So, what is leadership? Is it the ability to be the leader of a group of people? Not really. One can be elected as a leader or as the head of a group but doesn’t mean they have leadership quality. In a world of corruption, it is very easy to acquire the physical position or the title of a leader but leadership? It is something poles apart from corruption. It’s that beautiful quality you nourish every day by one simple rule: to want good for yourself and to want good for others. A true leader is one who thinks about the people in his/her community /group, one who puts in the effort to improve the conditions for not only themselves but also for others.
I can throw a bunch of things in here and say, these are the things that will get you the leadership quality you need to stand out. However, it’s not going to be helpful. Pure intentions are at the roots of true leadership. It’s the only driving force that will make you work for others, expecting nothing in return. But I can certainly tell you few things that are consistent in the leaders. But before I do, I want you to know, these things don’t have to be innate. In fact, personality is something that you can work on. It’s up to you, what you want to include in your personality and what you want to exclude. Think of it as a ground where you have the power to do the editing. Remember, qualities can always be acquired by putting the hard work to learn and through experience. No one is a born leader. It is our actions, our intentions and the experiences we gain as we go, that make us who we are.
True leadership lies at the heart of those with a strong mind. Leaders are just people like you and me, yet they are exceptional. What makes them extraordinary? A strong mind. These are the people who have strong will and refuse to give up. They always tend to give their very best and want to see through a problem till the end. These are the people who have the urge to solve a problem. Thoughts play an important role in shaping you. Negative thoughts will only drain you out of motivation and the will to get things done. Positive thoughts, on the other hand, will give you confidence, and most importantly, a clear head to actually work on the problem. Worries and tensions cause ‘energy leaks’ and gets your mind so occupied that you cannot efficiently work on the problem at hand. One solution, and perhaps the best solution to this is to replace your negative thought with a good thought every time a negative one appears on your mind. This is called ‘Opposition Thinking.’ Think of your mind as a screen where you do the projection of your thoughts. Your thoughts are slides of your power point presentation. Every time a slide with negativity, worries, tensions, self-doubts or any kind of pessimism appears on the screen, replace it immediately with a good one. Try this every day. You will notice a difference in the way you feel about things and react to them, within a month. Tips? Do not give yourself the luxury to have even one negative thought. Whenever it appears, just replace it with a good one.
Intentions. Like I mentioned earlier, pure intentions are at the roots of true leadership. Your will to help people, to make things better for others, will call for the leader in you to do whatever it takes to satisfy your intentions. Your intentions give you the passion to work. The more passionate you are, the more self-driven you will be to pursue your task. This is something recurring you will notice in successful people. Remember, it starts with a good thought, and then your intention to turn it to reality which gives you the passion to work for it and to realize it. I like to think of it as blue-printing. Everything is created twice. First as a blueprint in your mind, then your thoughts work as the messenger that sets out the intention to make it happen in the physical world.
There is a bunch of other stuff like these. But you will notice, they all have one thing in common; they all start spiritually. The point of writing this article was to make you stop and think on one common mistake we all do; we measure leadership qualities on a scale of materialistic objects or events. Titles and positions don’t necessarily make you a leader, your efforts of working on yourself to improve yourself today then who you were yesterday, does. So, I ask, what does leadership mean to you?