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“LEADERSHIPISNOWHERE”

-One Leader’s Perspective

By Greg L. Thomas

When you looked at the title of this article it may have caused you to do a double take. Or perhaps you thought that the editing skills of our reviewers isn’t as professional as it used to be! However, the title “LEADERSHIPISNOWHERE” was written this way for a reason. When you first viewed the title and attempted to decipher its meaning without proper spacing provided, your mind most likely interpreted the title in one of two ways…

“LEADERSHIP IS NO WHERE” or “LEADERSHIP IS NOW HERE”

Which mental image did you originally see?

The point I want to emphasize is that the opportunity to lead in your business and personal life is available right now! But in order to achieve a leadership role it is up to us to see it, seize the opportunities and take action. In this monthly article, I hope to encourage you to look for opportunities to lead and take advantage of them as they are usually all around us. In the process I hope to also debunk a few modern mythical “sayings” that are part of our culture.

Allow me to begin by discussing opportunities. The word opportunity is defined as “a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances. It was Eleanor Roosevelt who once said, “prepare yourself . . . you will be able to grasp opportunity for broader experience when it appears.” Many fine people make the critical mistake of waiting for opportunities to present themselves. Some buy into the fallacy that “opportunity knocks only once”. The truth is that opportunities are generally everywhere just waiting to be discovered. Rather than wait for an opportunity to knock, we need to realize it is our task to knock and walk through an open door to opportunities that lay all around us.

We live in a unique age because the rapid process of change in our modern world presents new opportunities virtually anywhere and anytime. How rapidly is our world changing? It has been calculated by some scientists that if the entire history of mankind were compressed into one calendar year and man appeared on January 1^st, the following events have occurred during the last day of the year…December 31^st! Greece became a world power (500 BC), the printing press was invented (1450 AD), the Industrial revolution occurred (1775 AD), mankind learned to fly (1903), mankind traveled to the moon and back (1969 AD). Even change itself is changing…it’s getting faster. All of this change engenders phenomenal opportunities.

But like the title of this article, we often don’t properly interpret an event as a real opportunity! There has never been a shortage of opportunities, only a shortage of those willing to take a risk and lead. For example, take a look at your place of employment or your local community. Upon close examination you will find numerous valuable causes or problems crying out for change or someone willing to take up a cause. There are many things, programs, policies and problems that require a solution provided by a dedicated leader. Yet, most of these go ignored because the great majority of folks have accepted all of these things as normal or permissible. They do not see opportunities or potential in these causes that appeal for change. How good are we at recognizing these kinds of opportunities?

So recognizing latent opportunities to provide leadership is the first important step. This teaches us to focus on looking for opportunities rather than waiting for them to somehow find us. The next step is volunteering to take the action necessary to pool resources needed to get things done! These resources often include people, ideas, time, and perhaps financial support. But gathering the right resources alone is not enough because over time they will rise and wane. The vital next step is personal commitment combined with a “can-do” attitude that inspires others to support the cause during good times and bad times!

Commitment is one of the most essential qualities that can be possessed by any leader. If a cause it right and good we must deeply believe in the cause and our important role to lead others. During World War 2, after successfully invading most of Europe, the Nazi’s set a goal of conquering Britain in two months. Many world observers thought that Britain didn’t stand a chance! However, the sheer determination of one man helped to galvanize the nation to be committed to ultimate victory. This man was Winston Churchill and his bulldog demeanor symbolized the fortitude needed to keep the goal of victory in front of the British people. To remind himself of this commitment he had a brass plaque engraved which he kept on his desk in London. It was intended to be a mission statement for himself and the “house” of Parliament, which it refers to. The plaque powerfully states:

“Please understand there is no depression in this house and we are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.”

How committed are we to the causes we believe in? How would you act, talk and walk if you knew you could not fail? Sadly, some would become arrogant and cocky. But, servant leaders would be confident, calm and model a “can-do” attitude. Like Churchill’s plaque, there would be an expectation of success and action. This is the approach we must all have if we are to lead others to overcome problems and obstacles. Here is one small way to develop a deeper sense of commitment to the things that are important to you. Eliminate the word “try” from your vocabulary! Things are either important to us or they are not! When we use the word “try”, we leave the door open for us not to do something or perhaps avoid a commitment. Eliminate the word “try” from your mental terminology and decide to either do something when asked, or decline. If it is something we need to do…simply say, “I’ll do it. It will be done.”

A common mythical saying that permeates our culture is that “practice makes perfect”. At first this may sound logical and profound but it is a flawed witticism. It should really be said that “perfect practice makes perfect”. If we continually practice doing something wrong, we don’t improve ourselves, we only learn how to do the wrong thing more efficiently. For example, if you take up the sport of golf you soon learn that there are certain skills that greatly improve your game. There are certain ways to stand, hold the club, maintain your head and swing your club. If you practice using the proper basics, in time you improve. On the other hand, if you practice doing the wrong things you simply reinforce ineffective practices and little, if any, improvement occurs. The same is true in our role as leaders. As we desire to learn new skills or approaches we must remember that practice alone doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. After all, professionalism is not acquired by a title or formal position but by performance!

To recap what we have discussed, the first major hurdle of active leadership is to see the opportunities that are all around us. It is not a matter of patiently waiting, but one of scrutiny and focused observation. If we sit back and wait for something to fall from the sky or wait for someone to ask us, we may wait our entire lifetimes! Meanwhile we will have let hundreds of meaningful opportunities go unfulfilled because we didn’t take notice. Next, we need to seize the opportunities and make its cause our own. This requires commitment and tenacity to endure the “ups and downs”. Change is hard and we can expect much opposition. We need to believe in our causes, and in ourselves, in order to encourage others to support the cause. Great causes are achieved today not because of a single noble leader, but because everyone was inspired to pull together to get the job done. Our attitude should convey confidence, camaraderie and enthusiasm. Finally, we need to take action using mature thinking and sound leadership skills. We don’t “try” to get things done. We don’t maybe complete an assignment or perhaps make a promise…we do it!

How do we develop sound leadership skills? We use each and every day as our training ground. At home, work, at school, in our community and in our places of worship. We practice…perfectly practice right and positive values along with good management methods to lead and motivate others. How we deal with the small daily opportunities helps prepare us for the larger opportunities. These opportunities are found in the little things we take for granted, if only we look more closely.

So would you like to be a leader and take an active role in the world around you? Would you like to make a difference somewhere in the world or in someone’s life? You are in the right place at the right time!

LEADERSHIP IS NOW HERE!

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About the author:

Greg has over 25 years of sales and marketing experience within the electrical manufacturing industry. Some of his positions have included being a National Sales Manager, National Marketing Manager and Regional Sales Manager. He also has an extensive 35 years experience in public speaking and has written articles for various publications. Greg has a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Bellevue University, where he has served as an adjunct professor. He is the founder of weLEAD Incorporated, a nonprofit organization chartered to promote personal and organizational leadership. Greg's personal site is located at http://www.greglthomas.info