Leaders run the world. They make things happen and take the world forward. Without visionaries like Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Thomas Edison, the world would have been a century behind.
These people not only defied the rules but are responsible for revolutionizing the world in ways that very few others did. But for some reason, the era of great leaders seem to have ended after the late 20th century. The possibility of next Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or Abraham Lincoln looks very gloomy.
And, it’s time that people understand the value of being a great leader and try to become one. Now, this leads to the old debate of whether leaders are born or made; of course, leaders are born but they can be made too.
Yes, you as an individual can:
• Take control of things around you.
• Become in charge of your life.
• And, change the way you live.
• Change things for you, your family and society.
For that, you need to realize the value of a true leader and more importantly, know what it takes to become one. Here is what we think it would take for you to become a leader that:
• Leads by example
• Innovates
• Takes his people along with him
1. Sacrifice
Leaders sacrifice. Period! Sometimes, it is their personal lives. Their dreams. Their health. When Bill Gates was passionately working on coding his first Windows OS, it was said that his wife wanted to divorce him. He hardly cared about his family at that time. It almost cost him his entire personal life.
Edison’s family almost gave up on him when he was crazily involved in his research work. Dhurubhai Ambani, Founder of Reliance Industries – India’s first Fortune 500 company, left his parents, his family for his passion.
You see, without great sacrifices, it is almost impossible to accomplish great results.
2. Failure Is a Friend
You got that right. No leader has ever become a leader without facing a failure. It is a known fact that leaders every visionary out there failed record number of times. But their attitude towards failure is phenomenal.
Leaders are never afraid to fail. They embrace failure as a friend and learn from it. Steve Jobs once said, failure is great as it teaches you the right way. Edison even said “I did not fail 10,000 times; I just found 10,000 ways of not doing it.”
It is this remarkable attitude that separates great leaders from the rest of the world.
3. Do What You Love
No matter what great leader you talk about, you’ll always find him doing things that he loves. Love and passion to change the world is what drives them. So, the fact is – no matter what field you get into; always, try and find what you love.
Because with that, you wouldn’t require to keep pushing yourself. You would naturally be motivated for the same.
The drive to get up early in the morning and get to what you love would be natural and more intense. All these people are extremely passionate about their work that helps them get over failure, learn from mistakes and be resilient even in the toughest times.
4. Take People Along
The value of a leader lies in taking people along with it. A true leader not only comprehends his role but also has the art of taking people along with him. History is proof that nothing great has ever been achieved without a team.
Very few leaders know how to make people do what they love and enjoy. What’s even more difficult for leaders is – making people do what they don’t like.
But if you aim to be a good leader, then you need to have the art of taking people along with you. The more people the people who work for you, the better. And, when they share your vision, have similar passion as you do, nothing can stop you accomplishing your goals – no matter how big they are.
5. Lead By Example
You know the difference between a leader and a true leader? Real leaders set examples for others. Richard Branson is considered to among the most productive men in the world because of the number of brands he established.
Taking him as an example, several hundreds of people launched their entrepreneurship. Even his business associates got inspired his productivity skills and worked seriously on getting more work done by spend less and less time.
So, another value of real leader is determined when he spends does what he says; when he is the man of his words; when he leads by example. That’s exactly you have to achieve as a leader or a team leader. If you act on your own words, you don’t need to stress your employees to get the work done.
To conclude, to become a great leader of a community, you need to:
• Be different from others
• Take initiatives
• Sacrifice more than others
• Respect your people
• And, act like a leader
These are some of the most important things to remember while trying to become a leader. Remember it!
You are right…The possibility of next Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or Abraham Lincoln looks very gloomy because today everyone just wants to earn money. No one cares about doing something different or becoming a leader. People have become very materialistic and every one wants to go ahead in this rat race.