If you desire to be a leader at any level of responsibility, whether it is family, non profit, profit driven organisations or perhaps it is just yourself you are looking out for, it is very important that you are conscious of certain factors that will determine how far you will go and how good you will become at what you do.
The first one is Possibility Thinking. Every leader must think of possibilities. You must not be limited by what you see around you and what you have at present. It is important that we consistently ask ourselves the question that underlies all creativity and possibilities: “What if?” That is where it all begins. You ask: What if I had more finances, What if I had a bigger team, a greater network of people, more resources? What if I could meet people with access to what I need? What if I could get stronger, wiser and better at what I do? No matter what your current situation seems like, there are always possibilities. Sometimes you have to intentionally and deliberately look for them and provoke them to work for you. Possibility thinking requires that we ask ourselves questions and that we ask other people too.
We should not just connect with people for fun, we should also do it for fortune.
A realtor was given the task of managing a new estate of houses and offices, on a whim he asked the owners if he could have office space for himself as part of his fee. The owner of the buildings hesitated a bit and then said: “Okay, put it in the contract!” The owner must have felt that if the estate management company has its offices among the buildings it would do a better job. But the point is, if he did not ask, he would not have got what he wanted. We must all think possibilities and ask the right questions. Sometimes our future depends on it.
Linked closely to possibilities are what we describe as opportunities. The British have a saying: “Opportunity knocks but once!” Nothing could be further from the truth. We are surrounded by opportunities on a daily basis. In fact, we witness thousands of them. Perhaps the dictum refers to the perishability of opportunities. If you do not take them, they could pass you by, sometimes in a matter of seconds. Thinking like leaders requires that we maximize all the moments we have to make a difference. We need to seize moments. Whenever you meet a great person, glean some ideas or information from them. Try to understand their philosophy of life and their central reference point. That is why networking is important.
We should not just connect with people for fun, we should also do it for fortune. Someone said a person in need is usually about four people away from someone who can help him. Mark my words, that help could be a simple idea, a word of advice or even a bit of inspiration. You may not know somebody whose help you need but by asking, you might know someone who knows someone who knows him! Hmm, I hope the chain has not been extended too long? Malcolm Gladwell in his famous book, The Tipping Point, describes three categories of people: Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen. Unique people, who link you to the “right crowd”, connect you to people who can make things happen and put a product or a service in the high demand range through a subtle endorsement. Every sector of business and every endeavor in modern society have them. Your job is to seek them out and make it your opportunity to thrive.
We all need to seek ability. That is the skill or ableness to carry out a function. Leadership minded people always seek ability. They look at how they can polish their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. In the area of recruitment and selection, leaders are always seeking out new talent. Exceptional people are everywhere but seeking them out and putting them into positions that they require to thrive is not always a function that people practice. We must seek people who can take our organizations to a new level. It is not always a matter of qualifications, even though certificates that approve a period of study are valuable. More valuable is the person who can function at a high level and achieve results. There are people with qualifications who also have talent to achieve the goals we have set for our organization. We must seek them out and ensure that their goals can be merged with those of our organization. Achieving that would ensure that we make progress.
We should ensure that in the final analysis we take the decision ourselves so that we do not give excuses if it does not work out the way we want.
Life is full of inevitability. There are things that will happen in the course of our lives that we did not bargain for. Tragedies, set backs, disappointments, failures all of these we can summarize in the term “adversity”. We have to learn to look into the future and determine what might come against us in any shape and form. We must have a long term concern for our health, finances, safety and vitality. In life’s journey there are certain things that we can be sure of and there are others that just spring up on us. If you are paddling on a river 200 metres from a water fall, then of course you ought to have checked ahead because once you get into that current there is not much you can do to stop falling. There are preparations for the inevitable. We ought to have long term assessments and analysis that would help us reduce the eventualities of the inevitable to the barest minimum. A change of policy by the government of the day is perhaps one inevitability that businessmen cannot prepare for. In some countries the big businesses will lobby the politicians. But suppose you do not have the resources to lobby? Then your answer is to adjust your operations to suit the new circumstances.
The summit of leadership is the capability to make rational decisions in every situation based on information provided. We as individuals must be able to keep our emotions in check and if we are to get emotional, we must ensure that those emotions guide us towards the right decisions. Too many decisions in politics and business are being taken on a whim with the wrong emotions tied up in the process. That is why good leaders seek advice. They look at the pros and the cons of every situation before decisions are taken. The bottom line is we should never allow anyone or anything to manipulate us when we are involved in decision making. We should ensure that in the final analysis we take the decision ourselves so that we do not give excuses if it does not work out the way we want. So, there you have it. If you are aspiring to lead ensure that you have these five areas checked out. They will help you to progress on your journey.
*Ogundadegbe is a renowned management consultant. He trains managers and executives in the arts of Customer Service, Human Resources Management and Management strategy ([email protected]).
