Become a true leader
"Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men"
What is a leader?
My favorite definition for a leader is someone who brings clarity, confidence and kindness to a world of uncertainty, chaos and solitude. A leader has the ability to influence and encourage others towards a common goal, utilizing the skills and talent of the people around him. So what are the essentials of leadership?
Essential principles to become a true leader:
1. Lead yourself
- You cannot lead others before you are the leader of your self
- You need to know your values, what you want, and what motivates you to do the right things, not the things right
- Walk the walk: Be the role model and example of commitment, enthusiasm and values you'd expect from others.
- As Stephen Covey says, the first victory is internal, to be independent, before being inter-dependent. A successful self-leader is proactive, begins with the end in mind and always put things first
- Or as Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world"
2. Lead the vision
- Clearly define your vision of the future. Inspire your followers with a specific picture of the destination and the benefits of getting there.
- Design the ship. You are responsible to design the purpose, vision, core values and structures that will allow your team to succeed, as Peter Sage preaches.
- Engage your followers in the vision, so that they are part of it
- Translate your vision into achievable objectives. As Ken Blanchard suggests, these goals should be simple, specific and able to be explained in one minute.
3. Serve your followers
- The secret of leadership is to genuinely help your follower to become successful. If you do your best for your people, they will do their best for you.
- To lead is to serve not dominate. To role of a leader is to encourage and support other people based on trust, kindness and genuine will to help them develop and become leaders themselves.
- Build the relationship on respect, mutual communication and respect, rather than fear, authority or power. In the end everyone wants to be appreciated and respected. The human relations supersede the formal structure and authority, therefore true leadership comes from the informal relationship built on a daily basis. Authority and fear are tools used by tyrants and dictators, not leaders.
- Show appreciation. Many different studies have proven that is easier to reinforce a good behavior than changing a bad one. So make an effort to praise and recognize once you observe a positive action or a behavior in a person or in your team. They need to know what they are doing right!
- Be humble. A true leader listens, learns and communicate with his people. He is not hero who does it all by himself, it's the opposite. He fights together with his team as one of them.
Essential resources to become a true leader:
- Book: One minute manager, a short but powerful guide to effective leadership
- Book: Rules of management, a very practical guide to people management
- Quote: "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality." Max DePree (The Art of Leadership)
- Presentation: Essential leadership principles by Colin Powell
- Video: Lessons of leadership from the dancing guy - hilarious and inspiring, check out below:
