Creating Great Leaders

Many would say that leaders are born but today, leaders can be created.

Skills of great leaders can be learnt and it must be learnt from the right leaders. Do give careful thoughts on what you have learnt before using and building it as part of your skills.

Recently, I attended a convention and I see and learn more as I enjoy the whole proceedings. It was fun and funny although there was fire from the audience.

The convention meeting started with fire on a member being unlawful dismissed. The chairperson is a jovial and submissive man to the organisation. Let us name him as “Leader A”. While sitting beside him, there was a crude and unreasonable person who thinks that he is a great leader. Maybe for his own kind. Let us name him “Leader B”.

Proposal to put the privilege motions as the priority to the meeting but Leader B suddenly wanted to take control as he was afraid that fire will broke out and it will not show their capabilities as leaders, especially with the presence of the Executive Director from World Headquarter.

The audience brought up 8 motions to be discussed but somehow, they were only taken as 1 and later 2 motions. Leader B kept wanting to prevent the audience from bringing up the additional motions while Leader A sat there was opened to listen what grievances the audience has.

With Leader B trying to prevent the 8 additional motions to carry on, it wasted more than an hour and the meeting had to end abruptly with lots of dissatisfaction. There were no solutions and conclusions to the whole meeting.

During the questioning from the audience, Leader B kept snatching the microphone from Leader A without even asking a simple “Mr. Chairman, can I answer to that question?” and it was not just once or twice that Leader B was snatching. I was surprised with the kind of leadership skills which I personally witness with the hundreds of people at the meeting.

Leader A was cool and neutral but doesn’t know how to control the situation when fire started and questions were like arrows shooting at the board of executive committee.

Leader B clearly shown us how a man can turn into a chameleon instantly. With face turning green when felt scared, turning red when furious, black when angry, blue when threaten and white when he was in great fear. Yet, the snobbish and arrogant leader made a fool of himself by trying to show how great a leader he is. (He still thinks he is the greatest leader today.)

The Executive Director needed to help them to put out the fire by standing up, asked the chairperson for permission to speak, getting the audience to allow him to speak with no disturbance and addressed the audience and put out the fire. A diplomatic person with no direct answer or power yet proved his leadership skills with style.

Crooked stick produce crooked shadow and therefore we must learn with great concentration, understanding and thought.

Leader A and B have their strengths and weaknesses which we can learn to become a better leader. Know what you should and should not do while learning. It would be dangerous to learn blindly without serious thinking of what you learn.

There are two side on everything including laws. What you read and thought may not be what the lawyers interpret. Therefore, it would be great to ask if you are not sure and learn the truths and the rights in whatever we are learning everyday.

How a person does anything is how he does everything.

Looking at Leader A when in the meeting. He is jovial, a happy-go-lucky person and never take most of the things happening around him seriously enough. A person who just enjoy his life and whatever comes to him.

While Leader B thinks he knows everything and always want to be in control. Thinking he is the best, he has no respect for anyone around him until he is threaten with authority. The child in him wants to showcase his leadership skills with the wrong skills he had learnt all these years.

All these show us that we are only human and we make mistakes as we learn everyday. The most important is to be able to correct the mistakes correctly to become a better person, a better leader.

Leaders lead by examples and the right examples are important. How a leader project his leadership skills and abilities is how he is going to nurture his followers in becoming great leaders. Therefore, one needs to understand the truths and facts of being great leaders.

The eight skills leaders must learn is the Right Concentration, Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness. Master these skills and you will become a great leader to follow and learn from.

There are plenty for us to learn and once you have these skills, you will be able to change your life and the life of others. Touching and blessing the life of others and make a difference.

Right Focus creates Right Future

How you think is how you feel and so, your body languages show what is in your mind.

Remember that how you do anything is how you do everything.

If you want a great future, then you need to start focusing on the right things now. What you have done in the past has created the current you and if you want to change for the better, then start thinking and doing the right things from today.

I was at a food centre some years ago having dinner when I noticed a fly kept flying around me and my dinner. It was irritating as I saw it stopped on the leftover food and dishes left by the last patron. The fly kept coming closer and closer as my eyes kept following the trial it was flying. Thinking of how I can kill that irritating flying creature.

Then I suddenly started to use the pair of chopsticks in my hand to wave around so as to warn the fly to go away but it kept coming back. It was disturbing and I started waving my hands more aggressively with the hope that I would hit the fly so that it will not be back again.

