Thursday, September 16, 2010

Cultivating The Right Attitude To Be An Effective Leader

When people use the term 'leader,' or 'leadership,' they invariably associate this term with authority and power. a leader does wield a power over his followers. But what kind of a power is this? This is a benign power, not a menacing power. The power is exercised out of concern - concern for the task, concern for the group and the concern for the individual who submits to this power. And where does the power come from? The power of leadership does not come from the barrel of a gun, as it might for a soldier, policeman or a criminal. The power comes from the leader's personality. The leader would normally be vested with some powers by the rules of the organization to which he belongs. But this is not real power because it does not last long. ironically, this 'power' is not even powerful! Only the power that a leader derives from his personality will stand him in good stead.

And what factors shape the personality of a leader? There could be several but 'attitude' is the most important of all. With the right attitude, a leader can generate any amount of power that he needs. and with the wrong attitude, any amount of power that he has derived from any other source will be as effective as a battery-operated device that has only dead batteries in them.

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