What is Leadership?
Leadership is obtaining from others their genuine whole-hearted participation and belief for a given course of action that is likely to result in any number of benefits. The following information is designed to help you be a more effective leader.
Success Has Four Price Tags
The opportunities are there; the rewards are great – and so are the demands. In view of the high rewards paid to leaders in every field today why don’t we have more people in such positions? The answer is: “there is a price people must pay to achieve this success and the price is never cheap.” There are no bargains at the leadership counter, but the effort to achieve it represents the finest genius given to people.
It is said that people become great for three reasons:
- Because of natural talent
- Great opportunity
- Great will to serve
Yes, there are price tags on leadership and involvement.
1. Total Preparation:
Many people would like to be successful, to be a leader, to be President of their Company, but few are willing to make the sacrifices necessary. They won’t prepare for it; won’t qualify themselves; won’t become completely involved. a Successful person is a leader. a Leader is a director, a conductor, a dreamer, a planner. These things presuppose great preparation.
2. Helping Others to Grow:
Wise are the people who realize early in life that what they can do in and of themselves is small indeed, but what they can do by properly working with and influencing others is almost miraculous. The successful person’s destiny is determined, in large measure, by what they are about to get other people to do. The leader knows people; their motives, ambitions, aspirations, weaknesses, strong points. It is a leader’s responsibility to help this talent grow. The first mark of a leader is that they get satisfaction through the efforts of others. The loyalty of associates is a great factor in success. It cannot be purchased; it must always be earned. A leader will get loyalty in direct proportion to the confidence and loyalty they inspire in others.
3. High Aim:
“You lose your leadership when you cease to lead”. Too many times, when people get promoted they start to rest on their laurels. They feel so comfortable that they settle back and say, “Here we are now’. At this point the three “I” sins usually show up.
Indifference.
Ignorance.
Indecision.
Sometimes people settle down so hard they flatten out. a Comfortable rut! Comfort comes as a guest, lingers to become a host and stays to enslave us. We must always assume that tomorrow the competition will be stiffer. We must continue to improve ourselves. We can never let up.
4. Extra Effort:
If you don’t want to pay this price you had better not shop at the leadership counter. Today we have agitation for shorter work weeks; we see individuals encouraged to assume less responsibility for their own actions and to seek security within the system. Yet no one ever became a great leader, or a great success on an eight hour day. So, if you want to be comfortable, take an easy job with little or no responsibility. But if you aspire to be a leader you need to hit the job with all you’ve got. The glory of life is that it is worth the struggle.
