Growing the Leader in All of Us

Leadership is not a private reserve whose access lies with some chosen charismatic individuals. It’s an eventual process, practiced by ordinary ones, to bring out the best from themselves and the people around them.

The ultimate leadership challenge is, how to ingrain extraordinary leadership qualities in an organization’s workforce.

Ignoring the notion that leadership is a position, we should learn to look at it as an action. In many of our experiences, we see that people with no formal leadership roles act as excellent leaders.

Today we are living in a fast-paced dynamic world where leadership is a skill expected from all.

To lead is to take the initiative of the course of action. To lead is positively influence the behavior of others. Leadership skill is innately needed irrespective of our formal role. The process of becoming a leader runs in parallel with the process of becoming an effective human being.

The journey of becoming a leader depends on the individual path chosen. But there are also critical areas of improvement that are based on some timeless principles. The distance we go to in our leadership dimension may vary, but continuous improvement in one particular direction is a proper path of a leader.

 Choose not to lose

Our focus can be on our problems, or on our possibilities. In every obstacle and failure, we should find possibilities of learning and transforming them into opportunities. The trait of a successful leader is learning from adversity and reflecting from experiences.

 Responsibility for Choices

Leadership is further identified by owning the responsibility for the choices made. Leaders realize that choice, rather than chance directs the further scope of events. They firmly are victim-hood-averse.

Authenticity

Leadership values emerge from within. It definitely has to be authentic to the individual, closely aligned to his beliefs and principles. As the famous maxim goes “Know Thyself”, your decisions should ring true to yourself. By exploring your inner space, and by acknowledging constructive criticisms, you can stay consistent with your values and principles.

 Spirit and Meaning

More than focusing on the material reward or return from a particular work, leaders associate meaning with it. The essential quality of a leader is to make his team see beyond material success. The leader nourishes the inner self to find meaning in the work and associate oneself with greater vision.

 The world may change in a variety of ways, the core leadership principles stay constant.