Who approves your Leadership?
What makes someone accept you as a Leader?
When do you become an accomplished Leader worth leading?
Where do you want to be so your followers feel proud to be led by you?
Why your Leadership skills need to be constantly sharpened for continued growth?
The above 5 Ws have always been touched upon by so many outstanding geniuses around the world. They have used so many different examples, anecdotes, philosophies, historical facts as well as words of wisdom to bring home the above points in equally creative ways that it is not even funny anymore.
I need to bring forward another big ‘HOW’ to the equation against the generally accepted principles of ‘Leadership’ per se with all due respect to all the painstakingly acquired experiences of these ‘Leaders’, ‘Gurus’, Advisors, Motivational Speakers, Authors, Coaches, Soothsayers, Theorists as well as Geniuses helping us bring about a major change, an unforeseen growth in our business and all other sorts of motivational embellishments to boot:
Seeking ‘Limelight’: It is, if not the only one then definitely one of, the single most important factors with an inherent potential to push anyone into the grave before it is time and destroy everything so painstakingly built over the years.
Does staying away from the above mode of attention save us from bringing our own demise while seeking glory as a Leader?
Seeking limelight has multiple negative impacts on leadership:
When you embark headlong into the blinding limelight of full focus on yourself, seeking attention and resulting glory, your shadow falls behind you. Keeping your followers in constant shadow will gradually start to create a wedge between you and your most ardent followers. The end result: No Followers = No Leader
Walking away from limelight, your shadow falls in front of you viz. on your own path ahead thus keeping you from moving forward. The end result: Darkness ahead of you means no idea where your next step should be
Remedy:
Lead with a passion
Lead BUT NEVER mislead
Lead them for their own benefits
Lead to make a quantifiable change for the better
Lead to bring out the best in your followers so they could lead others
Letting the light fall upon your followers instead helps your message spread far and wide as they get to see the direct, concrete benefits of your leadership. It is their newly won pride in coming out of darkness of the unknown to the brightness of your intellect that makes them your ambassadors and emissaries.
Leave aside limelight so the shadow falls away from both your own self as well as your most ardent followers. This helps bring many more followers into your fold as they wonder what is causing this shadow. Their own quest to throw new light on their next move or their future course of action will motivate them to seek you out. It will motivate them to ask for your help as well as the all too important guidance. In turn, your capacity to help your followers will provide further boost to your leadership.
Creating an ambient situation where light is showered upon you and your successful followers from multiple directions, thanks to your constructive interaction with them, will add lustre and help leave an ever-lasting legacy.
TRY IT, YOU MIGHT LIKE IT….
A leader is a person with followers. Often leaders must tell their followers how to follow; and their followers must tell their leaders how to lead.
Yes, you are right, Chris Pehura, in so far as leaders must tell their followers how to follow. The only thing I would like to add here, to give weight to your statement, is that they do not tell in words. Instead, true leaders set examples that the followers learn from and choose to follow them. Asking someone to follow you will never create leadership nor would the follower be sincere, even if you used extreme force or other high-handed techniques. It is by guiding them to tangible gains that leaders generate lasting following and continue to give value.
Thanks and Warm Regards!