Effective and sustainable Leadership stand on influence. Leadership is not a function of age, gender, nationality, religion or family background; rather, it begins the day a man discovers himself and is ready to take 100% responsibility for his life. The early leaders of our great country, Nigeria were mostly in their 30s and therefore, it is important that youths understand that they are never too young to lead. A phenomenal young leader starts leadership by leading himself. If he cannot lead himself, he certainly will never be able to lead anyone else. It takes self-discipline and mastery to lead oneself which makes the whole difference in the path and direction one wants to go in life. The world is going through an unprecedented change which is aided by technology. Conflicts are rising every day from different parts of the world. The effects of globalization are biting harder—making African youths to flee the continent from its effect with hope to have a better life in countries that are prepared for these times.
How many youths today consider themselves as leaders? All these challenges should prepare any young man to aspire to become a phenomenal young leader. When you are young, you are hungry for ideas and exploit, but it is essential to develop leadership skills at that age of your life. Your confidence and belief in your abilities must be followed with humility, and your self-awareness must be matched with curiosity and openness to new ideas. That’s how a phenomenal leader is built. Create your own platform for leadership by using your gift and passion as a recipe for leading. It is not where and how you start in life that matters, it is what you do with life that will propel you to where you will end up. The gift of a good start is great. However, if you are not fortunate to have a great start, then double your efforts and life will reward you later. It is crucial to be a phenomenal young leader because as social beings, there will always be need for leadership. Peter Drucker said and I quote: “Only three things happen naturally in organizations, friction, confusion and underperformance; everything else is leadership”
At one point or the other in our lives, we come across great leaders irrespective of age or position. Preparing for leadership is paramount to everyone aspiring to become a leader. There are occasions when people seek leadership without preparation and when they are in the moment, the leadership problem formula sets in. Leadership equals time, money and power. Time will never seem to be enough for you. People will disappoint you, and there will be difficulty in the balance of exercise of the power you have. As a youth, if you want to be a phenomenal young leader, invest a substantial amount of time on leading yourself first. You must start with the vision for leadership. It is the vision that inspires the followers. If a leader does not have a vision, nothing will matter to him. It is that vision that Martin Luther referred to as a dream. In his book, Born to Win, Zig Ziglar of this world said, “The most important ingredient for success is desire and desire comes from vision.”
Qualities of a Phenomenal Young Leader: A leader must be optimistic that things are going to be fine no matter the challenge being faced. Such optimism comes from the hope that tomorrow will be better than today. A phenomenal leader is a dealer of hope. If we do not have hope for the future, why do anything? This is the unfortunate condition of average, non-thinking people today.A leader must believein himself, trust his judgments and trust his instinct.
There is often a thin line between believing in one’s self and arrogance, but if a leader can stay on the right side of the line, then he is good. A leader must have charisma and push it with enthusiasm so as to sell his ideas to those he is leading in such a way that they will buy it. No matter how you feel, no matter who did what to you, or what circumstances you face, you will do better as a young leader to be enthusiastic in front of those you are leading else you will appear weak unprepared for leadership. Act enthusiastically to be enthusiastic. Have a positive attitude towards everything. Research reveals that being enthusiastic and having a positive attitude actually changes the vibrations of your brain and actually has an effect on how you feel.
Also, passion is also critical in leadership. Passion is what will drive you when things don’t go well. As a young leader, you must be trustworthy. If the people trust their leader, they will be willing to follow him to anywhere he is going with the vision. It is critical that the vision of the leader is served on the platform of his values. The personal values of the leader must be above board that is only when he could even win the trust of the follower.
A young leader should be able to network. Relationship is the platform on which everything else in life is built and success stories are born. Relationship is a plant of slow growth, but it always matures and bears fruit. Develop great conflict resolution skills. If the people around you are always in conflict, you will never produce results. One of the most important relationships you will keep is a relationship with a mentor. This is so important. The most successful people of this generation all have mentors. Bill Gates who has been the richest man in the world for many years, running had Ed Roberts. Oprah Winfrey the talk show star had Mary Duncan. Steve Jobs had Robert Friedland, Warrant Buffet had Benjamin Graham, Michael Jordan had Phil Jackson, our own Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa had his uncle Dantata as a mentor and the list goes on. Mentors help to challenge you and guide you. You learn from their mistakes and avoid same on your own journey. They will show you the pit holes to avoid and show you how to connect the dots. As you get a great mentor for yourself, be prepared to mentor someone else too.
Finally, a phenomenal young leader must grow. Anyone who is not growing is dying. You must grow in knowledge every single day of your life. Seek knowledge by all means—so that you can grow your intellectual capacity. Knowledge empowers and equips you for leadership. Leaders are readers. Learn by reading books, listening to audios and attending seminars and courses that will add to your career and sharpen your leadership skills. Reading is so important for leaders, especially young leaders because that is how you can learn from the experiences of those who have gotten to where you are going to. Learning is what keeps your mind sharp and helps you with new ideas. It also helps you to keep in touch with the trends in your field. Continue to develop yourself and transfer what you learn to those you lead and those that look up to you.
Written by Femi Joshua, Abuja.
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