Taking The Lead
Sonata Arctica, a popular musician, once sang a song titled: Taking The Lead. If I may ask, are you truly taking the lead in every area of your life? How would it be to always be in charge? When I say being in charge, I don’t mean being in control of somebody else, but being in control and staying ahead in every area of your own life as an individual. Your ability to take action and apply the speed of change based on the vital information you have—that can transform your life, family, career, and the environment in which you live in—is what brings about taking the lead as a leader.
Taking the lead is about being proactive and not reactive. It is your ability to spot an opportunity and take full advantage of it before the window of that opportunity closes. We live in a society where lots of people are reactive. They wait for someone else to invent or innovate before they make a move. No wonder our world today is full of imitators who copy what someone else has done. Leaders that take the lead are continuously reinventing themselves—ever thinking of how to get ahead of themselves, not others. They are not in competition with anyone, rather they compete with themselves.
To take the lead, you should note the following:
Desire: Achieving greatness in life begins with a desire. How passionate, inspired and desirous are you about your dream. In fact, do you have a dream? That reminds me of Martin Luther King Jr, who said: I have a dream—and that dream motivated him to accomplish a formidable mark on earth. Whatever you truly desire, you go for it. It is the level of your desire and passion about something that will instigate you to begin to take some steps toward realizing it. So, taking the lead begins with the desire to achieve something.
Take responsibility: Leaders who take the LEAD are RESPONSIBLE. According to Linda Coleman, “One of the single most important words in the English language is R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y—your ability to respond. Why? Most of the problems we experience in life are because we fail to take responsibility.” Majority of our life’s problems are centered on our inability to take responsible actions in a timely fashion. Taking personal responsibility is about acknowledging the fact that you are responsible for every outcomes of your life—good or bad. Responsible leaders who take the lead do not play blame game. Someone may ask: Am I responsible for being born in a poor family or born maimed? Absolutely not! But you are responsible for what happens afterward. You either decide to be bound by your circumstance or take the bull by the horn.
Talent: Have you considered the abundant potentials—gifts and talents in you. What are you doing with it—just lying dormant? There is a seed of greatness in each of us. Every human being born into this world has his or her own unique, natural, God-given talents and abilities. Those unique, natural talents are the core of who we are. Those talents never change. They don’t go away. It doesn’t matter if you’re born into a dysfunctional family or with a silver spoon in your mouth. You never lose those talents, but you can surely lose sight of them and in so doing, you cheat yourself. It is in building your life around your talents that you can only find real fulfillment in life. And you can only build your life around your talents when you start taking the lead by discovering and deploying those talents to use. Build your expertise around your talents by taking the lead in those areas.
Be a change agent: To be a change agent and spread the gospel of change, you must first be changed yourself. Like Mahatma Ghandi rightly said, be the change you want to see. Leaders who take the lead are change makers. They carry change within, and explode without. To describe the portrait of an effective leader, Dr. John Maxwell, a leadership expert, noted that Outward reform begins with inward renewal. In other words, the leader must experience personal change before he or she can implement public change. He concluded that, leaders make an impact the same way an atomic bomb does—they implode before they explode. You want to take the lead? Begin today by exercising personal changes in your life that will affect both personal and public transformation. Conduct a self-audit and evaluation of yourself, and then spot areas that need personal adjustment and change in your life.
Put God First: Be influenced by the Almighty. Ever before you engage in any project, pray and seek his direction. Don’t make God a spare tyre, after you have made up your mind on what to do. I call Him the Ocean Divider—He knows the end from the beginning, and He is the greatest teacher of all times that knows all the secrets to life and all that pertains to Taking the Lead in every area of your life, career, business, finances—just name it.
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Visiondrivers Academy
The “Visiondrivers Academy” is a School of Leadership & Entrepreneurship Development. It is initiated by Visiondrivers Consulting Limited to help unleash the leadership & entrepreneurial potential of individuals and corporate organizations. At Visiondrivers Academy, you learn what it takes to be a leader at home, in the office, in politics, in sports, in entertainment, in business, in your chosen field, and most importantly leading yourself—self leadership.
