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Leadership – A Call To Serve

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it – Andrew Carnegie.

Definitions

There are many definitions of leadership. Many lines have been written attempting to capture the essence of leadership in just a few words. 

The Oxford English Dictionary define leadership as:

"The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this."

Leadership in Wikipedia has been described as "a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task" (For example, some understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others, while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal".

We need now to define 'lead' in this context, which is more helpful to appreciating the breadth and depth of the word leadership. Here are the most relevant points from the dictionary:

• Be in charge or command of
• Organize and direct
• Set a process in motion
• Be a reason or motive for (others to act, change, etc)

Note that only the first point strongly implies that leadership depends on a single leader, and even this point may easily be interpreted to mean that leadership can be achieved by delegated responsibility, even through a number of levels and on a vast scale.

Note also that the last two points do not restrict leadership to the leading of an organized group of people such as a business or other provider of services/products, etc. The last two points broaden the scope of leadership to anyone, or any collective of people, who inspires or motivates other people to act in some way towards some sort of aim or task or outcome.

To do this well at any level is not simple, just as defining leadership is not simple either.

Some writers understandably make fun of poor leadership, because much poor leadership happens, especially at very high levels.

Leaders Are Server  

Most men have always been having the wrong impression that a leader should be served. But rather the duty of a leader is to serve. A leader is supposed to work tires sly for the comfort and proper direction of the subject thereby rendering a vital service to them. Many people love to take the leadership position but only very few want to serve.

Leadership call for Responsibility

Responsibility usually refers to performance of a duty or action in making something happen, or perhaps preventing something from happening. Commonly responsibility can be delegated, either in broad terms for an area of project, or in specific terms for a particular task or job element. Often responsibility requires training and support to be provided to the person responsible. Responsibility commonly transfers from person to person, or from department to department - for example when a manager takes over a nightshift, or a manager goes on holiday, or even takes a lunch-break. However, often a responsibility is delegated without proper thought and planning, so that the person charged with the duty has little chance to succeed. In this case is it right that the person 'responsible' is blamed? Well, no, but often he or she is. Where blame happens in such circumstances it is because a leader is trying to avoid accountability.

Leadership call for Accountability

Accountability is different to responsibility. Accountability equates to ultimate responsibility. A common saying that refers to ultimate responsibility is 'the buck stops here' or 'where the buck stops'.  True leadership involves accepting accountability, regardless of who is given the responsibility. Where responsibilities are delegated, which happens frequently where there is good leadership the good leader retains ultimate responsibility - accountability - for the delegated tasks/responsibilities concerned. Poor or weak leadership - which we routinely see evidenced in national and corporate governance - tends to try to delegate accountability in addition to responsibility. Good leaders may delegate lots of responsibility, but they never normally delegate accountability, nor seek to pass accountability to others, unless effectively stepping aside for someone to take over the overall job within which the responsibility lies, as in job succession or the creation of a new job role. Even then, a good leader is unlikely to relinquish ultimate accountability. A good leader accepts ultimate responsibility - accountability - for everything within their remit or the range of their job/role. We might see this instead as a good leader being prepared to take the blame for any faults arising within their full range of responsibilities, even though responsibilities may be delegated far and wide among very many people. An important point of note is that accountability should not be delegated unless the recipient (of the delegated accountability) has full authority and capability for the responsibilities concerned. Accountability is always full and absolute, whereas responsibility may be delegated according to varying degrees of authority.

Leader's purposeful

An important part of describing anything is to look at its purpose. This is especially appropriate for leadership.

In exploring leadership purpose, we should first differentiate the terms leaderand leadership.

This is because we can understand leadership better when we are not distracted by traditional ideas about what a leader does, and how a leaderbehaves, etc.

A leader is a person who leads a particular group at a particular time.

Leadership is a much broader and 'multidimensional' concept. 

Leadership is a hugely complex system of effects which strongly influence how a group of people are organized and how they act.

The bigger the group, and situation, and environment with which the group engages, then the more complex 'Leadership' - as a system of effects - will be.

Leadership is therefore often quite separate to the notion of a single leader of a single group, situation, and time.

James Scouller describes leadership as a process. In referring to leadership as a 'process', Scouller means: "...a series of choices and actions around defining and achieving a goal..." Scouller asserts that if you see leadership as a process you will more naturally appreciate that 'leadership' and 'the leader' are not one and the same.

