How A Leader DETERMINES His Path

Great leaders never seek to become mere, carbon copies, of previous ones! Rather, they seriously consider their personal motivations and reasons, for wanting to serve. They must be willing to sublimate their personal agenda, for the benefit of their constituents, and the organization they serve, and conceive, create, develop and implement, a strategic plan, as well as an action plan, to best obtain their desired results. As the words of the song written by Paul Anka, and made famous by Frank SInatra, they must do it, My way. What often differentiates our greatest leaders, from the wannabes, is, how they handle and make decisions, and, as Robert Frost wrote, determine the path to choose and take, when the proverbial two roads (options) meet/ converge. Let's look briefly at how a leader chooses and DETERMINES his path.

1. Delve deeply; deem; deliver: There is no place for empty rhetoric, when crucial decisions need to be made. A true leader will delve deeply, consider what he deems to be the most urgent priorities, as well as ramifications, etc, and deliver on his promises, etc!

2. Empathy: Always keep in mind, when one leads, he serves others! In order to do so, always listen effectively and learn what those you serve, consider as concerns, needs and priorities, and proceed, with the highest degree of genuine empathy!

3. Timely: Great leaders take timely, well - considered action, while wannabes generally tend to procrastinate! Remember, issues generally become more dire and difficult, when you delay!

4. Energetic; example: No one, no matter how talented and/ or well - intentioned, can do it alone! He must motivate and encourage, and lead by example, demonstrating energy, persistence, and integrity!

5. Relevant; realistic: Are you looking at the issues and options, in a realistic way? Will you focus on what's most relevant, rather than sweating the petty stuff?

6. Methods; merits: Evaluate the merits of any idea, in an objective, fair, open - minded, manner! Consider the options, and make good use, of the methods, which will get you the most desirable results!

7. Ideas; ideology: How pure is your personal ideology, and is it, in sync with, that of your organization? Take the time, and make the effort, to be an ideas - based leader!

8. Needs: How clearly have you identified, and do you understand the needs of your organization? How can you enhance the group, make necessary changes and tweaks, but do so, without throwing the baby out, with the bath water?

9. Experience; expertise: What have you done in the best, which might help you better, determine the best path to take? Use your relevant experiences, transform them to expertise, and exhibit real judgment!

10. Stronger; sustainable system: One of the primary responsibilities of a leader, is to leave the group stronger, than he found it. Conceive, develop, and implement, a sustainable system, which will bring your organization, into the future, in a more relevant, sustainable manner!

If you decide to be a leader, at some point, you will reach that fork in the road. How will you DETERMINE which path to take?

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, and Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website: http://plan2lead.net and LIKE the Facebook page for leadership planning: http://facebook.com/Plan2lead




 By Richard Brody



Article Source: How A Leader DETERMINES His Path