Everyone is a friend… - Reason 36

The words ‘I have a friend’ are seldom used by people nowadays.

Oh, yes, you may have 5,000 friends… in a social network platform.  But among them, how many would extend their hand to you at a time of need or will share a dream with you, so you can build something together?  And by saying build something we are not saying to create another social network group.

A leader will be everyone’s friend and will have everyone as a friend because what he or she has with other people is a deep connection.

It means whenever there is a need or a dream to share, the leader will gather many people around her or him.  The purpose of this is not to win people over, but because the leader cares about others and whatever he or she inspires them to commit to do, it is for a greater benefit.

And whenever there is a need, the leader will be there.  Maybe she or he will not give exactly what the other person is looking for, but there will always be a smile, understanding eyes or a word of encouragement.

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

You are an explorer of your own self! - Reason 35

At any time, a leader has always a place to go.  It is a place to which she or he wouldn’t need to take a flight or even a car ride, because it is there, within themselves.

Then, he or she can explore all that is inside a human being: virtues, values, powers, talents, dreams, feelings, and can learn to use all of these treasures with more confidence.

The motto of a leader who is this type of explorer is: Look inside where both power and protection can be found.  It is particularly useful during stressful situations or crisis, as the leader uses that mental and spiritual space to reflect and to make decisions, instead of just looking outwardly and reacting.

It also serves when the leader is going through a period and everything is alright; it is a time the leader takes in which to further enjoy these inner resources that are abundant and everlasting.

Others who haven’t developed the ability to go as deep as a leader will find their internal resources are not ready and available a time of need.  But leaders will go so deep they even will be able to help others in their own exploration.

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

Every day is a holiday - Reason 34

Oh, yes, a leader works, and works hard.  But he or she knows how to celebrate too as it refreshes the leader and helps to trigger more creative ideas.

Normal people seem to love to queue eternally in airports or in unending traffic jams to take a holiday and to escape their normal lives once or twice a year.  We are not saying leaders don’t go through that, but it isn’t with the intention of ‘escaping’, because each day is her or his ‘holiday’.

Every day there is a triumph to be accomplished.  Everyday there is a moment when you, a leader, experience victory, and then it is time for celebration, a little daily holiday.

A celebration can be to make time to sit on a nice park bench on a sunny day, to enjoy a tasty mango or to read a book that has nothing to do with job, because a leader has no particular day put to one side to enjoy life’s pleasures.

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

Your vibrations help … enormously … - Reason 33

Vibrations are based on thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitude which are all invisible, but they can be felt and impact in decisions.  They influence people in relation to how they feel about a situation, words used, work and other aspects of life.

For the employee, it is the vibration he or she receives from the boss for arriving late or for having done a good job, that is, it is that unspoken energy, an important piece of the communication process as vibrations give a certain strength to words, making them more powerful, more energising, more joyful, or more sad.

Leaders refine thoughts and feelings in such a way as to make better decisions and to create an influential environment, so others feel empowered.  In other words, they create proper vibrations.

As an example, many years ago during a session of Call-of-the-Time Dialogues[1], a very old Indian lady, Dadi Janki, came into a marvellous Victorian-style room where a group of leaders had gathered.  Although some of the people had not met her before, everyone became very silent and after Dadi Janki left, people commented how they felt powerful energy coming from her, they felt in total peace.

A similar thing happens with any leader: their vibrations can change a person’s state of mind or way of working.

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

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[1] Call-of-the-Time Dialogues is a programme organised by the American scholar Peter Senge and the Brahma Kumaris.  It gathers leaders of different areas for a dialogue on a specific topic or a retreat.  http://www.brahmakumaris.org/us/partnerships/callOfTheTime

An apple a day is healthy if it does not stay until the next day… – Reason 32

Imagine you buy a green apple.  Can you see it in your mind screen?  Fresh, looks tasty and wonderful…  Don’t eat it!  Let’s suppose you just forgot it in a bag you seldom use.  After many weeks, you get out the bag again and you find the same apple still there…  What do you see now?

It is probably gone brown and rotten, and you can’t imagine how you even wanted to eat it!

When something happens, there is a tendency to hold on to it somewhere in our mind and heart.  In fact, if that is good, just like the example of a green apple, after a time it becomes bad too and for some reason, people keep going over the same bad situations again and again, more than with good things. 

As time passes by, it poisons the personality and the mind creates a habit of thinking negatively.  A leader however doesn’t store the ‘apples’ of situations in this way.  How?  Although it is not possible, or at least very difficult, to prevent bad circumstances to take place, leaders approach it differently.

First of all a leader wouldn’t let an apple like that remain uneaten.  Eat the apple is a metaphor to accept all situations in life and to deal with them instead of postponing decisions.  Sometimes apples are sweet and you eat them raw, other times you have to cook them, so they taste better; no matter what, the sooner you deal with it, the easier it will be, and a leader knows it.

Second, a leader will be able to do something with the situation, so that acceptance does not turn into a synonym for suffering.  To learn lessons, to develop other aspects of personality and to enjoy positive company are some of the possibilities related on how to eat the bitter apples life gives us.

Third, a leader will keep his or her heart clean and open to new experiences, so that no rotten apples are left in the bag.  Many more things will come in the future and this attitude will help the leader to be light and to face circumstances in a better way, open to new ‘apples’ yet to come.

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

Even small things that happen to you contribute to your personal development – Reason 31

My first job was such that I don’t ever include it in my curriculum.  However, I learned so much from it; small lessons that help me to keep organised in a very fast-paced world.

There is always something that will help you to be a better person, if you just take the time to look for that, no matter what it is.

Leaders do take their time to look at everything that happens to them and by doing that, they are able to transform a seemingly useless situation into opportunities for personal growth.

Take for instance a person like Steve Jobs[1], arguably one of the most important leaders in the field of technology.  In his speech at Stanford, he summarised his experiences in life; casting light on at least one thing that wouldn’t look as important, but had a huge impact in computing as we know today.

When he could not afford college, he took classes which would not be considered so relevant to his profession: calligraphy.  That changed a world where computers were not supposed to offer aesthetics and Jobs thought differently, and he was right about it.  Not only does his computer offer a good image for writing or for graphics in general, but all personal computers in the world have now that aim, following Jobs’ example.

If you are a leader, remember how in a few years these things you are doing that may seem boring or irrelevant may turn part of your life and your gift to the world.

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

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[1] Steve Jobs is arguably one of the most influential people for the 20th and 21st centuries.  He is the founder of Apple Computer and an inspiration for many of the inventions that are part of people’s day-to-day lives.  For his well-known speech at Stanford University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

A leader may teach others, but also learn from them – Reason 30

We have a world filled with natural teachers, people who easily explain to others how to do something, what the meaning of life is and how to be a better person.  As world teachers, we enrich each other with new perspectives and we correct each other’s behaviour, with the aim to help them to be better and to promote harmony in our society.

At the same time, we are a world of eager students learning from others at every step.  Due to this, we change because we observe others, we understand what they are doing, we discern and then we replicate it in our own actions.

However, an obstacle in our development process is the fact we pose as teachers when we should be quiet and learn, or we try to be students when others are waiting for us to give an example.  Being a leader means to know what to be at what time.

A leader is the one who is silent when it is time to learn from others and to change his or her behaviour.  In that sense, a leader will be like a child with eagerness to learn and improve and also like a wise person who knows she or he does not know it all.

At a time of teaching, a leader will look for ways to encourage others to do things differently without it seeming like correction.  Best of all, a leader will follow up and make sure others have understood the lesson they gave through their example.

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