So I received an email with this question;
"I recently been reading what you have been writing on leadership and had to ask, 'what if you don't think you are cut out to be a leader?' I mean I just want to improve my life, not be in charge of other people." ~Jamie
There are so many directions that I could go with this, but
the topic intrigued me enough to write the following, so I hope that you are
reading this Jamie.
Leadership is something that is fundamentally part of a
society. It is necessary in any good society that someone stands up and takes
charge. Leadership is essential, we know that, but does that mean everyone out
there is a leader? The fact of the matter is that some individuals are not made
to be leaders. They are followers. And just as important in society as leaders
are followers. So, where do you lie? Are you going to play leadership roles
within your life?
For many people, the instincts to take those leadership
roles just come to them. It is just something that happens. They step up to the
plate when needed. They respond first in class. They take charge of the baseball
game on the playground. They step up to the plate on the job. While you cannot
be first in every case, individuals that have leadership skills will often be
seen and heard throughout their lives.
But, not all leaders are born with this talent. Many of
them must learn it. People with an ambition to be a leader can do so by taking
classes and studying the necessary skills that it takes to be a leader. While
all of this may sound simple, it can be quite a task to learn. It is hard to
teach a person to react in a situation that is not planned well.
Because leaders are determined by their actions, we often
see that leadership roles are filled with individuals who put themselves out
there to be chosen, so to speak. But, this is not always the case. In many cases
of emergency, leaders are those that take charge long before anyone else reacts.
In that, these individuals will have a cool head about themselves and be able to
see the necessary work ahead while others are worrying, panicking or simply in
shock. These are probably the true leaders in our society.
Many people assume that if someone is successful it is
because they have good leadership skills. Some people assume that if a business
is successful it is because it has good leaders. Leadership isn't something that
is particularly easy to pass on to other people. Sometimes a company is
successful because a past leader was very skilled as a leader and the current
leader simply has kept things running the same as before.
Great leadership is a rare skill. For most people it
doesn't come naturally. It is amazing how many organizations are successful even
though they have only marginally competent people leading them. Many times this
is because the structure of the organization helps make up for a leaders short
comings. Sometimes it is because a particularly talented staff that makes up for
the leaders deficiencies.
Any leadership development training should take into
account some of the basic facts, which ought to be made available to the
individual concerned for developing his leadership skill and techniques.
The training or program must adequately deal with
deliberations on leadership, and not limit the understanding of the term to its
limited sense. Any reference to conventional typecast leadership should be
shunned. The training should also incorporate a comprehensive understanding of
leadership virtues as applicable to individual requirements, and highlight the
subtle differences between leadership and management.
The program should also take into account the attitude of
people towards the individual qualities of the leader. It is imperative that
leadership development training should be ideally structured in relation to the
advancement of the individuals concerned, instead of looking for strengths in
personal qualities.
While great leadership skills can make someone successful,
the inverse is not true. Being successful doesn't make you a good leader. If you
are looking for leaders to learn from make sure you are looking for people who
actually have good leadership skills and not just someone who is successful. You
can't assume that someone is a good leader just because they have had success.
Many times people try to emulate people who have had success and try to follow
their leadership styles. While this might be a good thing people often end up
mimicking the bad habits of individuals.
The leadership development training also tries to make it
clear that that collective requirements are of greater importance than
individual necessities. Leadership development training tries to develop the
quality of an individual to see a vision and look into the future, and develop
his ambitions and aspirations.
One crucial virtue that such training emphasizes is that potential leaders should have the capability to see how details fit into the big picture. Such training also stresses the need to have the attitude that helps one to view things from the point of view of other individuals, and also able to comprehend in the proper manner the most suitable approach towards them.
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