If you follow this blog, you have probably noticed that I regularly write posts about leaders in the news and the impact they have on the world. Leadership is an important responsibility because leaders determine where people end up and how their lives change. Today, I was going to post an article about leaders in the news. As I looked through articles to find one to write about, I was sorely disappointed in the number of articles I came across where the leader overspent, was dishonest, took the organization in the wrong direction, took too many risks, or did something else to ruin the organization.
In many ways I feel like I am probably preaching to the choir when I say this, but leaders everywhere need to wake up and BE leaders. Leaders need to stop being deceitful and do all they can to stop others from being deceitful.
Be Honest
As a leader, you must be honest. I wrote another post that focused solely on the importance of being honest, but I feel like I can’t say enough about the importance of being honest. Leaders have been in the news so much lately because they have been dishonest. It completely disgusts me that leaders are more concerned with making a few bucks than maintaining their honesty and integrity. Your honesty and integrity should be worth more to you than anything else. Once you give up your integrity, you lose your good name. Is money worth the loss of integrity? If you think it is, you are a fool.
Make Good Choices
In line with being honest, leaders need to make good choices. As a leader, you are the sum of your choices. You need to understand that as you make good or bad choices consistently, you are either becoming a good or bad leader.
Another factor to consider when making choices is that your choices are yours. Leaders are in control of their own choices and they must be willing to own them. Understand that when you make a choice, you should be willing to stand by it. If it is a bad choice it is just as much your fault as if it is a good choice.
Be Smart When Taking Risks
Many of the articles I read were about leaders that took too many or too big of risks. They also took risks that were too big to recover from when things didn’t pan out as expected. As a leader, you need to be smart when taking risks. Before taking a risk, you should identify the pros and cons of each risk. From there you can identify which risks are worth the rewards and which are not. It is impossible to know and understand all the outcomes of your choices, but you should do all you can to think things through before you take on each risk.
Conclusion
Bottom line, be a leader and do what is right. In this day in age, it is more important than ever. Leaders should set the example for everyone by being honest, making good choices, and being smart when taking risks. They should take their responsibility as a leader seriously. Just do what is right as you lead. How do you make sure you regularly make good choices? What do you do to maintain your honesty? What do you do to ensure you are taking smart risks? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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