Leadership…
Influence…
Authority…
Accountability…
One word that translates into many others due to its complexity.
This is one of the most likely, commonly used and abused words often taken for granted by many who hide under the cloak of the word to commit all sorts and get away with it.
Well, what is leadership and who is a leader?
Let’s take a critical look at how others have defined leadership:
1. Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. — Jack Welch
2. Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. — Peter Drucker
3. I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? — Benjamin Disraeli
4. You manage things; you lead people. — Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
5. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. — Max DePree
6. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. — Warren Bennis
9. A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte
10. You don’t need a title to be a leader. – Multiple Attributions
11. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — John Maxwell
12. My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. — General Montgomery
13. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. — Peter Drucker
14. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead
15. The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. — Sir Winston Churchill
16. The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. — Warren Bennis
17. To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less. — Andre Malraux
18. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle
19. Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position. — Brian Tracy
20. I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader
So, from the above, we can rightly say that; Leadership is deep, inspiring others to greatness, selfless and sensitive to the plights and needs of others, amongst other attributes.
There are endless definitions of LEADERSHIP.
What does leadership mean to you?
For me, leadership goes beyond occupying an office, having great authority over others or commanding influence or occupying a lofty position, or rendering services to the people or having a controlling power.
Leadership to me is empathy, compassion, accountability, giving hope, fulfilling destinies, being a pathfinder, character moulding, capacity building, positive influence and an ability to earn genuine loyalty from others, making them do things naturally that they would ordinarily not do, but are happy doing so due to a leader’s exemplary ways of doing things.
But sadly though, today, leadership means different things to different people especially those who get it at all cost either by spending EXCESS of their money, doing so extravagantly to woo others or by exerting it through force and political dominance.
Using money to buy or lure people to follow you or support you is not leadership.
Using force to compel people to do things against their will just to earn you the name, a “leader” is not leadership.
Being all nice to people to get their support and then shut them off after getting into office is not leadership.
Leadership is when people follow you genuinely and loyally through thin and thick and NOT necessarily because of your spoken words, bogus promises, unrealistic goals, nor for likely benefits, but for your good deeds, actions, track records of excellence, humility and positive impacts in their lives, especially how you make others feel. The spoken words, how you treat them and actions that resonates in their spirits, hearts and minds either for good or bad will always stay with them even after the money or material things you may have gifted them has been spent and used up, or the positions you “fixed” for them has expired.
So it’s imperative that our leaders mind how they treat their subordinates, more so, as people are dealing with so much nowadays. You never can tell what those you mistreat are dealing with or battling.
Therefore, as leaders, may our words always be seasoned with salt, be kind and gracious to all and treat all we meet with respect, consideration, empathy, compassion, love and kindness, INCLUDING those who work for us, who are our subordinates in the lowest form or who follow us loyally, not taking any for granted.
Together we CAN HEAL THE WORLD WITH A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS.
So, if it’s good, just do it.
With Love Always,
Karifest Duchess Onyekaah Esq.
(Iyanga Anioma).
Founder/CEO
KARIFEST GROUP