© Victor Ochieng’
In some credible source of knowledge, I read that in the distant past, the Japanese believed in three powers: One, the Power of the Sword, which focused on weapons and military. Two, the Power of Jewel, which focused on money. Three, the Power of the Mirror, which focused on self-image. Just to juxtapose self-esteem and self-mage, the former focuses on how we feel about ourselves, while the latter steers clear on how we see ourselves.
IMAGE is the acronym of Innovation, Mastery, Authenticity, Guts and Ethics. Robin Sharma is the proponent of this cogent argument in his heroic book titled the Leader Who Had No Title.
- Innovation
This is creative mastery. Legendary leaders strive to stretch figments of imagination past the point of normal. There must be some craving for creativity and the ravenous desire to be different. Leaders must devote themselves to daily success and progress. Leaders must think of what to improve daily. Leaders should be visionary — able to herald the future of business landscape where most people lag behind due to the romantic affair with the obsolete past. Organizations should not be afraid of disrupting traditions or breaking barriers.
Organizations must relentlessly re-think about the way to work. By asking quality questions like: How can we work faster, better and smarter? How can we woo and wow our clients? How can we spur productivity? Organizations and the leadership must develop the innovation mind-set and make their present better than the past. Institutions that find it hard to blaze the trail in innovation and to evince excellence are likely to become obsolete with time.
There are people who are not original. So, they try to re-package a formula that was successful a few decades ago — with the hope of staying safe and secure. Yet, that is a very silly strategy. The best way to improve the way people do their work is not through revolution, but evolution. Great careers and great businesses spawn from evolution – slow and steady improvements. People crave fresh value and novel forms of excellence.
- Mastery
Commit yourself to attain marvellous mastery at what you do. Strive to be great, that people cannot afford to ignore you. Subscribe to FMOB — the First, the Most, the Only and the Best. Doing excellent work is part of the purpose of life. The starting point of moving to mastery is to raise the expectations you set for yourself. Expect more from yourself than anyone around you could expect from you. Play in the big leagues. Continually challenge yourself to out-perform who you were yesterday.
There was an article, which featured in the Harvard Business Review – the Making of an Expert. The oeuvre of it averred that topflight experts had one thing in common: Investment of approximately 10,000 hours polishing pale parts. Indeed, focus plus time, is equal to an alloy of mastery. FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Successful. The 10,000 idea can be the 10 Year Rule. To be a legendary leader in your field, you need to focus on what you do for 10 years. For mastery in any sphere needs time and patience.
People who become the Best in the World (BIW) rise to the occasion. They train relentlessly and practice persistently. While others watch a lot of television, they watch phenomenal speeches and didactic documentaries. While others spend eternity on Facebook, they read heroic books. No price, no prize, is the slogan that propels them to the front-end of the queue. They are keen to pay the price of greatness. As sagely said by Winston Churchill, “Responsibility is the price we pay for greatness.”
- Authenticity
Your ability to create an impact and contribute comes more from who you are as a person than from the authority you receive by your placement on some organization chart. It is important to be trustworthy — someone people can accord respect. As a legendary leader, you must keep promises you make to your teammates and clients.
Authenticity is about feeling safe in your own skin and learning to trust yourself. So that you work under your values, express your original voice, and operate at your ultimate best. It is about knowing who you are. What you stand for. Having the courage to be yourself. It is about being real and consistent. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it aptly, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.” In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we read, “To thine own self, be true.”
Do not lose yourself on your way to the top. No wonder, Warren Buffet observed, “There will never be a better you than you.” Oscar Wilde’s argument adds it heft and weight: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” Being authentic means being true to your talents. When you go to work and operate at your ultimate best, that is a shining example of authenticity in action. You must be true to who you are, even when everyone around you compels you to be someone else. Leadership has a lot to do with believing in yourself when no one else believes in you.
- Guts
You need no title to be a leader, but you must be tough. You need a beautiful blend of guts and gusto. You need a thick skin to ward off leadership pressure and tension that often tightens. As you dream bigger dreams and act with greater mastery, you will meet resistance on the way. Things will go wrong. Competitors will try to knock you down. Some people around you will discourage you. You will meet obstacles that impede your speed. No wonder, they say, uneasy lies the head which wears a crown.
Moreover, as a leader, you must strike a beautiful balance. Be courageous, but compassionate; tough, but tender; firm, but friendly; strong, but sincere. As you stand out of the crowd, you will experience instances of self-doubt. Above all, you must stay committed to your vision, have strength and stamina to steer the ship even at the centre of the storm. A leader needs to dare more than followers, and risk more than ordinary people.
- Ethics
As a leader, you will never go wrong in doing what is right. Nothing is more important than being honest, rightly dependable, staying on time, and treating people the way they want to be treated. How well you make your sheets, determine how well you will sleep in your bed. That means. The way we do anything, is the way we do everything. One breach of ethics pollutes everything we touch.
People will follow or run from you based on your reputation. Therefore, gather enough gallons of grace to help you maintain a pure and pristine name. Guard your personal brand by being impeccably ethical. Be exquisitely honest. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Work within the parameters of strength of character of the people you most admire. Your deeds reflect your creed.
The writer rolls out leadership talks and training services. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
