If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you...

Leadership at times is misunderstood. For some people being a leader is about being an authority monger and giving orders or enjoying the available power to the fullest. The ones who feel like that, fail badly. The one who takes the storm with a smile and experiences the brunt of a disaster before their team is a real leader. Whether you are a CEO of a company or a political leader, you will collapse if you do not follow certain rules of being a leader. Many leaders fail, they are disowned and pulled down to disgrace if they cannot have a brain of iron and a heart of gold. Let’s see the circumstances when a leader fails:

Missing Self-Management:  One of the prime reasons why leaders fail is that they are poor self-leaders. They lack life skills like self-awareness, motivation, empathy and accountability to succeed at a higher level. They can also overwork themselves to show off their greatness and not take the time to care for or enhance themselves properly. These leaders are constantly ill, tired, irritated, anxious, tensed, frustrated and uninspired. Managing self is the least requirement in order to manage a group. 

Constant Selfish Endeavours: Power is a deadly belonging. Leaders who have it, forget the prime reason why they are given that power in the first place. They are supposed to support their team instead of themselves. They are supposed to plan the well-being of so many people and not just a fraternity. Being power-hungry, seeking control all the time and passing instructions mindlessly hurts the essence of team building and leadership. The moment you act selfish, your power will be snatched away by your own people or teams. 

Nurturing Arrogance: When leaders are given a position without merit, they often don’t realise how tough it is to take up the responsibility of being a leader. And the pressure is real as leaders must produce results. Unfortunately, many respond to this pressure by making unilateral decisions, failing to ask questions and underestimating their impact on the whole team and the enterprise. They forget that they are servants, not owners. These leaders believe they know it all and stop listening to suggestions. They ignore what people say, and criticise them when they share different ideas and points of view. They think they are the best. Giving credit to the team becomes a pain for them. That is where they fail miserably. 

Irresponsible Communication: A leader is supposed to constantly communicate with his team. It is important to be available for conversations whenever required. The team that feels left out and unattended creates ripples in the functioning of the group. Head of a family, a political party or a corporate, it does not seem to be there to hear the grievances and guide, his clan learns to figure out their own ways disregarding the presence of the person who is not walking the talk. 

Bad Company: One of the biggest disasters that come in the way of becoming a good leader is having people who misguide as your advisors. It’s important for a leader to identify the right kind of people to be in his team. Bad influencers in the team will destroy the mission and vision of the leader. Empires break down into pieces when a bad company takes over the fabric of leadership. Not all stating their loyalty are loyal. Many just fake it.

Talk more Work less: If you are looking forward to becoming a leader, remember to be fair and logical in every decision you make. Practice what you preach. Stop giving speeches and bring in some action. Few leaders only make a big noise and promise but deliver nothing. Such leaders are considered dummies. Nobody likes to follow dummies.