POWER by Example and NOT Example by POWER

 POWER by Example and NOT Example by POWER

⏳ If I were an American, I may be RED or BLUE, that won't matter but what struck me early morning today [while gulping my apple cider] was this one-liner from the inaugural speech of US President Joe Biden: that is, "We lead NOT by the example of power but by the power of our example". We have one too many leaders interspersed across our landscape but the trouble is, there is a plethora of leaders where often times, the followers are lost and confused either because the leader is manifesting differently from the expectations of his constituency or the leader himself is sending mixed and/or inconsistent messages in his exercise of powers arising from his leadership role.  Problem is, we can't blame followers if they end up blindly following their leader regardless of his trajectory.

Rightfully, the leader is up there at the pedestal because he was ensconced by his constituencies and rightfully, it behooves that the leader should be aligned with his followers in his performance as a leader.  The pitfall happens if the followers have only the leader as the incumbent option and there is no alternative.  And when it happens that the leader wields his power as a 'strongman', the weaklings hardly have a china man's chance to at least cause a dent for a leader who is off track.

And the mother of all ironies is that efficiency as a leader doesn't guarantee him to reap the fruits of success.  Rebecca Zucker was spot on in dissecting this in her piece with the Harvard Business Review [@ https://hbr.org/2019/02/why-highly-efficient-leaders-fail]. And where did those failed leaders really fail ?  It's in building relationships, the need to be engaged at the ground level, at the grass roots.

What then brings us to the proven roadmap for a leader to succeed ?  Brent Gleeson clearly made this a centerpiece and focal point of his contribution @ https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2016/11/09/10-unique-perspectives-on-what-makes-a-great-leader/?sh=36006e9d5dd1].  The key centerpieces here was that a leader should know his team and get their respect.  Never demand respect because that's earned.

What then it takes to be that successful leader ?  Let's go back to basics.  Knowing your deliverables, knowing your team, being at the ground [and not at that Ivory Tower] and working hard to earn their respect, these are the ingredients that are the very hallmarks of the successful leaders who have imprinted themselves in crafting their respective success stories.📌