LEADERSHIP

A Conceptual paper on how leaders were made

This is a conceptual paper to study how leaders were made. We will take into example life of numerous leaders and common factor that is there in all of their life which helped them to become leader. This paper wont dwell deep into their character but the circumstances which contributed to them being an effective leader.

Effective leaders are made and not born. They learnt from trial and error and experience. They are not afraid of the fear of failure. They were made in times of challenges and controversies. Some leaders have more talent than others. But at the end they were just like athletes who need constant practice to reach the zenith, For example, as a youth, Michael Jordan was not selected to play in his high school basketball team. This made him more determined and he practiced for many hours each day to become greatest player in the history of basketball. Similar is the case with any other leaders who were successful. We will go through the life of some of the greatest leaders of our time and find out the common factors that help in becoming a leader.

Winston Churchill is regarded as one of the greatest leaders of all time and he rallied the Britain in its darkest hours. He has to fight long, intense struggle before he achieved his ambition of becoming the Prime Minister of Britain He is one of the great orators of the day, yet while in politics he lost more elections than any other politician. He has been deeply distrusted by each political party in turn, yet he was unanimously entrusted in 1940 with the life of the nation. His oratory skills were exceptional. But this was not something he inherited. On April 22 1904, three years after his first major speech in the Commons, Churchill had a parliamentary disaster. While pretending to be making an impromptu speech, he completely forgot what he was going to say next, and had to resume his seat in a shocked silence. This humiliation in the parliament made him realise that he needs to improve his public speaking skills. Determined to succeed, and deeply ambitious, the young Churchill, in and out of Parliament, dedicated himself to acquiring the art of oratory and he become one of the greatest orators in the later part of his life.

Mahatma Gandhi was the foremost leader of India's independence movement and also considered as the father of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi spent twenty years in

LEADERSHIP
South Africa working to fight discrimination. It was there that he created his concept of satyagraha, a non-violent way of protesting against injustices. While in India, Gandhi's obvious virtue, simplistic lifestyle, and minimal dress endeared him to the people. He spent his remaining years working diligently to both remove British rule from India as well as to better the lives of India's poorest classes. Many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., used Gandhi's concept of non-violent protest as a model for their own struggles. However, Gandhi was not a born leader. In fact, he is far away from what a leader was. While travelling by train to Pretoria, Gandhi experienced his first taste of racial discrimination. Inspite of carrying first class ticket, he was indiscriminately thrown out of the train by the authorities on the instigation of a white man. This is the beginning of an event which led him to become a leader in later part of his life

The particular factor that contributes to Gandhi, Churchill, Michael Jordan or anyone becoming a leader is something that they experienced in the early years. For Gandhi, it was the treatment he received in the train. For Churchill, it was the inability to make a speech in parliament. For Michael Jordan, it was about not getting selected in the basket ball team. The experience in all these previous cases was humiliation. If we go through the life of any successful person, we can see that he/she was humiliated in early days of his career. For instance, Abraham Lincoln got defeated many times in election, Thomas Alva Edison was told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything and he should try something where he will succeed by the virtue of his pleasant personality, Walt Disney was fired from Newspaper because he lack original ideas. Just because they are humiliated doesnt mean they didnt fought back. Instead of running away from the humiliation they experienced, they took time to reflect upon the situation. Confront the issue head-on and evaluate what they could have done better and identify the lessons learned. This extra effort they put made them rise above the ordinary and become leaders in their respective domains. .The best way to learn about others based on their history with humiliations. If you really want to know more about another persons character ask them about their three greatest failures. If they cant think of at least three, they either havent stretched themselves enough or they are not valuing the benefits of failure. Failure is one of lifes greatest enablers. If they have never failed at anything, they would never be forced to take action to course-correct or try new ways to seize opportunities previously unseen. In the end, its what they do with failure that defines their character as a leader.

LEADERSHIP

These finding led me to draw the conclusion that most important factor that contribute to a person becoming a leader is the humiliation that he suffered in early years of his career and how he reacted to it. Humiliation fuelled the most rewarding opportunities and learning in the career of any leaders. Whether it was because of the decisions they made, the people they hired, the investments they made, the relationships they invested in from each experience they learned something new about leadership. Humiliation is the most powerful source for know-how and understanding. It teaches you about survival, renewal and reinvention of yourself and ultimately helps in becoming an effective leader.

LEADERSHIP

Bibliography
Phil Holberton, (2004),"The leadership journey: becoming an enlightened leader", Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 53 - 58 Philip R.P. Coelho, James E. McClure, (2005),"Learning from Failure", American Journal of Business, Vol. 20 Iss: 1 pp. 1 - 1