Leadership is a process, within which there may be different leaders acting at different times in different situations.

A leader's responsibility is to ensure that there is appropriate leadership of some sort at all times, but leadership does not always or necessarily have to be provided by the main leader. Here the 'main leader' refers to the overall ultimate leader of a given group or situation. 

Leadership purpose can be seen to operate on at least two levels: ultimate responsibility ('the buck stops here') - which may not be a direct controlling or active role, and active leadership of a group or situation at a point in time - which may be performed by the main leader or a different person delegated such responsibility. Note that this can be happening in different areas/projects/situations at the same time, where several people are actively engaged in direct leadership of a group, with very full 'executive' command, i.e., absolute responsibility for decision-making. While the ultimate /main leader retains responsibility and accountability for the entire group and wider situation. Attribute of Good leadership An interesting yet challenging (to many aspiring leaders) way to see this is that: A good leader will divert and give credit and praise to others when delegated responsibilities succeed. And where delegated responsibilities fail, the good leader will accept the blame. This is accountability. Given the deep qualities of good leadership, there is no other viable way. Corporations and governments habitually ignore this crucial principle of leadership when middle managers or departmental heads are forced to resign or are sacked after a crisis or scandal. Leaders in such situations often fail to take the blame, or to accept his/her ultimate responsibility. Watching such events play out in the national or world news offers excellent examples and lessons of the differences between responsibility and accountability, and how these concepts fit into the wider issue of proper leadership.

Leadership Quotes

Poetic quotes especially, some dating back hundreds of years, illustrate the fascination that leadership has held for academics, scholars, poets and leaders of note throughout history. They also help to define leadership in its many and various forms.

Here are some examples:

Leadership is an art that must be thought and has a spirit that must be cought”. (Kenna Amad from Rising a dynamic youth ministry.)

"Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles." (John Kotter, from Leading Change.) 

"The art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations." (James Kouzes and Barry Posner, from The Leadership Challenge.) 

"Leadership is a process that involves: setting a purpose and direction which inspires people to combine and work towards willingly; paying attention to the means, pace and quality of progress towards the aim; and upholding group unity and individual effectiveness throughout." (James Scouller, from The Three Levels of Leadership, 2011.)

… True leaders are not those intoxicated with their Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard degree but who speak the language of the people. (Chinua Achebe) 

"Never trust a lean meritocracy nor the leader who has been lean; only the lifelong big have the knack of wedding greatness with balance." (Les A Murray, from Quintets for Robert Morley - a meritocracy is a government of people selected according to merit - 'lean' in this sense means offering little substance or reward or nourishment - 'big' in this sense means big-hearted, strong and generous.)

"We were not born to sue, but to command." (William Shakespeare, from Richard II, I.i - 'sue' here is the older French-English meaning 'follow after'.)

"No-one would have doubted his ability to rule had he never been emperor." (Tacitus, from Histories, c.100AD - written of the Emperor Galba.)

"The Vice-Presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit." (J N Garner.)

"Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential." (Warren Bennis)

"And when we think we lead, we are most led." (Lord Byron, from The Two Foscari, 1821.)

"He that would govern others first should be master of himself." (Philip Massinger, from The Bondman, 1624.)

Please suggest additional leadership definitions and quotes.

Change Your Mindset Change Your Life

          Picture in your mind the able earnest useful person you desire to be and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into the particular individual you admire. - Elbert Hubbard

 

Your mindset is a powerful thing. It has the ability to control you, persuade you and even hold you back from doing or achieving things in your life.

It can even make you FEEL unhappy, when circumstances seem to prove that you SHOULD be happy. Which can be confusing. Sometimes things (thoughts, feelings, circumstances) just change on their own over time. Most of the time they don't. So don't sit around waiting and hoping. The truth is how you think or feel about something RIGHT NOW is pretty darn hard to CHANGE.

There are many methods and tools for productivity, but I think first of all we should change our mindset. Without having the right mindset, even the best methods and tools will only give you modest results. On the other hand, having the right mindset gives you strong foundation for the productivity techniques and methods to run smoothly. We are where we are in life because of the conditioning of our minds, in other words the wrong learned behavior or right learned behavior. Which one of these two learned behaviors reflects your life? How can one replace the wrong programming of one's mindset with the correct programming? You can accomplish this by implanting new programming into your mindset. In other words, the "renewing of the mind" is the key. One of the major issues with "renewing of the mind" that you experience is that your mind will "reject" the new programming or thoughts. When you begin to apply the principles listed here on a daily basis, the transformation can begin. Change your mindset and changeyour life.

