UNLEASHING THE LEADER IN YOU

LEADERSHIP is that positive influence we exercise on others for the betterment of society. All of us are leaders because all of us have influence. A significantly successful life is not a creation of happenstance but rather a product of vision, planning, perseverance, determination, focus and attitude of ‘never give up’.

We must cultivate the habit of taking the long view in life to destroy the spirit of procrastination, which is usually the recipe for frustration and failure.

All the moments of success in life are usually the product of days, months, and years of strategic thinking, planning and an organised lifestyle. Significant success usually takes years of toil and sacrifice. As leaders we must therefore learn to be patient and disciplined. We must learn to be faithful and give our best to that which is happening in our lives presently, even when we are aware of the best in our future.

As leaders we must cultivate the ability to stick with something for an extended period of time. Most people easily give up when things don’t seem to work in their favour. Perseverance and diligence are important in the context of effective leadership.

As leaders we must be strong and crazy enough to stay committed to what we want to achieve. Many people who quit on their goals after experiencing failure, getting discouraged or feeling bored, may have been only moments away from their breakthrough.

A lifestyle of discipline is key to success. Basketball coach Bobby Knight once said; “Do what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it has to be done, and do it that way all the time.” That is what I call discipline. Never give up, stick with it; significant success may take long. It is said a mushroom takes six days to mature, while an oak tree takes 60 years.  

True success and influence are usually accomplished over a period of time. In order to create a disciplined lifestyle, we must start by planning our day, breaking it down into segments of time for each activity, and then sticking strictly to the plan.
Anything that tempts you to move away from your daily plan must be thrown out immediately. We must not keep bad things around us that may ultimately influence us to quit our journey of success.

We must also learn to psychologically and emotionally push through our weak or quitting points in life. Leaders must also learn to be flexible in their journey of success. Take it easy; do not fall into self condemnation for once in a while you may find yourself bending the disciplines.

We must keep walking steadfastly each day, because our daily faithfulness will usually lead to extraordinary exploits later.
Usually failed dreams, visions and goals are a result of lack of discipline, broken focus and lack of determination. Discipline, determination, focus and pursuit are key ingredients that make vision a reality. Leaders must be determined not to quit.
Determination is the act of making up your mind about something.

It is a position or opinion reached after serious consideration. Determination is usually birthed when we come to the conclusion that the dream or vision is worth living and dying for. Determination is that quality that gives us the tenacity and firmness to achieve something inspite of apparent obstacles or challenges. Leaders never quit.

When leaders concentrate their attention or energy on something, they refuse to quit, they stick with it. Where there is vision, there also must be determination and focus. Focus usually aligns leaders to what is important in the context of what must be achieved.

One of the most valuable traits in effective leaders is their ability to execute, get things done, and not give up when challenges arise. What is important is to take ideas from the realm of concept to completion.

Peter Drucker said, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” As leaders we must not procrastinate action, we must keep the momentum and refuse to give up before the work is finished.
Usually when we first articulate vision, and our goals in life, we pursue them with favour, determination and diligence; but then we get distracted and begin to concentrate on irrelevant things that are inconsistent with what we want to achieve.

We then go through each day and week feeling discouraged, disappointed and kind of out of control.  This is usually because our focus and determination has been broken by negative experiences or distorted by temporary success.
We will all sometimes experience setbacks, disappointments with others, and some of our plans may not play out just as we planned. Vision and dreams must be pursued with persistent unbroken determination in order for them to become a reality. Stay focused and determined, great days are ahead of you.  

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