Leadership - It is Everyone’s Business

Leadership requires learning on the job. With the willpower - and the heart - to continue, you can lead the way — Christian FuxThere are no shortages of opportunities for people to do great things. They can and they must. — Mary Beth Cahill-Phillips

Sometimes leadership becomes everyone’s business. Sometimes leadership becomes your business unexpectedly. There is a myth that exists even today that leadership is reserved only for the few. Many times the question is asked “Are leaders born or made?” Another leadership myth is that leadership is associated with the position. Leadership is not a place, it is not a gene in the body, and it is not a secret code that needs to be decoded before it can be used. Leadership does have everything to do with what we think of ourselves and the confidence that we possess.Others see leadership as largely a symbolic component of an organization. People working with leaders that follow particulars, as listed below, feel more committed and excited about work.

They are more effective in meeting job-related demands.
They are more successful in representing their units to upper management.
They create higher-performing teams.
They foster renewed loyalty and commitment.
They increase motivational levels and the willingness to work hard.
They promote higher levels of involvement in schools.
They enlarge the size of their congregations.
They raise more money and expand gift-giving levels.
They extend the range of their agency’s services.
They reduce absenteeism, turnover, and dropout rates.
They possess high degrees of personal credibility.

One concept that is prevalent in leadership is leadership development is self-development. In comparison to other professions; engineers have computers; painters have their canvases; musicians have their instruments; however, leaders only have themselves. The tools of leadership is the self, and mastery of the art of leadership comes only from the mastery of self.

The quest for leadership can be considered as a quest to discover who you are and what your potential is. Learning to lead is about discovering what you care about and your personal values. What makes you tick? What are your goals? What inspires you? What encourages you? What do you find a challenge? What makes you feel confident? What gives you power? What kind of powers do you possess? When you have the answers to these questions, you will have a better idea what it will take to lead others. As you wrestle with these questions and others toward becoming a leader, there are many other difficult questions that you will need to answer.

How certain am I of my own convictions about the vision and values?
What gives me the courage to continue in the face of uncertainty and adversity?
How will I handle disappointments, mistakes, and setbacks?
What are my strengths and weaknesses?
What do I need to do to improve my abilities to move the organization forward?
How solid is my relationship with my constituents?
How can I keep myself motivated and encouraged?
What keeps me from giving up?
Am I the right one to be leading at this very moment?
How much do I understand about what is going on in the organization and the world in which it operates?
How prepared am I to handle the complex problems that now confront my organization?
Where do I think the organization ought to be headed over the next ten years?
Leaders are generally the first persons to encounter the world outside of the boundaries of the organization. So the more that you know about this world outside of the organization the easier you will be able to approach it with confidence. Honesty with yourself will help you to become as effective as possible and will improve your understanding of others and build your skills for working with others.
Searching for these personal essentials are major components in the development of leaders. One’s knowledge and history of the outside world increases your awareness competing values that individuals, as well as organizations operate. When you are able to identify these values they will become the principles that you will use to govern your life and give a purpose to the decisions that you make daily.
Leaders take us into the future in directions that we do not know that exists today. Not everyone wants to be a leader, however for those that do find it a very rewarding experience. Finding one’s voice and setting examples as a leader are essential to establishing a level of credibility with your followers.