by Jamar Wright – Mind Food International
[KINGSTON, Jamaica] – We hold our leaders responsible for most if not all economic, social and environmental issues that we are faced today. In our country we take pleasure in pointing our leaders out for their decisions and the subsequent impact or consequences thereafter, but we seldom consider the process these leaders had to face to rise to their responsibilities.
For centuries the old adage question has been asked, and even during our leadership trainings. “Are leaders born or made?” CEOs and Executives who are locked into the quest of discovering their protégé often soul search and research to find the formula for these successful candidates. ‘How else would a leader enter this world if they are not born?’ I would jokingly answer. But on a serious note, leaders are both born and then they are made.
Leaders are like seed
It is a true that in every seed there is a tree, but not every seed will become a tree. For a seed to become a tree it must be planted in the right environment. Likewise, every human being was born with leadership trait, you were born with the ability to lead, the ability to manage resources and bring positive change to this world. But that leadership trait, that ability that you were born with must be developed, trained, and refined for you to become that leader.
In other words, a leader is both born and then he or she is made. Like a seed that needs the right environment this person must be situated in the right environment to develop the right principles and philosophy to become a true leader. 90% of us believe a false ideology of what a leader is. Many believe that leadership is about lording it over people, and it is vastly different from that thought. Others believe leadership is about titles and positions and that is also false. True leadership is never about bossing people around it involves developing others and managing resources.
What Is True Leadership?
True leadership is beyond titles, true leadership is from within and it starts with self-discovery, ‘who am I?’ and ‘why was I created?’. True leadership is about one fulfilling their purpose. Matter of fact you should never be leading anyone without a clear sense of purpose. True leadership is about having a noble vision that will move humanity forward, having core values that are connected to true north. When a person discovers that the first person they should be leading is themselves this person has the potential to become a principle-centered leader.
Conclusion
In today’s society many leaders have violated values and principles, it’s about them, they use people to accomplish their agenda and betray the trust of people. True leadership is servanthood, and it is a privilege to lead others not a right. We must lead ourselves first, we must lead with love, humility, grace, tact, core values and strong character. True leaders advance the human race.
Let us all lead with love and strong moral values.