Beware of what you set your mind on for that you will surely become. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A mindset is a set of assumptions, methods or notations held by one or more people or groups of people which is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviors, choices, or tools

Changing Your Mindset will change your life!

But it's true that it's simply not that easy. Fortunately it can be done. You can change your mindset - and the way you think or feel about any given thing.

That is why I've figured out a trick to shift your mindset in the right direction.

The first step to changing your mindset - that powerful pull in your head that forces you to choose even things you know are wrong or  negative or bad for you - is to know what your mindset is exactly.

You have a certain mindset about all sorts of things. Your finance, success, marriage, your business, failure, health, your future, parenting, whatever.

In my opinion, the mindset we need to have to improve our productivity boils down to this:

Love what you do

That’s it. Love what you do. Do your tasks with love. If you have this mindset, you will no longer feel the tasks as chore. Instead they will be something you happily do. They will be fun.

To see the power of this principle, just take a moment to reflect back. Can you recall doing something you love? How did it feel? Next, can you recall doing something you don’t like? How was the feeling compared to doing something you love? I guess you notice significant difference between them. For the thing you love, you effortlessly do it. You do it with enthusiasm and excitement. Results will naturally follow. On the other hand, doing the thing you don’t like is a struggle. “It not hard work that wear menout, it’s wrong work that wear them out”.  You must drag yourself to do it and you suffer along the way. It’s difficult to achieve maximum productivity in such condition.

Perhaps you notice that I wrote “love what you do”and not “do what you love”. Why? Because the former is proactive while the latter is not. You can’t always choose to do things you naturally like. There will be times when you must do something you don’t like. If the mantra is “do what you love”, then your performance will be dependent on the kind of tasks you have. You will perform well when you do the tasks you like and you will perform badly otherwise. This, however, isn’t true productivity. To be truly productive, your performance must be consistently good. No matter what kinds of tasks you have, you must perform well. That’s why the key is to “love what you do” and not “do what you love”. You should learn to love whatever tasks you come across, whether or not you naturally like it.

Now, how can we change our mindset to love what we do? I wish I could give you many tips on this, but the more I think about it the more I realize that all the tips I think of boil down to just one:

Replace your negative self-talk with positive one

Our self-talk may run automatically that we barely notice. But, if you take closer look, you will recognize the kind of self-talk you have. So don’t just do things on autopilot. Watch your thoughts and identify the kind of self-talk you have.

It all begins with our mind. We love something because we have positive self-talk/feeling about it and we don’t like something because we have negative self-talk/feeling about it.

Apply authentic positive action

Become aware of what you are thinking on a continuous basis. Once you become thought aware you are now on the right path to a mindset change -

Mark D Watt

What is another key of wisdom that I can use to change so that my thoughts are of a positive mindset, and be successful in every area of my life?

The thoughts and purposes of the [consistently] righteous are honest and reliable, - Proverbs 12:5a AMP

You have to take some specific, deliberate action to put things in motion - toward a result that you know, can picture & desire deeply.

Once you take that action, something almost magical happens. Just taking that action starts the shift, and starts to change your mindset. You will feel different. You will see things differently. You will think totally different about something when you're on the other side of the action you took.

You have to commit. And commitment can't be in your mind alone - you have to commit with a definitive action.

Be definite in your action!

And therein lies the key. The key to changing your mindset, and making lasting positive change in your life.

Going Against The Grain

You feel how you feel, think what you think, believe what you believe. Right or wrong. Moving toward your goals may go against some of that. And that's okay. It doesn't make it easy (at all!) but it's okay.

Challenge your current mindset. Take thoughts like this:

·        I can do it

·        I know who I am

·        I want to make a million dollars this year

·        I can make it

(or insert your own common thoughts) - and ask yourself WHY.

‘He who has a why to live can manage anyhow’ – Napoleon Hill

For the next few days, keep a notepad close and make note of common thoughts or mindset issues that you recognize. And question them. Also take some time to sit down and write out something you want to change in your life (or in your business).

