Your talents will be unlimited - Reason 17

Although skills are learned, they originate from very deep within the soul in the form of natural talent.  The arousal of latent talent is like the expression of a calling.

An ordinary person would use skills to attain money, success or fame, but this puts this innate fountain of energy to limited use.  A leader on the other hand uses his or her skills to make a vision coming true.

Just like a Brazilian housemaid [1]whose talent for fashion gave her and her family an opportunity in life or a cook who used his skills to feed homeless people[2], leaders use their talents beyond the ordinary and to create opportunities for others.

It is beautiful, because through their skills, leaders go beyond hammering, painting, cooking, cutting, sewing, typing, programming or writing and so on: they express what lies at the very core of their spirit, those wonderful and powerful qualities, and add to the lives of many others in the process.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] Zica Assis, owner of Beleza Natural. http://www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2014/11/05/women-entrepreneurs-who-cure-marketplace-pain-points-scale-big/#74fee2fb5ebe

[2] Narayanan Krishnan, a award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/cnnheroes.krishnan.hunger/

Leaders bring certainty and, along with it, comfort - Reason 16

We can see how much people feel lost as things change faster than they expect.  For example an article on climate change published on Scientific American has shown that change is much faster than was first projected.  In this article, scientists say we know the direction, but not the rate.[1]

Same is happening with all other types of change: politics, social structure, economic, ideas, dreams and much more.  We know more or less the direction, we know change is taking us into a general direction, but by not knowing its pace, it is possible we reach there with no preparation.

Leaders will allow their vision to guide them and will help give guidance to others too – it is a certainty among the increasing uncertainty that is welcome.  As a leader you can comfort others and encourage them to keep moving on, because you understand change and you are aware of its benefits and how to be ready for them.

In this way, as a leader you are beyond the usual social exchange of just sharing pieces of gossip or discussing match results.  It becomes a chance to support in a holistic way those people who find themselves as victims of fast change.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] Scientific American, November 2012 - https://www2.bc.edu/jeremy-shakun/scientificamerican1112-50.pdf

Your specialties inspire - Reason 15

All of us are special and we have qualities that are unique in our context.  Those specialties impact our family and friends, our jobs and the contribution we give to the community.  Specialties define us in relation to how others see us and also how we feel about life, and can therefore become valuable components for self-esteem.

A normal person can experience qualities that help harmonise relationships, increase self-esteem and attain some success, but a leader is one whose specialties will motivate others.

Many years ago, I had the chance to be with Dadi Prakashmani, the then Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris[1].  We were in a car, without translator; Dadi spoke very little English and I spoke very little Hindi.  This would be a problem for many people trying to communicate, but not for us …

Going beyond words and cultures, she gave me the best leadership seminar and the greatest inspirations ever, all in about an hour.  This is because it came from her own life, and from those specialties that flowed and influenced her words as the powerful leader she was.  In fact, I don’t remember what she said as much as how she said.

By being a leader, a person does not need to talk too much.  Actions and behaviour will do all the speaking, since the leader’s specialties will resonate with the others’ hearts.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] Dadi Prakashmani (c.1920 – 2007) was an Indian woman of Sindhi origin who administered the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University from 1969 until the time to her death 38 years later.  The number of students increased from about 3,000 to almost a million during that period.

You have all resources you need to transform the world - Reason 14

Whilst most people complain about the world, being a leader means to be here to transform the world.

It means being the instigator of change since a leader has all skills he or she needs to change the face of reality.  How does that work?

When a normal person does something, she or he fulfils a certain role and duty.  That gives the person a sense of social belonging, and success comes when whatever this person does is extraordinary or very useful.

A leader will go beyond that as she or he will think of doing it in a different way, and may even change the course of a company or country completely.  There is the classic example in management of Andrew Grove, when he changed INTEL from being a company selling computer memory to a company selling microprocessors[1].  As a normal manager, he wouldn’t do that; on the contrary, he would excel in his tasks and make INTEL an even better memory producing company.  As a leader, he challenged the status quo and changed computer history.

One cannot change the whole world if it doesn’t start with one’s own point of view and life.  As the example above, when a leader changes the world around himself or herself, eventually the whole world changes.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] Andrew Grove (1936 – 2016) was one of the first people to work with INTEL.  This article talks about the book, written by Grove, Only the paranoid survive: How to exploit the Crisis point that challenge every company and career.  https://hbr.org/1996/11/inside-intel

There is achievement at every step taken - Reason 13

There is no waste in a leader’s life, as he or she takes a step if it is likely to bring some type of benefit.  This is not fuelled by any selfish desire of course, because the concept of leader itself implies service.

If that step takes the leader closer to success, she or he uses that opportunity to help others to reach their own attainments in life.  The leader shares methods and ways that inspire and encourage.  Those other people go on to share the same with others, and so on: a ripple effect.

If that step takes the leader closer to failure … well, that is also good.  Fiasco is a very good teacher and by being a leader, that situation can convert into a rung on the ladder of success.  After all, the only common thing between everyone who has been successful is the experience of failure at some point along the way!

It is good to be a leader who knows how to take something useful every time from every situation, having also the chance to help others in that process.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)