The Leader with Vision: the Optimistic Leader Essay Example

good intentions about your subordinates, and their future development and growth your focus, you should let them know that you care for them. You as the leader, should not only ensure that you get your job efficiently and timely done, you should also lead them morally, psychologically and spiritually. Let us look at some of the attitudes you as a leader need to put up for greater achievements. .

Set higher standards for your subordinates than they know they are. This makes it as easy as possible for the subordinate to blow his horn for you. It is of the utmost importance to treat him as though he already is measuring up to – even beyond – what you expect or believe he is capable of doing. There is no more forceful form of persuasion than setting a publicly acknowledged standard or code of ethics for the subordinates. 2. Do not use force on your subordinates to compel them to achieve results, but rather persuade them to work hard.

Each time you try to force a person to accept or acknowledge your point of view, you are driving a nail into the coffin for your future. Another person cannot be forced to the way of your thinking without his consent, else, the penalty for forcing the other person to accept your part of the argument or your point of view would be a delayed rebound of reaction that will hit you when you least expect it, sometimes many years later. Let us look at the following case study: “One day at a conference, Dick, the boss, lost his patience and sat heavily on Charlie, who kept insisting

that his idea would save the company a lot of money.It involved a new assembly line scheme for putting a portable transistor radio together. Dick bellowed, ‘I’m boss here, Charlie, and I say the present assembly sequence stands’. Charlie was hurt, but he knew his idea was better; he refused to give up even though Dick had sat on him.

Some days later, Charlie had a chat with his boss: ‘Dick’, he told him in a friendly tone, ‘I know you always get behind a good idea once you are sold on it. May be I was over-enthusiastic at the meeting the other day about my assembly line plan, but I do wish you would give it another review with me.Maybe you would even be willing to try it out on the plant manager and get his opinion. ’ This time, Charlie’s approach worked. By making it easy for Dick to go over the idea with the plant manager, he had persuaded Dick’s mind to unlock. The plant manager liked the scheme and told Dick to try it out on a small scale.

It worked most efficiently and the estimators projected a savings of thousands of dollars. This plan eventually not only netted Charlie a sizeable cash bonus, but helped Dick’s stock with the plant manager, too. Today, pity the person who says or insinuates the slightest thing about Charlie.In Dick, Charlie won a lifelong friend and champion, a man who will not doubt do everything he can to push Charlie along to success. Imagine how completely different things would have turned out for Charlie if he went around depreciating Dick’s original dressing down to him, and

later deliberately ‘squealed’ on Dick, when he had a chance, to Dick’s boss. Both men would have become embittered towards each other, and by the same token their progress to further success would have stopped dead in its track.

Charlie intuitively pursued the friendly persuasion approach at its ‘professional’ best.

Living Your Vision

Visions are about ideas and plans for the future. It is therefore, very essential for you as a leader to behave like Charlie, who despite the fact that his idea was publicly rejected, was determined to make a success of a good idea by employing a friendly tactic. Your visions should therefore be pursued enthusiastically with faith. Since your vision would be about the success of others and yourself, you should develop a nice attitude to others, which include your immediate family, friends, superiors/colleagues/subordinates in the work place, etc.

Each minute, hour and day of your life, you have the choice of getting the best or the worst out of the other person. It is only the attention you give the whisperings from your own conscience that can help you to decide the outcome of your actions. Learn never to dislike people because they differ with you. Fight every urge to entertain discrimination because of conflicts of political or religious points of view. Develop a compassion for others based on the understanding that they suffer from the same fears and frustrations plaguing you.Never assume or believe that you have enemies even though the circumstantial evidence may tempt you to believe otherwise.

You cannot really be nice as long as you allow a morsel of hate or distrust to disturb your direct contacts with others. Give your subordinates

full credit for holding your destiny in their hands; it is the surest way to get them to protect that destiny with the best qualities they can muster. When you must differ or take issue with another person, show him, by your looks and your words, by the palpable spirit of your conscience that you nevertheless love and respect him.To mould your destiny through other persons, avoid at all costs, the capital mistake of losing your temper and raising your voice on them.

