This is Leadership: Echoes from within

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Seeing the bigger picture beyond the shores and focusing on where the sea meets the sky at all times, is a beautiful mind exercise

Sometimes you need just one ‘good’ experience to wake the leader in you. It may not be a beautiful experience but a story that may leave a scar. That turnaround must always come from you. See it as a matter of urgency.

Be very passionate and allow your mind to be lively a little bit, mooching in a thinking realm and begin to focus on the positive things that would always appear to take you closer to yourself and where you want to be. When the process seems as though impossible, that is where you are expected to extend your faculties again and consult if you have to. The ‘magic’ is to pay attention to the echoes within you.

Every leader was once a follower. Said. Leaders used to think, act and flow like followers do. What made them grow beyond themselves is a certain kind of mindset that perhaps kicked in somewhere and it somehow pushes them to deliberately decide to move forward beyond the self. There is a thin hard line to cross from followership to Leadership. I always admire Leaders when they share their career development stories.

Societies normally adore flowers when they blossom but they forget to find out how it was planted when it was planted, who planted it, did it sprout by itself, why the seed was planted, what caused it to blossom and even how it was nurtured. Some leaders were literally buried in their journey to Leadership Development. But they come out strong because they saw themselves as seeds. In effect, going ‘under’ is a preparatory routine and an exciting moment.

I felt it was a tricky hard prank because there was nothing really in believing the hype. There is the need rather to continue working upwards. Seeing the bigger picture beyond the shores and focusing on where the sea meets the sky at all times, is a beautiful mind exercise.

This is a bar for me. Keep thinking and explode with thoughts. Don’t bother much. Don’t be scared. Be enthused and ask good questions. When I started accepting targets plus the challenges and subsequently genuinely showing commitment to solving them and getting puzzles unlocked, the leader finally appeared in me without notice. He never allowed me to celebrate him. He gave me courage and confidence.

So I embarked on a spirited search for that leader who led me and echoed through my strides to get me closer to the boats that had loads of goodies at the shore, then I realized there’s no one here. It’s just me. Exercise your mind to know how great you are from the inside. Without thinking outside the box, just know that there is something greater in you. Do not accept it, when your colleagues and associates call you average. Don’t accept it when you post average figures. Rise above it.

There is an echo within you that does greater things. Listen to it. Be fearless. Be confident. Go for the deals. There is a leader in you that attracts greatness. Listen to him. Think with him. He will take you to the streams of success but it will never fetch that blessing for you. Work it out. Bend a little. Stretch a little. Sweat a little.

Do some work and see it hitting right in your face. The world actually belongs to those who are ready to do ‘crazy’ things. The leader in you that tells you that you can make it, is the one leading you. There is some greater leadership spirit and skills deposited in you. Unleash it. Don’t say I am not a natural-born leader. Bring out that potential. Start by perfecting your competencies.

You may not have had the opportunity to have led a team. But demonstrate that you can lead yourself and your team. Demonstrate clear leadership on performance, competencies, discipline, people management, strategies, passion on the job and show respect to the top, down, centre, side and side.

Anytime I mention the R-word -‘respect’- one picture comes to mind. The bird feeds on ants but when it dies, the ants surely feed on it. Love situations and love change. Because situations can always change. Even the mountains can move, with the right words. How do we manage current situations? Understanding leadership and becoming that leader is an important lesson to imbibe here. Be awake to see the leader in you and be awake to see the things and the people around you. Everything can change at the workplace. Know this. Leverage on the team and show respect.

Yes, the OPK. Optimize People’s Knowledge. But there is also a strong voice always in you and ready to show you that way. Faith is key here. Sometimes the only thing that will separate two people in the same situation, is Faith. The echoes in you, are meant to challenge your capacities, stretch your thoughts and make impossibilities possible. Just ask yourself the right questions and go beyond the self.

It’s good to have mentors. It’s good to have coaches and leaders. Your mentors and coaches will not always be there. Listen to your echo within and limit your ego inside. You are the Leader in you.

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