Suddenly, I hit on something and I heard a loud crash. I looked down and found that I had swept my dinner on the ground together with some other plates and bowls that were on the table. I was embarrassed as the crowd in the food centre looked at me thinking that I may be crazy.

Lesson learnt in a worst moment. If I focused on my dinner and finished it faster instead of focusing on the distraction from the fly, I would have filled my stomach and walked off happier. But sad to say that I had focus on the wrong thing.

I was so focused on the fly that I forgotten about my food which was just in front of me and I had forgotten that the people at the food centre was looking at everything I did. I was distracted, embarrassed, hungry and feeling shameful as I walked away.

A little fly can put a giant like me in shame by distracting my attention and mess up my life. It’s a lesson needed some attention to learn and change for the better.

Nowadays, I usually put my mind in a clear state. By first to concentrate and understand, then give some thoughts before I speak or act. My livelihood, efforts and mindfulness need to put into consideration because anything I do will determine how I do everything.

If you want a great future, focus on the things you need to do on your “To Do List” and not be distracted with the things that suddenly popped up. Do get agitated with what doesn’t concern you. Focus and concentrate on what will change your life for the better.

Some of us may have lots of unsolved problem, may it be family, career, money, or etc. If you focus on the problem, it will only gets BIGGER and it will also demoralise you to move forward. Hence, you are unable to move forward with your dreams to achieve a better life.

Don’t listen and get distracted by the fly that fly around you and giving you all the negative remarks.

Follow your heart and think careful with the right concentration to understand and take the right actions to achieve your dreams. Everyone is given a purpose to come to earth. We are here to serve and make it a better place for you and me to live in. Therefore, the right focus and action will give the right results we are looking for and hence, create a great future.

The Truth Can Be Seen.

Who you are and how you react to things show the truth in you.

Many thought that they know themselves well but most of the time, those around you can see the true you. Whether they are willing to tell you or not and help you to improve is another question.

Most people don’t like to be told and many don’t tell either.

Imagine having people telling you how bad of a person you are and what lousy character you have will make you feel negative for the rest of the day. Some may take weeks, months or years to recuperate.

We choose not to tell because most of us are afraid that we will hurt them and lose a friend or two. Most of us are not expert in communication therefore the more we feel that we might hurt those we spoke frankly to. We simple don’t really understand those around us. Haven’t we experienced having friend or friends who turn their back on us suddenly and we don’t even know what happen? Have we sometimes unconsciously agitate our spouse and we don’t even know it?

Truthful communication is important among family, loved ones, friends, colleagues, superiors and those around you. Thru the sincere truths, we change and become better person whom others would love to be with.

Some people has unique characters which they don’t even know. While others may have bad temper, bad habits, or too possessive, or any other unwanted character. I have experienced seeing people rubbing their private part or digging their nose or ears while talking to others.

These are habits and they are unconsciously done in the presence of others. Those around you can see what you did but you may not notice it at all. Therefore, it is always good to be conscious of what you are doing at any time.

Recently, I was called to meet a “true leader” by a friend who has been involved in Multi-Level Marketing / Network Marketing for more than 10 over years. He was happy to have such a great leader in his organisation and he made the arrangement for us to meet. Hoping that this “true leader” can arouse my interest in joining him but I ultimately said “NO”.

I warned my friend about his organisation. With the kind of uplines and the “true leader” whom I know, the organisation will collapse in a short period of time. True enough, the uplines offer the “true leader” a position to be my friend’s upline instead, at a price of S$5,000.

Imagine, if this upline goes around and start offering all the downlines the same offer, he will be rich without working on his Multi-Level Marketing business. Moreover, he can move each group in his organisation to balance up so that he can make more money for himself. On top of that, he will also snatch away some of the great builders for one of his leaders from one of his binary legs (group) to another which is weaker to maximise his own profits.

What if everyone does the same thing? What will happen to those who have work so hard to build his group but to find out that the uplines are snatching away good people in his group to be transferred to another group to support the selfish uplines.

This is common in Asia but not so in U.S.A. or Europe. American and European will duplicate the system accordingly to what they are taught. While Asian will think of ways to out-smart the system and be greedy over their own immediate success in Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing then to bother about building a great relationship with his organisation so that everyone is happy so as to build a long-term business.

Croaked stick produce croaked shadow. People can be judged by the cover, by the way we talk and act. That is why we need to have the right concentration, right understand, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness.

So, Friends. I can only urge you to learn to art of living and the truth about yourself. It is the inner you that shows the outer you. Upgrade and improve yourself daily and project the best in you to those around you. You will feel the difference once you have the change in yourself as the world changes with you.