LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE, INFLUENCE YOURSELF

             

Many renowned Authors and Leaders have dealt a great deal on leadership. One outstanding definition of leadership is influence. Ooh yes, leadership is all about influence. But the question is what kind of influence? Is it the influence we see during elections especially in Africa where the so called political leaders influence their followers or simply cadres to oppress and fight their perceived enemies in the name of oppositions? Is it the kind of influence where we see Union Leaders incite violence against management to meet their demands? Is it the kind of influence where children rise against their parents?

It also indicated that a leader should have followers. It's undisputed fact that leaders should have followers -visible or invisible, however the question is,"what type of followers?" Are they the brainwashed followers who can't even question their so called leaders regarding their vision and strategy of getting there? Are they the followers who kill or beat for their so called leaders when they are challenged? 

The word leader is often misused because some qualify to be called "misleaders" who are negatively influencing their blind and brainwashed followers to meet their greedy needs .

Leadership is influence , influence for better not worse or chaos. Positive influence  begins within you, you should be able to influence  yourself first , challenge yourself first , manage yourself well, care for yourself  well , be kind to yourself , love yourself , discipline yourself and afterwards you can easily influence others for better as it is mostly said, you can only give what you have . You can't influence your followers positively if you can't influence yourself positively , it's a fallacy .

Equally , you don't need a position  to be a Leader or be a man and women of influence , just like Robin Sharma in his book, "a leader who had no title"  said , "To be a great leader, first become a great person: Training and strengthening your inner leader will help you perform at extraordinary levels. The key is learning to lead yourself."

This is astounding, the more you know yourself which is actually self-awareness in emotional intelligence , the more you grow and learn to help others. Leadership is about positive influence and it can be at home, school, organisation etc. Your influence is not confined to your position at work or in a group but it's unlimited . Equally, according to Leadership expert John C Maxwell, you can learn to develop your influence from wherever you in the organisation by becoming a 360 degree Leader. You can learn to lead up , lead across, and lead down . Remember , when a leader helps others, he or she is simply helping herself or himself .

"Leadership is about positive influence and influence begins with you."

"Leaders who fail to prune their pride will meet demise.That's not a guess, it's a guarantee. With pride, it's not a matter of 'if' we will fall, but 'when.' There are no exceptions."-John C. Maxwell

"Leadership is not a popularity contest; it's about leaving your ego at the door. The name of the game is to lead without a title."- Robin S. Sharma