The Visiondrivers Academy is an institution designed to raise global leaders and entrepreneurs that will impact their generation. As Warren Bennis, a leadership expert noted: “A business short on capital can borrow money and one with poor location can move. But a business short on leadership has little chance of survival.” The role of leaders in building a successful business is very vital, and that is why at Visiondrivers Academy we teach the participants the timeless principles of leadership that will build and enhance the profitability of their businesses and their personal lives.
The Visiondrivers Academy is a 3-days intensive leadership course that runs quarterly in a year.
More information about the enrollment to the academy will be announced soon.
Passion
By nature, human beings have a natural inclination to fall in love with doing one particular thing or the other. And that eventually becomes a driving force or enthusiasm in their life. It is endemic in human beings and it is placed in us by our creator. It is called PASSION! It is a tendency to be obsessive toward something. When you are passionate about something, you feel compelled to do it. Passionate people are possessed people. In other words, they have an innate need to purposely and doggedly pursue a course in life and accomplish it. Passion is energy that says, “I’m going to go after this, no matter what happens. Even if I have to wait for years, I’m going to get it.”
That reminds us of Ayo Arowolo, the dynamic Publisher and CEO of MoneyWise, Nigeria’s foremost stock & financial publication. In an exclusive interview, he spoke at length about his driving force, successes and learning experiences. He was asked in the interview: “What would you describe as the biggest hurdle you ever had to jump in following your PASSION through?” Mr. Arowolo answered:
“Let me share with you my experience when I lost my dad in 1994 and we had to contribute money for the burial. Things were not particularly rosy at that time. I was also told to contribute towards the attire we were to put on. I couldn’t contribute anything. After the burial, my aunty was worried when she came down to my residence and saw the place where I was staying. She could not see anything inside, not even a television. My folks held a family meeting, and they tried to persuade me to take up a job in some other industry since journalism was not paying off. That time was when I started getting job offers from banks and they were telling me to switch to the banking industry. The temptation to switch was so strong, but then I reminded myself that I had resolved never to do anything but journalism. So I turned down several job offers and stuck to journalism. I stayed in journalism because I enjoyed what I was doing, I didn’t care whether they paid me money or not. Today, the decision has paid off. So when I go to campuses to give speeches, I tell the students never to choose a career you don’t like just because of money. LET YOUR PASSION DRIVE YOU because you will get to the top, it may take time but you will surely get there.” Adapted from THE DAYSTAR, Vol.1 No.9 2004.
From the above story, it is evident that Ayo Arowolo followed his passion and stuck to it. His passion for journalism brought him fame, and undoubtedly, his legacy in the Nigerian financial publications remains exceptional. When a man identifies and follows his passion, he becomes unstoppable and a leader in that place. Passion is like a fire, and you can’t talk anyone who is gripped by it, out of it. Check those who have achieved greatness in their field of endeavor, you will see one common similarity: And that is “PASSION”!
Muhamed Ali, former world heavy-weight boxing champion, said, “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision.” Ones passion in life can be painting, drawing, writing, singing, craft, speaking, a career, helping others (humanitarian) etc. Personally, I love writing, reading, speaking and motivating people. That is my passion and it’s where my entrepreneurial potential lies. I derive pleasure in seeing people around me succeed. You see, your passion reveals your potential. Both passion and potential go hand in hand. As John Mason, a famous author and speaker, said, “There is a parallel line between your passion and potential.”
A lot of people live and die without getting a grip of their passion for living. Your area of strong passion is your place of potential. There is an inherent strength, ability, and success towards anywhere you exhibit a passion. According to Al Capp, the famous American Cartoonist, “Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most.” Many frustrated people you see today are not doing what they love. One generally does not complain when doing what he or she derives pleasure and fulfillment from. Generally, people who do what they love, excel. Ella Fitzgerald, one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, said, “Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
Your place of passion is usually an accurate pointer towards your God-given talents. Take a few moments and ask yourself this question: What do I really love doing that if I’m asked to wake up 2 a.m. and I will not complain doing it. Marian W. Edelman, the President of the Children’s Defense Fund, wrote: “I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.”
