For most people when they think of a leader, they think of someone like a President or Prime Minister, or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The next thing that they think of that is synonymous with those people is power. Power seems to be what a lot of people seek out when they become leaders. However, what if I told you that being a leader is not about being powerful, but using power effectively.
It’s no secret that power is involved in leadership. You have a lot of responsibility though too. Uncle Ben Parker said it best when he said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Since power has the ability to do great things, also has the ability to fail you. in order to avoid failure you must learn how to use and distribute power. But what the heck does this even mean? Personally my definition of leadership is inspiring others to do great things. The only way you are going to get the best out of people is to use the things that they are the best at in the right situations. Leadership is also about recognizing when someone is good at something and seeing how that can fit into what you are trying to accomplish. A good leader finds people who can do things better than themselves. In order to get things done you must have the right team. When it comes to sports, individuals don’t win championships, teams do. Even when it comes to solo sports like tennis, swimming, running, etc, you still have a team of people that help you become the best that you can be. As a leader, you are able to use the power you have by loaning some of it out to your team because they are good at what they do and can benefit from the use of the power you give them. When it comes to developing future leaders, there are certain steps you must take that do not include just throwing them into the deep end. The first step is that you must find out what they want to accomplish and also just learn about them in general as a person. Ask them what they think leadership means to them. Ask them how they would approach leading before they even do it. The next step is to ease them into it. Start off with little tasks that they can be in charge of so that they can practice. Don’t make anything they do official though because it can close them in and make them feel boxed in. Teach them how to say no. Good leaders know how much they can handle and know that if they take on too much they will not be able to do their jobs as effectively as possible. Something that cannot be stressed enough is that you mentor them. You must give them something to look up to so that they can model themselves after and use as a jumping off point. This can be done wrong though so be careful. Don’t try to make them like yourself, let them develop their own unique talents. Don’t get disappointed with them easily, they’re learning. Also be proud of what you have done as a leader and realize that other people can benefit from what you know.
Being a leader is one of the most important and necessary jobs in a project, business, or team. There are certainly ways to do it wrong, but if you do it right it can make all of the difference. Leaders can change the world if they use their position and power correctly, they just have to be taught how.