MINDSET OF A LEADER

While listening to a medical doctor friend talk at the Chinua Achebe Arts Theatre in Calabar recently, this subject popped up in my mind and so I decided to give it a follow up. I took my time to go through the lives of different leaders and tried to check for similarities in their ways of reasoning and decision making. After a thorough research, I came out with these findings:

LEADERS ARE POSITIVE THINKERS

Often I wonder how leaders always succeed in convincing their team members to dare even when obstacles are crystal clear. They would go ahead encouraging, motivating and challenging them (team members) to make the obvious (failure) become a mirage. So many times, I am tempted to believe that their motivations are just empty statements used to give failure nice clothing but it doesn't ever seem so because, the supposed failure always ends up as a success. Think of Thomas Edison who was interviewed by a young reporter who boldly asked him if he felt like a failure and if he thought he should just give up now on his quest to invent the electric light bulb. Perplexed, Edison replied, “Young man, why should I feel like a failure? And why should I ever give up? I now know definitely over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” And shortly after that and over 10,000 attempts, Thomas Edison finally invented the electric light bulb. Amazing!

LEADERS ARE PACESETTERS

I was delivering a leadership session to an audience dominated by High School students recently when I posed this question, "what is the difference between a Leader and a Manager" and guess what, their responses were mind blowing. Their answers ranged from the former being a creative and innovative person to the latter being a custodian and an executor. Astonishingly, some of them even went further citing instances and making comparisons however, we won’t let those analyses bother us here for professional reasons. Now, what amazed me about this whole session was the fact that even from the standpoint of these students, anyone who wasn’t an innovator was simply not leading and I strongly support their opinion. If not true, who has ever been remembered as being either wise or foolish if not for a remarkable impact or its sheer absence? The world has over 6billion people and the only way you can be recognized is by making significant impacts though negative impacts also bring about recognitions however, it’s never long before nemesis calls. The world always remembers leaders and seldom remembers managers.

LEADERS ARE VISION DRIVERS  

I am yet to meet a leader who treats other people’s visions with Kid Gloves neither have I ever met with a leader who is not visionary himself yet. Leaders are people who commit to others vision and are always eager to contribute to the fulfillment of other people’s dreams. They are selfless and resourceful people always having the necessary ingredients to alter any difficulty and cut down any hurdle. Commoners live each day the way it comes while leaders have already planned their day, week, month and even years in most cases. They violate the age long saying ‘When we get to the bridge, we will know how to cross it’ because, they cross the bridge so many times in their minds that when they come across the bridge they are so sure of continuity.

As you start the new month, appraise your past 8months of the year and rate yourself irrespective of any justifiable excuse. Commit to do all that is left to be done and do not push until the next month what you could have done today because the next month is already full of activities and probably has equal number of days like this. So, go back to your planning board, overlook impossibilities and keep setting paces.

Happy ‘mber months!

PEE