Who is leading you?
Recently I attended a conference at a location I was not quite familiar with. At the end of the conference, I sat patiently in my car and turned on the google map on my phone to help me navigate my way out of the vicinity.
A few minutes later, I saw the lady that had packed beside me, starting up her car, ready to move out. I quickly called out to her to ask if she was heading towards a certain area of Abuja. She said yes. So I said great, can I drive behind you? Yes, of course, she replied. I quickly ditched my google map and made a quick U-turn to follow her.
We had barely driven for two minutes when she parked suddenly and said she was waiting for someone. She gave me a hasty description. Anyway, I had to forge on. Before I knew it, I was on the road heading to Nasarawa. I knew I had missed my way and had to return to my google map. By this time, I had missed some major turns. A journey that should have taken 20 minutes at most, ended up taking about 50 minutes. As I drove into my house that evening, I pondered on how often a lot of people have made mistakes, because they were led by the wrong person, leader, or team.
So let’s head over to the skill board to learn today’s soft skill- LEADERSHIP. As a leader or leader in training, do you have the right skill set to function effectively?
Let’s look at five leadership nuggets you wouldn’t want to miss. Leadership skills are essential whether at home, school, workplace, business, church, etc. It’s a skill you’ll definitely need to groom over time. You cannot leave it to chance.
1. Great leadership is not about ‘me’, it’s about ‘we’. It is what I would call servant leadership, caring more about the good of ‘us’, the team rather than personal satisfaction.
2. Leadership is about influence. As a leader, you can either influence people towards positive or negative actions. So which is it?
3. Leadership is about values. Do your values align with the values that you represent? If the common values of the team include integrity, do your personal values include integrity? You cannot push out what you don’t have or believe in.
4. Leadership involves listening. Listening to someone makes him or her feel valued, no matter how seemingly insignificant their contributions may be. As a leader, don’t get stuck in isolation at the top. Open your door and listen to your front-liners who have direct access to your clients.
5. Great leaders are lifelong learners. Learning gives you more insight and wisdom on issues, so you can take better decisions.
Next time, we’ll look at other factors that make a good leader such as effective communication and emotional intelligence. Bring more friends to the table, knowledge shared is knowledge increased.
You were born a star. Keep Shinning.
© Nkese Umofia
Photo: Kelly Sikkema
Christian Youth Mentoring Initiative provides opportunities for mentorship, leadership training, growth, and development of youths. Our vision is to raise well-balanced youths, high flyers, focused, and capable of standing out in the global world. Email us: info@cymi.org.ng
