What is Leadership & Where are the Leaders?
- Details
- Category: Blogs
- Published: Saturday, 22 February 2014 17:27
- Written by Pan-Africanist Coalition
A Position Paper by The Pan-Africanist Coalition
Leadership means many things to many people and based on your position you can determine what effective leadership is and what failed leadership is. The one thing that leadership is not, is invisible. The exhibition of any and all effective leadership seems to be a problem among most so-called African-American "Political Leaders" in Central Florida and a quality that they seem to wish they really had. When it comes to position and opposition, they seem to activate their dual powers of invisibility and POOF, they're gone… no response, no accountability, nothing to indicate real leadership!
This is Leadership.
However, as a collective group and as former soldiers, we may have overlooked one glaring reality; perhaps the People don't know what leadership is. After all, we were trained to be the best leaders by the best military in the world. It is with that instruction and many years of training that we have decided to offer information that will help the People to define what an effective leader is.
Leadership 101
According to military.com, six fundamental traits are desirable regardless of personality traits.
 |
 |
Ambition, drive, and tenacity, self-confidence, psychological openness, realism and an insatiable appetite for learning are all key ingredients regardless of vocation or career. So let us talk about these traits as they related to our elected officials and other community leaders. Contrary to popular belief leaders are not born they are trained. You may possess certain traits that make you more successful as a leader, but they will certainly need refinement to be effective long term.
The Allusion of Leadership, What Leaders are Not.
Being appointed or elected to a position does not make you a leader any more than running in the forest makes you a bear or deer. Leadership is the process of guiding others through their observation of tangible actions by you that shows you are effective.
 |
Elect Regina Hill for City Commissioner District 5 |
Fake Leaders With No Drive
1. Drive -This is the worker trait, that will often determine degree of success and because this will be the catalyst in how well the leader will deal with problems. If the leader has no drive they will certainly not be ambitious nor feel they need to work on problems. Let's just cut to the chase if you have no drive as a leader you're just lazy and certainly can't be trusted. You'll miss meetings , not be aware of critical information, lack proper job skills and knowledge, which in turn subjects those you lead to subpar results and pretty much leaves them in a position to receive leftovers, scraps and other cast-off resources, from the leaders with drive, basically you get the trash because of your lack of drive. Leaders with no drive never get better; they get good at making excuses and becoming invisible to avoid conflict and accountability.
When Power Corrupts
2. Ambition (Drive)- Almost all humans are ambitious to a sociopathic degree, we are more than willing to engage in grandstanding, self-promotion and other borderline personality traits that would make a hooker blush from exposure.
The problem with ambitions is that it has a very dark side, if it is pursued blindly with reckless regard. When you see leaders making deals with people who have no real redemptive qualities other than have access to money and power, this will certainly lead to integrity problems and undesirable behavior. For those who lack personal discipline access to levels of affluence can be very seductive, overriding reason and all moral makeup that would keep a principled, well-trained leader committed to an ethical pathway centered on the greater good and what is morally right.
When Power Corrupts Absolutely.
Another byproduct of ambition is having a Sense of Entitlement. Nothing says poor leadership than a person who seeks to forgo accountability to those they are expected to lead. When this monster is created, it often can only be dealt with through some dramatic intervention that will approach an epic battle leaving debris and damage to all parts involved.
They become so fixated on their own self-importance and privilege, that they are actually unaware or could care less about the damage they cause, when seeking to hold on to what they feel is theirs.
They will make statements of ownership, bully those who dare challenge them, offer a point of view or even offer an idea they had not approved of, endorsed or created. They manipulate lie,… whew, you get the picture! They are Opportunist who pray on the community and they are not "Leaders".
*End of Leadership Identification-Part One.
*Our next column will address "Integrity" and "Humility".
One Love & Unity!!!
The Educational Leadership Division:
Pan-Africanist Coalition.
Related:
Increasing Your Leadership Scope
Is Buffoonery The Black Leadership?