Circle Of Success And Creativity

35 Successful Entrepreneurs quotes that can catapults you to the next level

Success was not handed over to any one on a platter but they simply carve out success from the available material nature has to provide. Catch the entrepreneurial spirit by learning from them. The true act to be great is to learn from the great. And you can get motivated to carve out your own path with these inspiring quotes from these great men and women of faith who have launched their own highly successful start ups. You’ll find quotes in this list that will make you think creatively, make you ask  yourself what on earth I’m I here for, make you wonder, and make you bring out the best in your own entrepreneurial endeavors!

1.    “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results     of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’     opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important,     have the     courage to follow your heart and intuition. They     somehow already know what you truly want to become.     Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple

2.    “I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to     something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor     amount of money would deter me from giving the best that     there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by     it. I know.” – Harland Sanders, Founder, KFC

3.    “Follow the cream of the crop in your area of online expertise     and learn from them. Network with them.” - Mark Forrester, Co-    founder, WooThemes

4.    “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to     give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want     something new.” - Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple

5.    “Success and profitability are outcomes of focusing on     customers and employees, not objectives.” - Jack Ma, Lead     Founder, Alibaba

6.    “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing     and falling over.” - Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin

7.    “Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to     perfect.” - Jack Dorsey, Co-founder, Twitter

8.    “Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream.” - Hugh     Hefner, Founder, Playboy

9.    “I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” - Bill Gates,     Co-founder, Microsoft

10.    “Openly share and talk to people about your idea. Use their     lack of interest or doubt to fuel your motivation to make it     happen.” - Todd Garland, Founder, BuySellAds

11.    “Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, you can     likely adapt.” - Victoria Ransom, Co-founder, Wildfire Interactive

12.    “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning,     because what you don’t know can become your greatest     asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things     different from everybody else.” – Sara Blakely, Founder, Spanx

13.    “High expectations are the key to everything.” - Sam Walton,     Founder, Walmart

14.    “You have to have more leadership, less management. It’s     about getting stuff done, you can sit around and analyze things     forever but while you do that the competition has moved on.” -     Peter Vesterbacka, Founder, Rovio Games (including Angry     Birds)

15.    “Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of     advice to give — with a few exceptions — generalize whatever     they did. Don’t over-analyze everything.  I myself have been     guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out     if they work.” - Ben Silbermann, Founder, Pinterest

16.    “We’re not very good at knowing what we want, and we are     very quick to say, ‘This sucks.’ That’s where the opportunity     lies.” - Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder, Wine Library TV

17.    “You jump off a cliff and you assemble an airplane on the way     down.” - Reid Hoffman, Founder, LinkedIn

18.    “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first     to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what     you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself” - Oprah     Winfrey, Founder Harpo Productions, OWN

19.    “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what     has not been done.” - Russell Simmons, Founder, Def Jam

20.    “Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your     abilities and don’t let the bastards get you down.” - Michael     Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg L.P.

21.    “Be a user of your own product. Make it better based on your     own desires. But don’t trick yourself into thinking you are the     user.” - Evan Williams, Co-founder, Twitter

22.    “You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have     something to live for.” - Ted Turner, Founder, TBS, CNN, and     more

23.    “So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working     on the right thing is probably more important than working     hard.” - Caterina Fake, Co-founder, Flickr

24.    “I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to     something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor     amount of money would deter me from giving the best that     there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by     it. I know.” – Harland Sanders, Founder, KFC

25.    “Whatever you do, be different. That was the advice my mother     gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur.     If you’re different, you will stand out.” - Anita Roddick, Founder,     The Body Shop

26.    “Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger.” - Tony Hsieh, Co-    founder, Zappos

27.    “You need to be surrounded by good advisers, but you also     need to trust your instinct.” - Chris Hughes, Co-founder,     Facebook

28.    “Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and     your integrity is worth more than your career.” - Angelo Sotira,     Co-founder, DeviantArt

29.    “Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually     make you look like an overnight success.” - Biz Stone, Co-    founder, Twitter

30.    “Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not.” - Michael     Dell, Founder, Dell

31.    “If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.” - Jeff     Bezos, Founder, Bezos

32.    “When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people     telling you that you are nuts.” - Larry Ellison, Co-founder, Oracle

33.    “I like to pride myself on thinking pretty long term, but not that     long term.” - Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder, Facebook

34.    “Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually         make you look like an overnight success.” - Biz Stone, Co-    founder, Twitter

35.    “Always deliver more than expected.” - Larry Page, Co-founder,     Google