Meaning_of_Leadership

“Change We Can Believe In”. This is the slogan used by Senator Barack Obama during the recent Democratic presidential contest in America. After one of the greatest upsets in American political history, many people especially journalists, historians and bloggers will be talking for years about what happened. They still could not get over the fact that Senator Barack Obama has won. Barack Obama wins because he has a superior ‘change’ message. He has an efficient and watertight organisation. He is cool. And the most important thing he has: A good command of leadership. It is the major key of his success to be nominated at the end of the day. He knows what he is doing. And that is what makes the Americans believe in him despite of his difference in races, cultures and religions. Leadership is listed at the top of the ten rules to become a leader. It is mentioned here as the main ingredient to the road of success. Let us first begin with the basic knowledge of leadership. A famous author, Dr. Robert H. Schuller, who wrote Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do! , once says like this, “Take care' People who take care never go anywhere. Take a chance; take charge; take control!” He defined leadership as the force that selects your dreams and sets your goals. It is the force that propels your endeavours to success. However, you would be amazed how many “leaders” fail to take charge and take control. Before they know it, they lose control and are defeated by problems they should have been able to manage successfully. This happens because they surrender their leadership to the four fatal ‘F’s in their lives. The first ‘F’ stands for Frustrations. They are people who reach a point where they just cannot handle people any more. They cannot handle government regulations any more. They cannot handle economic price inflation any more. All of us face frustrations when we are lacked of time and money; when the interest rates are high; when our closest people let us down. Such kinds of frustrations can get accumulated in your life until you choke and finally surrender leadership to them. That is when you give up, throw in the towel, and call quit. Never bow to such temptations easily. You must fight back. Following closely behind it is another frightening ‘F’ – Fears. Everyone is afraid of something. Most of us fear what lies ahead, misfortune, sorrow, negative forces, the unknown and even new challenges. This is where a leader stands out. He must be able to transform the destructive forces of fear into the constructive strength of faith. It is the iridescent candle amidst the darkness of life’s negative forces. It is man’s greatest tool in life. Therefore, pull aside the curtain of fear that shuts out the sunlight of self-confidence. A leader who is powerful does not fear; he loves. He knows that love, not fear, conquers all. Now, let me put the next leadership principle in this way. The string of a musical instrument, when pulled too taut, will snap. Life, likewise, when stretched to the limit, will snap too. This metaphor applies to our next ‘F’ that is Fatigue. Every leader runs tired once in a while. He must better be able to know when he is running tired and then back off. Because if he doesn’t, he is going to make some bad decisions. Therefore, learn to ‘listen’ to your mood. It is nature’s way of telling your mental temperature. Remember, you are your best thermometer. Take a break before you break down and surrender leadership to it. Last but not the least, there is our final ‘F’ that stands for Fates. Do you have a tendency to look for scapegoats' Do you blame fate when you temporarily run aground' there are all kinds of negative “fates” that social structures or the ‘stars’ might try to impose upon you. No leader can achieve enduring success in any undertaking unless he is wise and brave enough to admit his own mistakes and faults. If he is humble enough to accept a temporary reverse without blaming his loss on others, he is rehearsing leadership’s favourite tune. He will one day get to play the trumpet of triumph and become a true leader! There are no definite measures for the framework of a true leader. He may look young and a bit inexperienced, but that has completely nothing to do with whether he can lead or not. If he leads well, everyone will look at him with honour and respect from an even better perspective than before. It is undeniable that youth leaders play a very important role in shaping one country’s future. We do not have to look far into the history to discover that young men like Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak who went to England to equip themselves with education later on make the difference in gaining independence for Malaysia. They are the bridge that link the elder generation with the ever-advancing new science technology. They are the catalysts that speed up the rate of country development over ten times at least. They are the agents of change who determine the future direction of a country. Fortunately, our government knows this from the beginning. And they have worked hard in their effort to bring out the best from all the youths in our country. One of the successful training programs they set up is the National Service (NS) or else known as ‘Program Latihan Khidmat Negara’ (PLKN). Although this new system has just started off in early 2003, it has received a lot of positive feedbacks from the parents and especially, the youths. Through this meaningful program, youths will not only learn to be more disciplined and independent, but they will also be able to grasp the true meanings of leadership. These are the valuable qualities that will later help them to succeed in pursuing their dreams of lives. Besides leadership, a young leader must also produce a high rate of efficiency through his works and organizations. Efficiency means the quality of doing something well and effectively, without wasting time, money, or energy. Without efficiency, a leader cannot catch up with the fast-forward pace in which the global world is now furiously engaged with. Without efficiency, everything slows down. Without efficiency, destruction conquers. Other than that, attitude also plays an important role in shaping and developing a good quality leader. Attitude does not only include the outer appearance and behaviour of a person, but it also portrays the inner thoughts of that person, whether it is a positive mental attitude or a negative mental attitude. A positive mental attitude is essential to a leader during his tough journey on the road to success. The foundation for achieving and maintaining a positive mental attitude is belief. Thus, a leader who has a positive mental attitude is also said to be a person who has strong belief. On the other hand, it is also important for a leader to show good examples by portraying a nice appearance and well behaviour to the others. Portraying it is no problem but maintaining it' That is the tricky part a leader must master. No matter how ugly the situation is, he must still be able to project a positive attitude to those around him. Now that is something. Furthermore, a leader must be a very well-disciplined man. If he cannot be the master of himself, then how can he be the master of others' Mastering ourselves is not an easy task because within each of us exists a perpetual struggle between our intellect and our emotions. And that is what self-discipline is all about: acting on your intellectual conclusions and overriding your instinctive desire for instant gratification. Truly self-disciplined individual is able to do this even when his emotions are running high. When confronted with the emergencies of temporary defeat, he fights on with never a thought of quitting. He knows that a winner is never a quitter and a quitter can never be a winner. These are the qualities a disciplined leader should have in order to succeed. Everything bows to self-discipline, even success. Finally, to summarize the whole thing, I will put it in one word only: LEAD. That is exactly what we have been discussing just now. The main idea of Leadership, Efficiency, Attitude and Discipline. It will be no surprise at all to find more new leaders blossoming out in these few decades to come. Despite of their young ages and maybe even feminine genders, these junior leaders, I believe, will continue to lead and guide our nation towards a better future. Future when we turn the page on the policies of the past. Future when we bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. A future when we offer a new direction for the country we, Malaysians love and are deeply indebted to. Malaysia LEADS!