“Leaders aren't born,
they are made. And they are made just
like anything else, through hard work.
And that's the price
we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”
– Vince
Lombardi
(1913-1970 )
Football Coach
Leadership is one of those areas that can come with a bit of
confusion. It is not too difficult to
define and explain what leadership is.
There are thousands of book on leadership that people can turn to. But to define what makes a leader is another
story. Not everyone is destined to be a
leader. Some of the best leaders are not
in leadership positions. And then you
have non-leaders trying to lead true leaders.
Yes, who is a leader can be a bit of work to figure out.
Where
no one is born a leader, there are those who have the behavioral styles
consistent with displaying leadership skills.
The thing to remember is that leadership is not power or position. As I said, there are some people who have
great leadership skills who do not hold the leadership position. There are others who are very weak in this
area and yet hold the title. John C.
Maxwell has a great way to see if you are a leader; he says, "...if no one
is following you, you are just going for a walk."
As a
coach, you may have someone come to you for help in becoming a leader. Sometimes you will see that the qualities for
leadership are there and you can help them to develop and grow those
qualities. For others, you will quickly
know that they do not possess the skills for a leadership role. This does not mean they cannot learn those
skills, it only means they will need to work at it harder and longer than
others.
The key
to helping people to become better leaders is not in giving them more and more
information, but in getting them to take action and act like leaders. Author, speaker and my good friend, Doug
Dickerson said in his book, Great Leaders Wanted, "Developing
leaders can read the latest books, attend trendy conferences, and watch every
webcast, but at the end of the day, the great leadership speakers and writers
cannot do anything for you until you take action for yourself."
Help
your clients know that the one thing any leader does best is lead. Leading is not pushing, pulling, threatening
or manipulating, it is the ability to get people to follow your direction and
example. This is why great leaders must
be people of character and integrity.
Anyone can force other people to do what they say, but that is not
following. To get people to follow you
they must believe in what you are doing and even more, believe in you.
Leaders
are not born, they are also not forced.
You cannot decide to be a leader or be appointed one. You develop the ability to lead and then
people will follow. They will not follow
the position or the title, they will follow the person. Help you clients to understand that and you
will have made a leader.
John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker,
and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books,
training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our
website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey
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