The Point: We have a saying at Tip of the Spear that goes something like this… Leaders Lead! In other words, when it comes time to take on an initiative, as a leader you need to position yourself at the “tip” of the initiative. Learning to lead and adopting a leadership role, is both a responsibility and a challenge in life. Leadership development prepares individuals with a drive and urge to lead from the front… Enjoy!
While implementing leadership development programs to polish and hone the skills in the future leaders, along with a number of other essential factors, the art of leading is given significant importance.
Teaching leaders how to lead can be taught, but the drive and initiative to lead is something which is an innate capability of an individual, which inspires them to perform at their best. The motivating force and the inspiring factor, are unique for every leader, but usually involve some common elements which are found similar in good leaders.
Vision And Purpose
A leader is prompted to lead when they have a unique vision that they want to share with their team members for the benefit of the company. Every leader has a unique concept and ideal vision for the achievement of a goal, and they lead from the front to successfully realize their aspired vision. This could also be a goal/vision shared through the corporate channel (Think how you might be better suited to share the company goals with your team).
A purpose in life is a great driving force which serves as an effective mode of inspiring an individual to adopt a leadership position. When an individual realizes their purpose in life, they are more than willing to lead from the front, and that is how leadership development progresses. (Conant)
Leadership development offers each leader with an opportunity to exercise an initiative and strive for the best.
Leading By Example
Good leaders are also prompted to act and take initiative, if they feel a need to lead their team members by example. The need to lead is prompted by the requirement of a responsible individual, who can inspire and motivate employees to perform at their maximum potential. Notice that I said “responsible individual” and know that you can infer that leadership is not for everyone!
Desire To Serve
Great leaders are also prompted to lead by their desire to serve their people. They utilize their efforts and talents, to provide convenience for their team, help them perform to their maximum potential, and encourage them to seek challenging tasks for their personal development.
Their desire to serve and take care of their team members proves to be the motivating force for them.
Urge To Make A Difference
Many leaders are motivated to lead, through the use of leadership development programs, which inspire and encourage their interest to lead. Development of leadership skills results in the urge to lead and make a difference by utilizing the skills and talents. So why do you do what you do as a leader? Is it fame? Is it glory? Could it be a bigger purpose?
Response To Challenges
Leaders are also inspired to lead when they encounter challenging situations and projects, which prompt them to take the lead and manage their team from the front. A natural and gifted leader acts as a responsible individual, who guides and instructs their team members, understand their limitations and encourage them to perform their best with the challenge at hand. While we’d love to say that all leadership moments happen in the “proactive” moment, we realize that there will be those moments when leaders find themselves/their teams squarely behind the 8-ball of business (or life!)
Leave A Legacy
Many leaders have a desire to leave a legacy which can be a source of inspiration and encouragement for others. Their desire to leave behind something worthwhile, and make a change for the better, prompts them to utilize their passion and talents, and conduct themselves in such a way that fellow workers are motivated to perform at their best. Unfortunately, and we see this way too often at Tip of the Spear, these legacy leaving moments don’t typically occur until a leader has experienced significant time on the job (So later in one’s career).
Summary
So here is the leadership challenge in a nutshell: Leaders need to lead from the front. However, just because you assume this pole-position doesn’t mean that all will be smooth sailing from there. Leadership development brings out and polishes the leadership skills of an individual, thus preparing them for a leadership role, whenever the need arises.
For more information on Tip of the Spear Leadership Development offerings, including our use of The Leadership Challenge, CLICK HERE.
