Leadership

Leadership

In your search for success, you will need to fight many battles. You will be assailed by misfortunes, problems, obstacles and one of the greatest opponents of all: Fear.

In order to overcome these difficulties and rise to the heights of success, you will need to develop the qualities of leadership. Leaders not only are masters of themselves, but they are masters of others – or more accurately, they serve as beacons of light to those struggling in the darkness. A leader always seems to know what to do and where to go. A true leader is a hero.

Heroes

In stories, a hero is a person, encumbered with weaknesses and character flaws who, is compelled to take action because of something terrible that happens to him. Stories are about how a character overcomes his weaknesses in order to accomplish his goals. They are about how regular people develop into heroes. This is why stories are so fascinating. People love to see someone succeed. People love heroes.

So what is leadership? Where does it come from and how can you develop it?

Leadership comes primarily from four things:

1. Having a definite purpose in mind.

2. Self confidence.

3. Imagination.

4. Initiative.

A Definite Chief Aim

Spurred on by a burning desire, leaders will set specific goals and will then develop these goals into a plan of action. What’s interesting is that many people may not show any signs of becoming a leader at all, until they encounter certain situations. For instance, a soldier may see a friend pinned down by enemy fire, and then will decide to go rescue him. In this case the situation created circumstances that allowed a leader to appear.  Goals are created by desires – the stronger the desire, the stronger the goal.

Self Confidence

The three factors of desire, belief and expectancy combine to form the trait of self confidence – or faith. These three traits can be increased by simply thinking about them as often as possible. When you think about something, you will put energy into it and it will increase in power. Once these three factors have been developed, a person will have the self confidence needed to pursue his goals. Also, one of the best ways to create self confidence is to acquire knowledge and then teach it to others.

Imagination

While imagination is mostly regarded as unimportant, those understanding the principles of success know that imagination is one of the greatest keys to accomplishing goals. Imagination is used to turn one’s dreams, goals and desires into reality. Once developed through practice, it will allow you to overcome the most formidable problems. Imagination is also one of the greatest keys to leadership. The only real limitations you will face on your road to success are created by your own mind. By conditioning your mind through constructive use of imagination, you will be able to overcome these self imposed obstacles.

Initiative – Taking Action

Above all, leaders have mastered the power of initiative. What is initiative?

Initiative is a rare quality that impels a person to do the right thing without being told to do so.

Most people will not want to exert the extra effort to do the right thing and will only make a move when they are compelled to do so. These are the people just getting by with the minimum amount of effort.

There are other people that won’t do the right thing even when shown what it is and how to do it. These people tend to become failures in everything they do.

But true leaders are those that will go out of their way to do the right thing without prompting from others. They are the ones doing the little extra things that are helpful. These people always have an easier time succeeding in what they do, because their efforts win the hearts of everyone they come in contact with. Initiative is the key that opens the door to opportunity.

How to Develop Initiative

First of all, you will need to eliminate procrastination.

The best way to eliminate procrastination is to spend time every day thinking about your desires, and imagining yourself already having arrived at your goal. This will generate the energy to overcome fear. Procrastination is also destroyed by doing something constructive towards your goals every day. If you do just a little bit every day, you will have found that you have climbed up the slopes of the mountain of success in no time at all.

Secondly, you develop initiative by encouraging others to do so.

If you want to be happy, then give happiness away. If you want to become a person of initiative, teach others the advantages of developing initiative. Initiative is also based on the first law of success: the habit of doing more than you are paid for. When you go out of your way to assist others, they will remember you.

Third, you need to develop the mindset of a person of initiative.

This is done by simply imagining yourself as a person that gets things done. Spend your time thinking, eating, breathing and sleeping with initiative. Always be on the lookout for ways to help others – for ways to improve things. This will help you develop the mindset of a leader. Develop the habit of taking actions to reach your goals.

How to Command Respect

One of the best ways to succeed in life is to become a leader. How do you get others to follow you? If you want people to follow you into hell – because the road to success is like fighting a battle – you will need to instill in them a sense of devotion. If you do not have the qualities that command their respect, loyalty and obedience, then you will fail as a leader. Aside from the traits already mentioned, the most important traits of a leader are self sacrifice, decisiveness, dignity and courage.

Self Sacrifice

As a leader, you will find yourself having to give of yourself more than anyone else. Leaders are always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Leaders are always more giving than anyone else. The man who always takes and never gives is not a leader. He is a parasite. Helping others is one of qualities of a leader. Give 100 times what you expect to receive. Giving is the first law of success, and you will discover that when you give, you will end up with more success than those that do not give. Those giving the most will become the most successful.

Decisiveness

The way to become decisive is to study and learn all you can about a situation. The more informed you are, the better able you will be to take advantage of things or to make needed adjustments. When committed to a course of action, make sure you master it before moving on to another one. Do not scatter your efforts by constantly making new decisions and trying new things. This is not only a sign of weakness, it reeks of desperation. If you have spent time learning about your situation, then when something unexpected happens, you will be better able to make a quick decision.

Dignity

Leaders can be a force for good or evil. You will find that people will imitate what you do and your team will be a reflection of yourself. Do not preach to others, but instead live by setting an example of the right way to live and act. Don’t drink too much, get angry or treat others with disrespect. Treat everyone fairly. Do not be guilty of doing anything that you would ever have to apologize for. Develop physical health and vitality, which will give you the energy to work. Maintain a good appearance to demonstrate self respect. Never hurry. Never worry. Never talk about your problems. Do not gossip. Do not court the favor of others. Never say anything negative about anyone else. If you have nothing good to say, keep silent. Be positive – a person that knows how to get things done. Instead of whining about how impossible things are, find a way to make things happen. Above all, avoid bad company. Your success will be a reflection of the kinds of people you surround yourself with.

Courage

The difference between courage and bravery is that bravery is physical, while courage is mental and moral. Blind bravery won’t help you reach your goals or develop you as a leader, but courage, fueled by an understanding of the situation and backed up by a fierce desire to succeed will lead you to reach your goals. Do not ask anyone to go where you will not go yourself. Do not ask anyone to do what you are not willing to do yourself.

So leaders are made by setting a specific goal and laying out plans to reach that goal through the use of one’s imagination. Then using burning desire and self confidence, a leader will use initiative to take action to reach those goals. Leaders command respect through self sacrifice, decisiveness and dignity. And finally, a leader will develop the courage to take daring actions to succeed.

Hopefully, this article was useful to you in learning how to become a leader. Remember: Leaders always work harder and give more than anyone else.