I have grown to believe that leadership is something you cannot be educated in. It's not about your qualifications or even how long you have been on the job. You could do the same thing for twenty years and still not know how to lead. In my opinion, leadership is something you just grow into. It's like being groomed for a position over time.
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This view of growing into leadership is inextricably linked to challenge and stress. Consider the case of a piece of elastic being manipulated; you are pulling it beyond its natural comfort zone. The same goes for building leaders: you must be stretched beyond your comfort zone to develop the competencies that will equip you for leadership. Stress is an integral part of creating these competencies, as it makes one adapt and, hence, grow.
Whenever we are under stress, it is like a trial. It reveals our potential and where we need to work harder. When we are finally able to face up to the challenge, we become more confident and gain experience. In doing so, how can it just be a question of survival from one hardship after another? We prove to ourselves and everyone that we can handle more and greater responsibility.
This phase of growth, I think, is one of the most crucial. Different levels give the opportunity to function at level one, progress to level two, then to level three, and so on. At each level, you are introduced to new lessons to adapt your approach. Using this approach, by the time you hit higher levels, you will have laid a strong foundation with experience and resilience built up. This journey is necessary for anyone who wants to be an effective leader.
For me, the best leaders have undergone any kind of growth. It is not something that they decided one fine morning to be a leader but were tempered in character and fire. Such leaders know what it means and feel like starting at the bottom and making their way up. They have taken something like empathy and insight—that they would have gotten no other way than facing and surmounting personal challenges.
Another critical dimension along this path to leadership is the support and guidance of others. Mentors and coaches help us tread through the many stresses and challenges we might encounter with their advice, sharing their experiences, and boosting morale to move even further. This forms a very formidable support in our journey of growing into leaders.
Moreover, personal growth is a continuous process. Even when we achieve leadership positions, we should continue to pursue challenging situations and opportunities through which we could be stretched. In the light of effective leadership, complacency is its worst enemy. We will never be afraid to leave our comfort zones and undertake new challenges. Only in this way can we guarantee that we will always remain relevant and practical leaders.
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