Whenever you decide to become a leader of people regardless of the type or form you choose to employ, you will be observed everyday by those you are leading as well as by many other observers. This is the very reason why the best way to lead has always been by example. The old statement of truth has always been and will continue to be…“People do…what people see.” This is so because the human being learns best from observation. That is indeed the way you learned how to walk, talk, eat, laugh, read, and speak. It is a well known fact that if you truly do desire to become highly successful in a chosen field of endeavor, you should self evaluate and first determine what it is that you do best, capitalize on your best personal strength, and then spend your life developing that strength to its fullest so as to be able to employ that strength in the accomplishment of your chosen arena of performance.
All too many people think that they can just randomly or simply by chance pick a particular arena in which to work and develop themselves and then go on to become successful as if everything will happen automatically for them in the days ahead. Not so. May I say to you, if you are a weak
and/or poor communicator, if you have weak or poor verbal skills, and more importantly if you don’t like to read, study, and develop your language skills and usage,…you most probably are not going to excel in public, training, or motivational speaking efforts in connection with becoming highly successful.
In order to save yourself a whole lot of time, energy, resources, and efforts, you should first discover what your best area of personal strength is, and then spend your time and resources developing the knowledge, work ethic, and work skills that will be needed to pursue and accomplish your desired success using your best strength. If you don’t care for or even like a given area of work, then there really is no need to spend your life learning more about and becoming better at performing something that you don’t desire to achieve…is there? Each and everyone of us has only a limited number of years to spend on this earth. Why would anyone want to waste any of those years learning and developing strengths and abilities doing things that are undesirable, unwanted, or unpleasant to you. It makes no sense to do that,…wouldn’t you agree?
You have heard me tell you many times before that the ability to take a risk is one of the foundational building blocks of all people who achieve great success. A successful life cannot and will not be achieved and lived on the safety of the trunk of a fruit bearing tree. The fruit is always…no exceptions…produced out on the end of the limb. In order to pick the fruit and enjoy it, one must be willing to crawl out onto the limb, high above the ground, risk falling off the limb, pick the ripened fruit, and bring it back down the tree to the safety of ground level,…before it can be eaten and enjoyed. The willingness to take a risk,…to persevere in light of all circumstances and situations, and to continue performing the required work tasks until the desired results are actually achieved is what accomplishing real success is all about. The catalyst to make the whole process to work for your benefit is for the individual involved to be internally driven by his or her own personal dream.
I will tell you that most people who attempt to succeed in a chosen arena and who fail to accomplish their personal desires within that chosen arena do so because they are ill prepared to achieve the desires of their hearts. Worse than that, most of them are uncommitted or only partially committed in their work efforts to stay on task until the job they are pursuing is completed. These attributes of successful people are your own personal responsibility to identify and then develop and keep on developing through use and more use. Hard work,…prolonged work,…and committed work are essential and mandatory if success is to be accomplished.
In the long run of the study of world history, the serious student soon learns that the “censor” and the “inquisitor” or the “dictator” have always lost their position, title, purpose, and cause. It is the servant leader who always wins and achieves his purpose. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is good and better ideas. This is why you can easily see that the truly great leaders of men and women are the people who don’t ever think or feel they have landed, arrived, or reached the top and can now rest on their laurels and stop working on growing themselves.
If you are currently serving other people in a leadership capacity, never lose sight of the fact that in order for you to continue your role as leader,…You must continually increase your learning , the way you think, and the way you approach the organization.
The key to continuity of leadership is for the leader to continue to grow…learn,…and work in the same manner and way that he or she is teaching their followers to do. It has been my experience over the past four decades that very very few so-called leaders actually continue doing what they are teaching and expecting their followers to do. In the end, these pseudo-leaders eventually self destruct.
No one is capable of transferring personal relationships. Not even Christ could do that. Personal relationships have to be established and continually worked on and developed so as to grow stronger over time. Remember…Leadership is influence….nothing more,…nothing less.
You will never significantly influence anyone with whom you do not have some sort of a personal relationship.
Why is this so? Because, true personal relationships can only be established by and between living people,…and in order for the relationship to properly and productively work, the personal relationship has to work both ways,…top down to bottom, and bottom back up to top. When you recognize this fact and work hard to develop good and lasting personal relationships and keep yourself growing mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and you spend quality time together with those who are following you,…you will be well on your way to accomplishing great success in your life.
So, if you have decided to become a leader and are committed to do it, get ready for a long haul effort. Don’t permit your self to become disillusioned or discouraged. Just stay at the required work habit and never give up until you have achieved what it is that you are pursuing!
Slowly, steadily, and surely is the pathway to great success. Stay on the path everyday, and you will make it to where it is that you desire to go.
May I suggest to you that in order to speed up the development of your leadership skills, make certain that you establish a mentor relationship with an existing accomplished leader within the field of your endeavor. And then follow his or her instructions and guidance to the letter using your fullest totally committed efforts. And then whenever you get an opportunity to be around any good and recognized leader of people, pay attention. Carefully observe how they interact and treat other people. You can always learn a lot from watching how other good leaders act and live. Yes it is true….Real leaders are always being watched. Make sure your best example is always on display.
Leaders Gotta Lead……..