I often get asked the question: “Are leaders born or made?” I always say: “Yes”. Leaders are born and made, through hard work, perseverance, personal development, and opportunity. You may have been granted some gifts in terms of leadership abilities, but you want to hone, cultivate, and curate them – so you are the best leader that you can be. Take your talent, your strengths, and your unique aptitudes, and do all that you can with these unique gifts.
Meet at the intersection of passion and purpose to find your greatest power. Discover your strengths, enthusiasms, and values by asking yourself these questions:
What do I like to do? What do I do well?
What would I like to learn? What is my best contribution on my team?
Why is this worthy for me? Why is this important to me?
How can I positively make a difference? How can I make the greatest impact?
How do I define success for my life?
Your responses form the foundations of your most meaningful goals. Your goals are valuable because they are your best sources of motivation for yourself. They are also your best opportunity to lead people to do significant and meaningful things that truly make a difference in this world.
Having goals for yourself and pursuing them is critical to your success. Set SMART goals for yourself that, once achieved, will make you feel confident, accomplished, and happy. When you look back later, you will proudly say to yourself: “Wow! That was amazing! I can’t believe I did that.” Those are the milestones that you want to set for yourself. Positive achievements that demonstrate your strengths and your power will produce the desired outcomes for your goals. Construct a plan to reach those goals. Once set, work hard, and to the best of your ability. Always approach with a “growth mindset”; meaning that you are determined, willing, and expecting to put in genuine effort to learn.
Then, be the finest leader for the greatest good – with clarity, passion, and purpose. Truly care about and demonstrate concern for the people in your group. Treat all people always with respect. Genuinely be concerned with their welfare. Develop relationships and trust in those bonds. Always take initiative to work ethically and morally. Be a good listener and be a constructive motivator too. Relentlessly pursue vision, purpose, meaning, and direction in everything that you do. Honor your values. Have sustained commitment to those goals. Finally, strive to live in alignment with your values, your strengths, and your virtues, to be the impactful leader you were born to be.
