The act and the ability to run, to direct, to manage, and to guide a group of people is one big task that every leader is saddled with. According to Bill Owens, “True leadership lies in guiding others to success,…in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well”.
Leadership is all about constructing harmony, a concord which if well handle will not result only in the conglomeration of basic ideas but in the massive pull of a wealth of sophisticated developments. This shows that leaders are made by followers. Where there are no groups, cohorts, followers, to be managed, the term ‘leadership’ loses its substance. Hence, the indispensability of followers. When followers detect loopholes in a society or organisation, the task of the leader(s) is to proffer practical and effective solutions taking into utmost consideration, the views and opinions of followers but at the same time, exhibiting those traits that certifies the fundamental position of a leader. Leader(s) recognise that there are problems to be dealt with before the problems eventually deal dirty blows at them. Leaders give their followers an encouraging platform to express their ideas and try as much as possible not to render their opinions useless. Leadership is in no way about how much muscle a leader can exhibit, it is about how much he/she can get others to reason with him. Leaders are not to forget that with leading comes responsibilities and when the criticisms set off, they must be embraced with the same faith as the accolades. The position of a leader and that of the followers is synonymous with the relationship between the head and the body. Apparently, as important as the status of head of any society or organisation is, his/her success is largely dependent on the body mechanisms, where the body becomes unresponsive, the head definitely is on a smooth slopy ride down the hills.
Similarly, failure to adhere to standards and principles of appropriate conduct will not only serve as an indication of weakness and ignorance, it will also the positioning of an apathetic foundation for prospective and hence, subsequent leaders.
Success for a lot of leaders is measured as deemed fit and in relation to tangible accomplishments. However, a leader who takes much less than his/her share of blame while singing praises of work half-done is but a dissembler. Unsung praises are worth much more than self-glorification. Besides, “the greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things”. – Ronald Reagan.