A man who “blows his top”, no matter how justified it may be, builds a high-walled fence around his personality. Most men who allowed themselves “hit the ceiling” just once, have worked for years to regain the confidence and respect of their superiors, colleagues and subordinates. Appeal to the loftier sentiments of others. Put consideration of others above consideration of yourself, especially when you do not have to.Develop the habit of forbearance; it is far more persuasive than any form of direct logic.

Make it easy for the other person to say ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ when he must make the decision for or against you. A feeling of hate for the people who have done or are doing the most to help you get ahead is the mark of one doomed to tragic and certain failure. Rather, teach yourself to think highly of others and you will be amazed at how well they will take care of you. Yes, your key to the topmost heights of achievement is like putty in the hands of others.That is why the other fellow holds your destiny in his hands far more than you know or believe.

By acting in a positive way and developing the right attitude to others, your vision will certainly become a reality in no distant future.

I am sure, your joy shall know no bound if you ever practice the art of regarding and respecting others and always portraying yourself as a friend.

Influence Others With Positive Attitude

To be able to influence others, your personality must be accepted by all and sundry. It is not an easy task to influence others.Since you are not in the military where they say, obedience to a superior’s orders/instructions is the attitudes of soldiers; you cannot therefore expect people who have the freedom of expression and association, to be easily influenced. Influencing others therefore is an art that must be developed and kept alive by a positive attitude towards others. The positive attitude tact, when properly applied, can bring you incredible degree of prestige and poise.

It is a golden master key to personal happiness, and to power and success with people.If you make every word, act, or gesture a tactful one, the results will amaze and astonish you. The good influence of your use of positive attitude will spread like rippling waves along your route in the life. This can be life’s best release of tension in your daily contacts with others. This is like a governor for the human machine, a control whereby you acquire a conciliatory reputation and a valuable capacity to understand subordinates and their problems. Let us learn positive attitude from this story of a little boy.

One day this little boy was punished severely and he shouted at his mother, “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”.

As he ran away from home he came to a cliff overlooking a valley. Once again, he cried out, “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”, but when this young boy heard the echo of these words resounding in his ear, he was startled! They sounded mean and distasteful when they came back to his own ears exactly as he had uttered them. The lad was frightened and immediately ran home to his mother. He told her about the bad man in the mountains, the man who had shouted at him, “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”.

The mother took her son back to the mountain. When she arrived at the point where he claimed he had heard the bad man speaking so angrily she said to him, “now, son, cry out, I love you, I love you, I love you”. As soon as he did this, the echo came back clearly, sweetly, “I love you, I love you, I love you”. ”That, my son,” his mother told him understandingly, “is the law of life: what we give we get back in return. ” Positive attitude on the other hand, has the magic power of making you uniformly considerate of others, regardless of their position in life or their wealth.It assists in obtaining and maintaining friendly and influential relationships.

It prompts you to act with courtesy, diplomacy, genuine appreciation and conscientiousness at all times. Its secret ingredient is the consideration of others. That is why it is the most attractive mark of personality, why it can disarm opponents, liquidate enemies, quiet tempers, calm nerves, and show you the easy way out of

difficult and trying situations. In a nutshell, positive attitude is the ability that will permit you to give others a shot in the arm as needed without letting them feel the needle.By considering others around you positively will make you so dear to them that they would always want you around them.

When people know that you care for them, they tend to become obedient to you and are willing to carry out instructions at your bid.

Conclusion

As a leader, you should never allow your vision(s) to die, as a result of discouraging attitude of others. Yours should be the positive attitude of love and care. Playing the role of the father, whether in a family circle, social circle or work environment.If you must influence others, remember that what you give comes back to you as you gave it.

This brings us to the Bible quotation that “what a man sows, he will reap. ” Remember also that a man needs the support of others to climb to the top of the ladder of life. If you remove the ladder after you have arrived up there, you may as well be destroying your ability to remain there, and also the probability or ability of your own offspring of getting there too. Thank you for listening. Charles U.EKOWA, mba, aitd, acia, mnis, amnim, fca.