We have bee looking at the issue of effective leadership. Each one of us is a leader at one level or the other. Some are leaders in their families, others are leaders in their businesses or offices. Some are leaders in the community and others are leaders in their churches . . . we are all leaders somewhere.
Leadership is critical for things to go on well. The state of things is generally a reflection of the quality of leadership that is in operation.
“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” Harry S. Truman
The output of any group, organization or society is greatly connected to the input of the leader.
“Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts.” Erskine Bowles
Leaders make us better or make it difficult for us to be better.
“Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” Bill Bradley
In this series of articles we have been looking at five components of effective leadership. If we can master these components our leadership, at whatever strata of life, will take a quantum leap.
These five components are: (1) Curiosity (2) Competence (3) Consistency (4) Communication (5) Confidence.
An effective leader is curious and probes to discover the answer to these basic question about every aspect of his leadership operation – (1) What – purpose (2) Where – location (3) When – timing (4) Who with – personnel and partners (5) Who for – target audience and followers (6) Why – vision and understating (7) How – strategy.
A leader who is not curious to get answers to critical questions will be a loose canon, directionless and will lack loyal followers. “The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following.” Proverbs 14:28 MSG.
Curiosity is a great benefit a leader cannot dispense with.
“Curiosity is the engine of intellectual achievement and those who are more interested in a topic will learn faster and prime the brain better for learning. Curiosity is associated with high performance in both academic and work settings. There is evidence to suggest that the more we learn, the more we want to learn.
Curious minds are active minds, and active minds become smart minds. Curiosity is associated with intelligence, creativity and problem-solving ability. Curious people cultivate interesting and creative environments for themselves as they seek out new experiences and are open to exploring new ideas and possibilities.” Liggy Webb
TO BE CONTINUED
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