I LEAD- Are you a leader?

iLEAD is an exciting series on Leadership. This series will help unpack different perceptions on leadership and help unlock the leader within. Topics to look out for are Qualities of a leader, Leadership models, Leadership philosophies, Personal mastery, Emotional intelligence, Networking strategies, and many more. To get the most out of this series, be sure to tune into the OTS with Juliana podcast. Subscribe to get latest updates on this series. Enjoy!



Are you a leader?




I am not quite sure when l became an actual leader. It is only now that l identify myself as a global leader because someone told me that it suits me(chuckle). Over the years l have noticed that people start behaving as leaders when they are given a certain task or role by someone. It is more like being handed a jacket. The jacket becomes the leadership role you are taking up. You put it on with so much pride and happiness knowing that you have been honoured by being handed the jacket of leadership. But what happens when the jacket is taken away from you? What happens when the leadership role shifts to someone else? Do you remain a leader? That all depends with your definition of leadership.

What is leadership?

John Maxwell is one individual who l believe has mastered the art of leadership. His analysis on leadership issues has a unique twist which we are going to look into throughout this iLEAD series. John Maxwell defines leadership as “influence, nothing more, nothing less.” He says that “leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It's about one life influencing another.” He says “ a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Know, Go, and Show-KGS
There are a lot more different definitions of leadership. I remember when l was still in elementary school. l thought leadership was getting the chance to write the noise-makers in class; more like the class-monitress. As time went on, l refined that idea and started believing that leadership is
power, power to control. To some extent this was true, but l got to understand that power and control did not define real leadership, neither did having a title or position. Mark Sanborn convinced me that “You don't need a title to be a leader.”

After all my deliberations and evaluations on leadership, l finally concluded that leadership was M.A.D. Leadership meant making a difference in whatever way. Through a lot of research, personal evaluation and mentorship,l have settled on a new definition of Leadership. Leadership is character. It's those mental and moral qualities that are distinctive to every individual that define one's leadership capacity. Leadership is a personality which cannot be snatched away from you even when your title, position or leadership jacket is taken away. You can never assume that you are a leader; you need to know and believe that you are one. It’s a personal conviction, an inner belief that gives you power to influence, power to guide, and power to effect positive change. That is leadership.

How do you know that you are a leader?


John Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” I totally agree with him. It all begins with personal evaluation; you reflect on all your actions over the years and how people have reacted to these. Have people changed their behaviours or ideologies because of something you did for them? Have they become better people because of your contributions to their lives? One thing you have to note is that people’s perceptions towards leadership are always different. You really need to map out your ideology towards leadership and continuously refine it.

Myths that have shifted mindsets on Leadership.
-Leaders are born not made!
-Leaders have all the answers!
-Leaders are always in the spotlight!
-Leaders are politicians!
-Leaders improve performance with age.

This is all FALSE. Leaders don't need to have all the answers to a problem.They don’t need to get all the glory and honour for achieving a certain goal. They certainly cannot all be politicians. Leaders can lead from ANYWHERE! There is absolutely no linkage too between age and leadership performance. Just because you are young, it does not mean you should not be “unlocking people's potential to be better.” That's another definition of leadership by Bill Bradley. Unlocking potential.

Qualities of a leader

There are so many of them but the ones which stand out are integrity, accountability, empathy, humility, resilience, vision, positivity, and influence.

According to C.S Lewis, “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” It is being honest with yourself and gaining trust from people who look up to you through sticking to your words. When it comes to accountability, Arnold Glasow says “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of credit.” This is when you accept negative outcomes and retaliate from blaming others more than yourself. As a leader you should be willing to give credit when it is due and take responsibility for blame when needed. Empathy means being open-minded and understanding; showing some compassion whenever possible . Humility too makes one a strong and reputable leader. Choose to be humble. Be resilient and keep going strong even when in a flood of problems. Be a visionary. Let people be inspired by your future goals for a company, school, or church group. Whenever you are assigned to lead, have a vision and be positive that it can be fulfilled. Lastly, Influence. Here are some things that leaders can do to increase their influence.
According to Adam Enfroy, leaders should:
-Clearly state what they want
-Connect with people emotionally
-Make others feel important
-Be vulnerable and charismatic
-Work toward commonly shared goals
-Ask for suggestions and input
-Build real, lasting relationships
-Have self-awareness
-Act professionally on social media platforms.


Take time to evaluate yourself and identify your strengths and weaknesses. This will help unlock the leader within you.
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