What is your passion? What drives you? What do you love doing? Remember, your passion must be something that will add value, not only to your life but to others. According to Stephen Covey, “If you have a passion that you're good at but the world doesn't need it, you've got a useless passion. But if you can make a living doing something that you're really good at and like--what a combination”. You cannot tell me that your passion is watching movies. That is a “recreational passion” because it does not add value per se. Rather, you can turn that passion of watching movies into a “creative passion” by owning a video club where others can rent movies and pay to watch.
Remember, you cannot be fulfilled in doing what you hate. The reward for doing something you are not passionate about is frustration. Right now, take a quick inventory of your life by looking back to when you were still a child. And then ask yourself, what are those things I really enjoyed doing from childhood that I still derive fulfillment from? According to Denis E. Waitley, a world-renowned motivational speaker “One way to tell if something is your passion is if you had an affinity for it during childhood”. Take a pen and write them down. I bet you, you will be a step closer to realizing your potential and fulfilling your dream. Remember, we are about moving to the next level into 2008 and you cannot afford to remain one spot without flowing to the next level of success. According to Mike Murdock, a renowned international speaker, “What generates passion and zeal in you is a clue to revealing your destiny. What you love is a clue to something you contain.” Therefore, pursue your passion and live your dream. Till we meet again, have a great week. Elvis!
Elvis is a leadership expert. To gain access to more of Elvis' tested wisdom and insight, on how to achieve peak performance - and leadership - that gets the NEEDED results, go to http://www.elvisukpaka.com, to signup for his Peak Performance Leadership Newsletter. You can reach Elvis directly via Email:
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Leadership Diversity And Inclusion At Workplace
The hall mark of great leadership is the ability of a leader to lead and work with varied number of people without prejudice or racial barrier. One of the major leadership challenges we have in our society today, especially in governmental and non-governmental organizations is the difficulty of certain group of people finding it unpleasant to co-exist or work together with others. In most organizations today, the subject of diversity and inclusion has become an enormous concern since it has a huge positive or negative impact on the business—positive in the sense that it is addressed and dealt with—and negative if left untreated. In fact, I once worked in an environment where 95% of the employees—both managers and executives—were from a particular tribe. It was so ugly that speaking their local dialect was a norm. And for the rest of the others who could not speak or hear their language, it was a living hell in that organization. The management didn’t see anything wrong, in any case, they communicated just like every other person. But the impact was negative. For the few who could not speak the language felt distanced and unwelcome. And that created some barrier and lack of trust which inadventedly affected the bottom line of the business.
I have come to realize that the culture that exists in any organization is founded on the founders of the organization. The leaders are the ones who first initiate the culture, and the stakeholders build on the it—in no time, it becomes enacted and entrenched in the way the people in that environment speak, behave, and live. This means that the leader or founder has a fundamental role in shaping the mindset of the stakeholders of his business. If the leader is fond of speaking his native dialect, especially when he has people of same language working with him, then the culture of excluding others who can’t communicate in that language has come to stay in that environment. Except something is done immediately, a culture of sectarianism, unprofessionalism, lack of trust, and division amongst employees will be built in the system especially where other tribes co-exist in the same organization. This is one common example. In fact, there are more endemic ones rooted in most establishments that appear subtle yet killing the very foundation of achieving a sustainable business success.
What is diversity and inclusion? Diversity is the sum total of the differences which make individuals who they are, and their collective ability to contribute to the goals of an organization. Managing Diversity is a conscious choice and commitment by an organization to VALUE these differences by using diversity as a source of strength to achieve organizational goals.
Embracing diversity in the workplace has many advantages. The "business case for diversity" theorizes that, in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce (both men and women, people of many generations, people from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds etc.) is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves and is thus better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited range of employee demographics. An additional corollary suggests that a company that supports the diversity of its workforce can also improve employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention. This portion of the business case, often referred to as inclusion, relates to how an organization utilizes its various relevant diversities. If a workforce is diverse, but the employer takes little or no advantage of that breadth of that experience, then it cannot monetize whatever benefits background diversity might offer.
Elvis is a leadership expert. To gain access to more of Elvis' tested wisdom and insight, on how to achieve peak performance - and leadership - that gets the NEEDED results, go to http://www.visiondrivers.com, to signup for his Peak Performance Leadership Newsletter. You can reach Elvis directly via Email: -->
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or Phone:234-802-367-1070.