There are many leaders around us, why, there is even one in us. The heart of the matter is to awake the leader within that will work towards the betterment of oneself, the community and the nation.
Leadership to me is work, hard work and time, a lot of time. Both the crucial and prime variables that shove us forward to refine ourselves and rethink our qualities, what we stand for and all we believe in.
Leadership is the platform to spring from, when one has decisively chosen to put the needs of others and the needs of the community ahead of all personal wants.
There are always perks that come with the territory. When you speak, people sit up and listen; you make changes and implement changes that affect your community in a positive way. But make no mistake; it will not be smooth sailing, buckle up because you're in for a roller-coaster ride.
You belong to the people. The position of a leader is a gift from the community with the trust and belief that this person that they have chosen will behave, act and take measures that will serve the best interest of the community and contribute towards nation-building.
Leadership is a by-product of excellence and commitment in a chosen field of endeavor. Leading a community requires knowledge in a great many fields. These can only be acquired over time and trial-and-error methods. This coupled with enough intelligence and a good deal of foresight is necessary to translate it into accomplishments and performance.
The greatest task of leaders is decision-making. Many people look up to their leaders to make the decisions they themselves are afraid to stand by. A good leader must weigh all the information put before him, the knowledge of the present and experience from the past to make sound decisions that will mark the path of those he/she leads.
For followers, theirs is the smoother path, they accept the goals and concepts put out to them and trust it to be true. However, for leaders, the burden of proof lies on their shoulders, they must create this fundamentals the people around them look to follow by living these goals, values and concepts.
We are leaders because we strive everyday to achieve strength of character. Leaders are not born; they are a product of difficult choices they have made. We swear by some of more challenging standards of honesty, trust, loyalty, responsibility, candor, commitment and hard work.
All of us are born to be leaders, though only some heed the call. Those who do go on to become leaders will find that as they strive for these high, exigent and sometime impossibly difficult ideals, there is a supreme satisfaction of having achieved much. It is true, some of us fall by the wayside, and others soar to the stars. The stars are a long way away and even as I write this, I know I will either get there or die trying.
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