Leadership
"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or get all the credit for doing it." - Andrew Carnegie.
Who makes a good leader? A leader is not a manager; they aren't there to make sure that you get your job done or else. This is confusing, as we will often find people who like to control that set themselves up as leaders. "The basic desire to be a leader arises in people who are suffering from an inferiority complex. It does not matter whether they move into the political world or into the religious world; the will-to-power is an absolute indication that the man feels himself inferior to others and he wants to prove to the world that it is not so." - Osho.
I find that a true leader usually is the one who isn't trying to be one. After all we have learned about the human race and all the ways our thinking gets messed up, we need to ask ourselves, "who are we, to think that we know what is best for our fellowman?" "My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs). The most improper job of any man is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, least of all those who seek the opportunity." - J.R.R. Tolkien.
How will you know that you are dealing with a true leader or someone who's controlling you for their own ends? By how they treat you. "Great leaders don't blame the tools they are given. They work to sharpen them." - unknown. Everyone loves an underdog story, but how many leaders do you find who will take on an almost certain loss? It is professional suicide if it doesn't work out. "The leader's job is to see the best in human beings who have never caught sight of the best within themselves." - Robin Sharma.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery." - Octavia Butler. We do choose who leads us by the support and attention that we give them. If you think that your 3rd-grade teacher changed your life for the better and you often tell people how amazing she is, then you have chosen to be led by her example. She did not set out to become your hero; she was just doing her job, but she inspired you, she listened, and her presence in your life made you a better person. "Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence." - Sheryl Sandberg.
Leaders create environments or energy fields around them that bring out the best in others. They do this by inspiring, building, lifting, encouraging, and persuading others to either believe in themselves or believe in a vision of a better future. They take responsibility for their attitude, and they care for others. "I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes." - Brene Brown.
Inspire- "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams.
Build- "A great leader does not rise above others- they rise within others, until every person they touch stands taller than they thought possible." - unknown.
"A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create." - Mahatma Gandhi.
Lift- "True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve. It is not about exalting themselves but about lifting others up." - Sheri L. Dew.
"Success is not about climbing to the top; it's about lifting others as you climb." - Michelle Obama.
Encourage- "Being positive in a negative situation is not naive. It's leadership." - unknown.
Persuade- "True leadership is being able to lead others without forcing them." - unknown.
Leaders are only able to accomplish these processes by taking responsibility, listening, and being empathetic.
Responsibility- "My own conviction is that every leader should have enough humility to accept, publicly, the responsibility for the mistakes of the subordinates he has himself selected and, likewise, to give them credit, publicly, for their triumphs." - Dwight Eisenhower.
Listen- "Leaders who don't listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say." - Andy Stanley.
Empathy- "Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives." - Oprah Winfrey.
We all have the opportunity to be leaders. Our example is set by the way we choose to act. You will know that you have failed as a leader when no one wants to be in your presence, when you make their lives worse instead of better. "Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."- Colin Powell. This includes the way that we parent, the way we treat our friends, and the other people that we come across.
If you are a leader, then it is good practice to examine your motives in regard to the way you interact with the people you influence. "There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it."- Simon Sinek. Your motives will let you know. Are you in leadership to further your own ends, or are you in it to make others shine? I hope that you are the latter.
Love and Hope,
Big Sky Baby