Leadership as a discipline and as a daily practice is a lot different to leadership per se (or at least what everybody means when we talking about leadership!). The discipline of leadership is a self-development practice, a one can lead you to radically different ways of doing and behaving, from those you were accustomed previously. For that fact, Leadership is a deep transformation act, that you can, only, employ freely and deliberately!
Leadership As A Process
Leadership is a process with many variables, no one can claim that mastered them all. Generally speaking, it is a:
process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task (Wikipedia: Leadership)
But is not, JUST(!), that! It is also an art, a discipline, a charisma, and an agent of personal and social change! Leadership can be:
- An Art. An art, because if you employed it rightly, and with the right motives, you can transform positively, yourself and the people around you,
- A Discipline. A harsh discipline, sometimes, but a one that if you practice it methodically, deliberately and intentionally can change the way you see and make things,
- A Charisma. A charisma, because you can find yourself like someone with leadership traits, without actually evaluating him/her. Charisma is an unconditional permission you give to someone to influence you, and the one trait of a person that can bypass your logical barriers, screening and evaluate the other people according to your personal standards! It may be an unconditional attraction towards someone that and if practiced, without moral compass, can influence negatively a lot of people,
- An Agent of Change. Because aims at finding new ways to transform the personal and professional lives of a lot of people in a positive way!
The Discipline Of Leadership
The difficulty of practicing and employ the leadership discipline in your day-to-day tasks and interactions lay in the nature of leadership itself. If it is to be effective (i.e. to function in a transformation way for the practitioner, i.e. YOU) you should employ it freely, intentionally, and aim at improving your life and your relationships, before proved effectively for other people! (but leadership, as a discipline, does not direct to you  – check further below!]).
Only via your example and your free chosen ways of doing things and acting, someone can recognize you as a leader and, in such a manner, be a raw example for other people to follow!
That’s why it is, always, difficult for someone to claim the “I’m a leader” clause before other people claim it for him/her! And, if this happens, you should make it good, with your life, every day! All day!
People, nowadays, are skeptical of leaders and on very few occasions can claim, without any doubt, for someone, that he or she is a leader in his field!
This is the reason, why you should practice the discipline of leadership, in a way that yields positive influence on your life and to the life of others.
Leadership Can Set You Free!
Leadership cannot be a role! You cannot play the leader, want it or not, and certainly, you cannot assume the role by sheer willpower, because, simply, it is not available! Leadership is a daily practice, seen indirectly, by other people, via the results it produced!
You have to prepare for this, to be trained, to be groomed, to be mentored, for a long time, to practice initiatives and influencing people in a positive way, in a way directed towards the best interest of other people. You need, consciously, to remove yourself from the equation and focus on doing things for the benefit of other people. And it is not always sure if other people see you as such or permit you to influence them!
But that shouldn’t stop you from practicing leadership (and initiatives) in your daily actions and transaction with the other people. Because, even if other people don’t permit you to influence their lives, you should not need any permission to change YOUR life, in every way you find fit! So observe closely what bothers you, and find ways to adjust it to your requirements or to feel free to abandon it, it does not anymore serve you. Move towards providing and enhancing your options in your life and at the life of other people, providing value, listening carefully, help and support in every way you can think!
If you tie the discipline of leadership up with:
- your principles and values,
- a general strategy for achieving your goals and objectives,
- a genuine intention of helping and support the people around you,
- a deliberation in the communication,
- a framework of doing things systematically,
- a practice for intentional execution,
- and the appropriate systems and tools to achieve your objectives,
you can transform in a much radical way many people. But this leadership discipline has to start with you as a deliberate discipline, practicing constantly!
What you say, would like to try it!
Question: Do you practice leadership? Do you take initiatives to change the way you and other people make things? Do you think, leadership is a must, in our times for ourselves and for the society? Please comment, on what new do you think leadership can bring today, if practiced by a lot of people!
