Unleash the Leader Within
Leadership starts from the inside of everyone. But it influences every setup, from the home to local businesses to religious organizations to the boardroom of a fortune 500 company. That’s why there will always be a need for leadership. Leadership is influence and it is not possible to take others to a place that you have not been, it is clear that whoever aspires to be a leader should begin the journey from within.
A good leader rallies the right people for a greater cause. The idea is to grow more leaders. The process must begin from the inside out. They always abide by a strict value system and build a firm platform of principles, values and attitudes.
Surprisingly, a lot of people and organizations still subscribe to an outside-in approach. That is why there is a leadership crisis in the world today. An outside-in approach to leadership is not sustainable. For you to attract and lead better people you need to become the leader those people need and desire. That means you must invest in yourself first.
World class leaders are aware that people are the core building block of their teams. But to be an effective leader, you need to know how to bring out the best from within these people.
Self-leadership is the key to getting top results and it starts by identifying strengths and weaknesses, setting priorities, focused planning and then having a bias for action. All this can be achieved by tapping into our inner strengths. Success is an inside job.
In fact, you will always recognize a leader by the quality of the relationships they are able to attract into their lives. Meaningful relationships with others are mission critical. You need to have a good relationship with yourself. This improves your relationships with others and helps you become a more resourceful leader that works effectively on a daily basis. Part of this is the ability to communicate internally and externally through proactive and conscious listening, thinking and speaking.
Always make sure there is congruency in your communication. Be open, honest, clear, timely and, if need be, aggressive. That is congruency. When our thoughts are aligned with our words and actions there is congruency. That is integrity.
There is a leadership crisis. The only hope is to create more leaders. And that begins through personal leadership. A great leader is aware that leadership is a journey that requires knowledge, skills and hard work. You cannot give something that you do not have. In the final analysis, the level of your leadership is determined by the level of your relationships which is ultimately a consequence of the level of your internal communication.
Leadership is the capacity to bring about transformation. Change is the only thing that is constant but growth is a choice. Unleash the leader within and your team will be the better for it, you must always be on the cutting edge. And it must begin from the inside of you.
Souzan Bachir