True Leaders

There are various kinds of leaders that that we come across in our daily lives; family heads, class monitors, sports team captain  corporate honchos, social activists, political leaders etc. Some of them need a knock of motivation to be able to awake the spirit and some already have the inborn potential to lead...

A true leader

Leaders do not walk in the footsteps left by others; rather they create their own benchmarks and set their own milestones. They believe in living and setting high values for themselves. But, not all leaders are same. Some although believe in high morals and values, they do not preach and expect their followers to follow them blindly.

A leader who leads by example and from the front will always be regarded high in the eyes of his people and fellow workers, but chances are that the leader might fail to keep an eye on everybody. A leader who leads from behind is never held high in the eyes of those being lead, but each one of them are in his eyes. In the case of the former, the leader can be branded as an egoist, but in the case of the latter, the leader highlights the followers and hence is considered selfless. And this puts the common myth – a leader should lead from the front – to rest.

A leader carves his/her own path through unconventional thinking and soars above social prejudice. Great leaders have extraordinary powers to break the usual norm and think out of the box, while still functioning within the confines of conventional societies. There are leaders who acquire appreciable leadership skills and qualities and people tend to follow them, because they start liking their leader's visions, ideals and thoughts. Leaders with adopted or acquired leadership skills are adored, because they accomplish their mission with the right kind of approach.

All of us have latent, inherent leadership qualities which surface when needed in circumstances around us. And if we do successfully and manage to create a positive impact, anyone from us can become head of the family, head of the labor union, head of the company and so on.

Essentially, a leader means a person who leads a group of people. When there is nobody to lead, someone initiates actions to lead the group and people start following his instructions. You can see this classic example on the roads. When there is a traffic jam and there is no traffic cop around, somebody out of the blue comes forward and manages the traffic and the motorists obey him. This proves that he is a good leader and practices what he preaches others.

There are certain leadership qualities required for potential leaders. The first and foremost is that he should be a selfless one. Nobody loves a selfish person. Besides, other desirable leadership qualities are - strong will power; honesty; loyalty; integrity; physical, mental, psychological and moral robustness; acceptability by followers; transparent; accessibility; understanding; progressive; impartial; tolerant; must have a foresight; judging acumen; not stagnant; should be a giver and not a taker; should possess high moral character and should be able to set an example before asking others to follow.

I have seen many leaders in my life; to start with my Mom, excellent home maker and working woman... Dad who always come forward when his employees needs him and always have a faith in his organization.. my brother is a team leader, a spirit uplifter and a great believer.. My PhD guide a great philosopher and a true teacher... and the list goes on...

In the end, a true leader should possess broad-mindedness, innate energy, clear, firm and reasonable understanding and should believe in intense hard work.

For some people Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or George Washington or Abraham Lincoln or Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Michael Jordan are the greatest leader.. If you have any true leader or a role model in your life; share with me in comments..