I saw a posting on Facebook yesterday that caught my attention, it read.....
"Leaders are born. not chosen. In battle soldiers will rely on the toughest and wisest person to lead them to victory."
While it's true leaders are born, it's not true people are born leaders, as I felt this infered. The definition of leadership is influence, if you have influence over someone your a leader. A mother has influence over her child, hence she aspires to leadership.
Leadership or influence isn't always defined as good, you can influence someone in a negative manner. I think we can all agree Hitler was a leader, and a good one, many, many, people followed his influence. He just led people in a negative manner.
People follow leaders into battle who exhibit character, integrity, and knowledge. None of that is bequeathed to us at birth. Knowledge is learned, integrity and character are by products of the influences in your life. A "born leader" is akin to an "overnight success", there is no such thing.
Leadership is a culmination of personal growth. We can look back on one of the greatest leaders of all time, Winston Churchill, no one would have predicted from his early years he could lead a nation, especially one in the turmoil of a World War. His own father told him to join the infantry because in his opinion he didn't have the intelligence to be an officer. Leadership is a teachable skill.
Often times leadership is confused with "positional authority", like the boss at work. That's not influence, that's leverage. People follow a overseers orders to keep their income, that's a fear or blackmail situation. Leadership involves the willing. Those people are no more leaders then a prison guard is a CEO.
So let's all be good leaders! Influence people in a positive direction. Let your integrity and character draw people to follow your example, and then turn on your personality to cement the relationship. Follow a path of personal growth, and you'll be amazed at the people who walk in your footsteps.
God Bless!
Capt. Bill
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When you take control of people it doesn't mean your a leader.
ReplyDeleteWhen you fear someone's idea cause it's different then your's then your just a dictator.
To the people that influence the charge in my way of think Thank You!
(( CAPTAIN, RICHARD, ORRIN, ))
Before these men I lead by mussel do it my way or else!! now I lead by thinking.
So I say please, thank you, I appreciate, etc.
Yes I "WAS" a dictator that's how I programmed my self by associating with other dictators.
Now well I'm here with a different attitude a different way of thinking thanks to the choice I made to do something about it.
The choice I made yesterday is today's attitude the choice I make today will be tomorrows attitude.
What choice will we make today??
I know and so will you.
(( CAPTAIN, RICHARD, ORRIN, LOVE YOU THANK YOU ))
Thank you for your time...
.............................I MAN