Ideal Leader - the One Who Acts from Guts - Essay Example

Leaders know how to make mistakes and learn from them.
The three main characteristics of a leader are :
1. Leaders know how to learn :
Everyone makes mistakes. The sad thing is that they don’t learn from it.

Common people keep on repeating the same action expecting a different result.
Leadership is not an inborn trait (Zenger and Folkman 2002. p.229). It is a process of constant practice of improving and honing the learned skills and qualities.
1. Leaders take responsibility :

Most people are afraid of failure. The fear of failure makes them to
stick to the tried and tested formulas even if they think that something else might work better. Society tends to follow age-old practices and rules without really thinking about their results. Even if they think that the things going on are wrong and unfair, they do not have the guts to raise their voice against it and take responsibility for that. They fear the repercussions of going against the authority.

Leaders take decisions on the behalf of all the people who he is leading. When leaders take a decision, they are well aware of the fact that their decisions are going to affect the lives of all the people who they are leading. This is a huge responsibility to bear. However, they are not scared of shouldering this responsibility (Fairholm 2000. p. 66).
3. Leaders have the guts to go against society :

Society is full of people who follow the rules, thinking patterns, and social practices that are set from ages together. They hardly question the injustice and the bias towards people of particular ethnic backgrounds. Raising a voice against social injustice means going against the ancestors and the authority that supports those rules. It is like going against the orthodox religious practices and government rules. This could mean punishment, criticism from authoritative figures, and isolation from society. However, leaders are not afraid of it. They know what they are doing is right and no threat can suppress them from taking the action against it. People who dare to talk against traditional practices are often alone in their journey (Harari 2003. p. 244). They are aware of this and still do not hesitate to go against society as they do what they believe.

People like Rosa Parks and Mahatma Gandhi are examples that tell us that leadership does not mean n conscious effort of becoming a leader. People who follow their heart and taxations according to it are followed by millions of people for their choice of right action and fair fight for their rightsThe ideal leader is one who is ready to learn, hathe s guts to take responsibility for his actions, and is not afraid of being alone among millions. People who follow their guts are followed by millions. Hence, those who follow their guts can become ideal leaders. Read More