.
A leader must possess enthusiasm, dedication and be dynamic. There are no obstacles if one is eager, committed and passionate about their goal. It just may take a little longer to reach it. To do this one must have the inner vision to give the direction and incentive to reach that goal. It is this vision that makes a leader.
Vision requires enough intelligence to have a unity between your vision and action. One must act to achieve one’s goals. The vision itself is not enough. If this unity is not there the energy dissipates and your hard work is all for nothing. So a leader must have enough vision and drive to forge ahead as well as guide others to their goals.
Coupled with this vision must be the ability to face all challenges, to motivate and not get bogged down by the little things. This brings into play the skill of being able to listen effectively as good listening allows us to gain knowledge. This needs to be followed by appropriate action on what one has learnt, and what action is taken needs to be discriminated with a cool insight otherwise the action and vision becomes clouded often lending itself to inappropriate actions. Inappropriate actions can be the undoing of a good business or of one’s personal life.
Leaders who are inflexible and don’t listen are not leaders for long. They become masters of their own undoing, being stuck in old ways that often don’t work. Being stuck means that they often become blind to opportunities and solutions which could benefit them in the long run. A sense of humility is needed to be able to analyse input from others and adapt it for what an organisation needs instead of one believing that they can solve all problems on their own.
True leaders allow themselves to be guided by both intuitive insight as well as outer input from sources other than themselves. A good leader not only can see the larger issues but also the obvious inner subtle hidden concerns. Often companies become so immersed in the outer concerns that they miss the simpler solutions.
Leadership is also about being impartial. How many times have we had the politics of an organisation cause turmoil for the business? Good leaders do not get mixed up in politics. They realise the dangers of office gossip and of taking sides which can often lead to loss of otherwise loyal employees. In an organisation ideally there would be no place for personal likes or dislikes. These do not belong in the office although because we are all human it does creep its way in. It is therefore the job of a good leader to assist employees to put these differences aside by talking it out and coming up with agreeable solutions to both parties rather than hiding such problems under the carpet. More important when assessing employees on this basis it is the quality of the work that needs to be looked at rather than personal likes and dislikes and companies need to work at staff cooperating as a team.
It is this teamwork which makes an organisation successful. Staff cooperating under leaders who have a zest for life and desire to face challenges make for a successful company. Leaders don’t run away and bury their head in the sand from issues; instead they assess what comes before them, assimilate it, transform it into the positive and apply it.
It is important to use our faculties to take control of our inner sense of what is right and act accordingly. In order for this to happen mind and intellect must work together with integrity and apply that to the task at hand. If our goals are dissipated and unfocused then we waste our energy in many different directions. We need to have focused goals otherwise none of them become fulfilled. Fulfilment is an important part of the art of living. We work to succeed and we succeed to enjoy, to experience.
We also need to remember that the function of business is to have a favourable impact on the economy. Not only do we conduct business to reap the rewards ourselves but also to enable the community to make use of the commodities we offer as well as contribute to the growth of the community and the country. This becomes a win/win situation for us all. When we focus on this greater vision, a greater ideal, then the true leader musters the incentive to overcome all obstacles in order to succeed.
Our minds operate on two levels – the conscious and subconscious. Our subconscious mind is very powerful so it is important to stocktake what is going on in our minds. There are numerous techniques to strengthen the mind through personal growth. One of these is meditation as it teaches us to concentrate, focus and connect with inner qualities in order to bring them forth into our daily lives. There are many other techniques that can be learned to increase your potential and that of your staff.
Above are some of the important qualities of leadership. There are many others. It is important to remember that leadership comes in many forms. Anyone who can inspire you can be looked upon as a leader. If they help you, motivate you and guide you in some way in your life with positive input that is what makes the foundation of friendship, of teamwork, of leadership and hence leads both of you to success.
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