6 Things You Need To Know About Leadership

When the word leadership is mentioned, a lot of ideas crop in the mind. Some think of a dictator, others think of a servant and others think of an invincible character. Leadership can be viewed in many different ways but above all else, it is a mission to serve. It is an identification of an individual’s capacity to place the needs of others above their own. That comes with selflessness; the ability of a person to look beyond the personal private life and think about the welfare of their neighbours. It also goes beyond identifying the needs of people around us to an extent of attending to them by crafting lasting solutions. A leader has to be a people’s person. Whether one leads from the back or from the forefront, a leader has a genuine interest for other people’s well being. Passion to cause change or make a difference in another person’s life is the drive that keeps a leader going. The focus of any leadership then should be to make a positive change all the time.

1. Leadership calls for sacrifice

Time is one of the sacrifices that a leader is expected to sacrifice. A lot of time will be spent thinking about the needs of others and devising permanent solutions to pesky and recurring problems. It will involve precision of agenda when meeting with the right and important people. Time will be available to discuss only crucial matters. Money is also something else that leaders at times have to sacrifice. Any drive for funds will call for a leader to demonstrate their commitment by being the first person to contribute a good share. Also, the level of commitment will be measure by how much they contribute. This may not be the case all the time but quite often it is that way.

2. It is a full time challenge to be a better person

Being a leader is not a chance to compete with others or settle self-esteem scores with peers. As a leader, you have to be someone who is comfortable in your skin. Failure to that will breed a culture of unfair comparison. That will automatically push you to abuse your position to engage in petty competition to satisfy a false need. A leader’s mind has to understand the nature of their position. It is a position of influence hence every word spoken carries with it significant influence. Loose utterances harbor the potential to ruin. Hence a leader is always on the toes to say only what must be said. It is a test of character. Leadership comes with the pressure of people looking up to him or her.

A leader is an ambassador of the people he or she represent. Many decisions made will require your input and opinion as a leader. Therefore a leader must carry him or herself in a manner that does not go against the beliefs of the very people he leads.

3. Leadership calls for one to perfect the art of balancing

This kind of balancing has to do with many activities. Every leader has a personal life which may include a family or other loved ones who need time and attention. A leader has personal goals too. These needs have to be met and are almost in constant competition with those that come as a result of leadership. As a leader, one has no choice but to be responsible with time, as so much clamors for attention and immediate action.

The art of balancing on a leader’s part also has to do with being bold and confident and at the same time remaining humble. This is a psychological test of a leader’s interpretation of leadership and its influence. It is a tough call to be on the best behaviour all the time with everyone. It is also test of how effective one is in communication. A leader has to communicate with the highest degree of accuracy and clarity and the message should be firm, especially when dealing with matters of controversy.

4. A leader has to be a good judge of character

It is a tough test of good choices about people. Due to the nature of leadership involving delegation, a leader must know the true character of people he or she works with at any given time. This comes in handy to know who to give what responsibility and their effectiveness in carrying out the given task. That also goes along with identifying the talents that people have. A good leader will encourage people to develop skills and talents as opposed to stifling them. A leader therefore has to have their A-game on all the time on the part of interpersonal skills when interacting with people in order to bring out the best in other people persuasively and consistently. A leader must also be humble enough to acknowledge their mistakes. At the end of the day, no person is perfect therefore one can make mistakes. It is how a leader deals with mistakes that sets him apart from the crowd. That brings to mind the attitude aspect. A leader cannot afford to pass blame onto others, therefore he or she must own up and apologize if necessary a trait which admittedly most leaders never live up to.

5. Leadership keep you thinking about the future

Any leader must be visionary. There is never an option to that. One has to think about the future all the time. Being the one to give direction to many people, one must have a roadmap of where to head and keep evaluating the steps made towards the same. This calls for precise goals and objectives and a realistic plan of action to achieve desired results. This calls for resilience and flexibility on the part of any leader. When everyone feels overwhelmed, a leader has to step up and keep the team inspired and focused. A leader cannot be the type that disappears on people and shows up occasionally. He or she is the heartbeat of the team and commitment has to be seen. A leader’s presence is crucial for a team, and his or her absence must also be backed up with good reasons. Failure to that is intentionally sucking the life out of a team spirit.

6. Leadership requires one to make unpopular decisions

Leadership comes with the biggest test which is making unpopular decisions. A leader must be a decisive person therefore. It demands sobriety as one will have to give critical thought to many issues. A leader’s decision many times affects many people and that is why a lot of thinking has to go into making any decision. Many times there will not be pleasure of time, therefore one will have to think fast and make the right choice about what step to take. Many times, the decisions to be made are painful or harsh but they have to be made for the welfare of majority. This also contributes to defining moments in the life of a leader as one has to stand by them.

All that said, the key thing for any leader is to remember that they are called to serve. The position or power that comes with it should never take away that simple fact. It is up to a leader to live up to the expectations of servant leadership from the people they serve.

By Carol Nyambura, nyamsmungai@gmail.com