My 5 takes on leadership.

As the title suggests, this are my five takes on leadership and what it means to me. Everything that you will read is very personal and has made me who I am today. To be honest, this post is a culmination of my involvement with a whole lot of stuff but I still believe that my best years are always ahead of me. My two cents, it helped me and I hope it changes your perspective too.

#1 Leadership is responsibility.

   

     Call it whatever you want but the number one myth that most people get, have confused  leadership with a post, a title or a privilege. Yes, those things may come with leadership but it doesn't define the your duties as a leader and it does no justice to word leadership. When you are in a position of leadership, you lead! In other words, you have work to do, responsibilities to shoulder, deadlines to execute. It is with this duties that come privileges and promotion, not title first, work later. Leaders lead, thats what they are bound to do. You work your way from bottom up not vice versa. Skyscrapers are like leadership. How does a 100 storey tower support itself if they were no solid concrete foundations to hold it firmly in place? For sure it will crumble, with just a breathe of wind.

#2 You are in a position of leadership because someone put you there.

    You aren't a leader for no reason. Somebody out there, your boss, your pastor, your manager, your teacher saw the potential that was in you and decided that potential was to be put to good use. They surely would not have put you in such an area if they did not believe in you. Imagine how much trust they have in you. Listen!, you were not randomly selected out of a crowd, you were chosen, you were hand picked! They believed in you and what you were capable of and that is something not to belittle. Every flock of sheep needs a Shepard, and if someone can trust you with leading so many lives, you have something in there somewhere! Think about it.

#3 God gave you talent so that you can bless others.

     The skill of leading is gift, a priceless trait. Some of us have longer experiences in leading than some but that is really not the case. Your gifting comes with a purpose, a plan larger than yourself. You were not meant to keep your gift to yourself, you were meant to share it. You may not realize this until its too late but God has given you the authority to change lives, to make a difference and to usher in change. It's time many of us stepped out of our tiny little boxes and beyond our comfort zones because complacency is nothing short of laziness and an attempt to sabotage the greatness you will bring. You were made to be a blessing. Quit being sorry for the things that you didn't do and start taking ownership for the things that you want to do and witness the impact that you will make.

#4 You have a learning curve, but you cannot plateau.

     You curve is always supposed to point upwards and the occasional downs. However this does mean that there is no progress. When your curve goes slightly down, it means that you have made a mistake and this is not a bad thing. Mistakes are a daily part of life and we are meant to learn from them. Our flaws, project growth, they make us who we are. Leaders like you and I are imperfect, we are constantly learning. We've made our fair share of errors in the past and that's part of our leadership experience. No one is perfect, we are bound to do otherwise but what's important is that we take lessons from them and try not to repeat the same junk again. Therefore, despite the downs on your curve, you will always move up. You will not plateau because you and I are learning, therefore are making substantial progress.

#5 Conflicts are not the end of the world ( or your leadership career ) .

     If you have the occasional misunderstanding or the all too common difference in opinion, it's okay! This only goes to show that there is a mutual, healthy communication among those involved. It proves that people are not passive and they are responding to the things that you do. It also shows that they care! So stop taking heart to the smallest of words spoken or things done, and march forth with your goals in mind.

In conclusion,

A word of caution,

Before you start taking all that I have said for granted. Let me assure you that you not irreplaceable. There are 7,000,000,000 potential leaders on this planet who can and will take your place if you don't do what you are called to do.Keep your eyes on the prize and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are so much more than you think you are.

Peace.

Resolutions, do they make a difference?

Year after year, the earth completes its circle around the sun and we celebrate a global phenomenon that we have come to know as "New Years Day". We celebrate the hope that a new year brings and many people like you and me write little notes known as resolutions. Many of these resolutions revolve around self- development, esteem needs, love and belonging. No doubt that these resolutions often ignite a certain spark in you but do they last?

Well, I'm not to judge in any circumstance and I'm no pro in achieving goals but speaking from experience, I can never uphold my resolutions for more than a few weeks or better still a couple of months. In light of that, I want 2012 to be different, I want to learn from mistakes. I want to invite you to journey with me as I stick to my resolutions and make them happen.

The following are my resolutions for the year :

• To make the most out of everything, not to take anything less for what its worth , not to take anything for granted. ~ This is something that Ive learnt over the past year through several experiences. I was very affected when I had to switch university campuses , as I was pretty much and very attached to everyone and everything at my campus.  I found myself going to a campus where I did not study more often than where I was enrolled into. Make no mistakes, I did learn many things, experienced plenty and met lots of passionate people but in the process I consciously made a choice to leave reality behind and embrace what wasn't mine to take. I did suffer the consequences, worsening grades, strained relationships, unnecessary expenses but you learn from your failures and this is one of the best lessons that I got in 2011. I really want to thank my bros and sistas from CF and the awesome peeps form AIESEC for standing by me throughout this time. Therefore my number ONE priority in 2012 is to never take anything for granted even if it lasts for a second.

• Loose the extras, Kill the fat ~ Health is wealth! Nothing matters more than having a well replenished, balanced, healthy body. In 2010 right after SPM, I made a commitment to go to the gym. Clocked in all those extra hours doing cardio and strength based exercises just to loose those extra pounds. That momentum went on for about 5 months till I had to enrolled into college. Still I thought, I can make time for this and resorted to visit the gym at a reduced frequency each week. Week after week passed, assignments, tests, exams, quizzes started to take its toll on me and couple it with the approximately 3 hours of driving I did each day to and fro from home and that was the end to my gym routine. I was still paying for it, YES Fitness First was getting a free cheque each month for its renovations and this went on for 9 - 10 months after which I finally terminated my membership. This year my prayer is that in whatever I do I have the will power to stick through it no matter what and hopefully ill be able to shed those extra pounds.

This year I am making a commitment to stick to my resolutions and make it happen no matter what and I want to encourage you to do the same.So yes, at the end of the day resolutions do make a difference as long as you're willing to stick to it no matter what happens.

Email me your stories and hopefully Ill be able to share it here.

Signing off

Daniel